Why this small city is the ‘eyeglasses capital’ of Japan
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Japan is famed for its skilled artisans, masters who maintain a commitment to tradition while modernizing production techniques in line with the development of new materials and processes.
Many places in the country have grown famous by focusing on specific crafts, from exquisite kimonos to perfectly designed knives. Among them is the small city of Sabae, in Fukui prefecture, about a 3.5-hour train ride from Tokyo.
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It’s widely known as Japan’s eyeglasses capital – and for good reason. Sabae produces over 90% of the frames manufactured in the country, according to the local government. Signs and objects shaped like eyeglasses can be found on city streets, and there’s even a museum and festival devoted to spectacles.
The art of making spectacles
Sabae, located on Japan’s main Honshu island near the city of Fukui, has been producing quality eyewear for more than a century.
It all started in 1905, when a local government official invited skilled eyeglasses artisans to come to the city to teach their craft, an attempt to create new opportunities for local farmers.
The move paid off. Today, Sabae has over 100 companies that collaborate to make pairs of glasses.
Though these studios use cutting-edge machinery to produce new frames made of metal and acetate, most stages still require the skilled hands and trained eyes of Sabae’s master artisans.
That includes Takeshi Yamae, a frame designer with Japanese brand Boston Club who has lived in the city for 17 years. He tells CNN one pair of glasses can involve more than 200 steps.
“I first design it, sketch it, then put it into my computer,” he says. “From the time I start designing, to the time I have the perfect product, it takes more than a year.”