Short story, happy ending

A Japanese tatami craftsman has come up with an idea that’s a hit among domestic and overseas customers alike – creating unique goods using the shorter reed rush.
Kentaro Aoyagi, 39, fourth-generation owner of a tatami shop founded in the Taisho Era (1912-26), has begun developing bags, wallets and other products using the shorter material. 
Akie Abe, wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is a fan of his designs, which she describes as having the “warm touch of tatami”. She’s even presented his products to Prince William’s wife, Catherine, and other famous people.
Soft rush that doesn’t reach 90 centimetres in height is usually discarded. Every time Aoyagi visits Kumamoto Prefecture to buy the material, he feels depressed seeing farmers dumping the shorter rush and lamenting that it’s not used.
“Farmers grow both kinds of rush with the same passion,” he says. “I wondered if the rush being disposed of could be used for something else.”
 Taking advantage of his previous career with a design company, Aoyagi settled on fashionable accessories. He designed bags, wallets, a diary cover and other items made partially of soft rush.
He asked a workshop in Tokyo with which he’s long worked to buy shorter soft rush from farmers in Kumamoto and begin producing the goods.
Aoyagi’s tatami goods line began selling online in 2013 and he’s received orders not only from around Japan but also the United States, France and Hong Kong. “We receive many orders from foreign customers who love Japan’s craft culture,” he says.
He came to know Akie Abe through a mutual acquaintance. She regularly uses a bag and nametag designed by Aoyagi, and presented one of his bags to Catherine as a gift when she gave birth to Princess Charlotte.
The Duchess of Cambridge later sent a thank-you letter in which she described the tatami bag as filled with kindness.
Akie also presented a dog collar custom made by Aoyagi to former US first lady Michelle Obama.
“Today more and more households are without tatami,” Akie says, “so it’s wonderful that Aoyagi has come up with various ideas to develop products in an effort to promote how great tatami is.”
Aoyagi hopes his products will “give customers the opportunity to feel a bit closer to tatami”.
The goods can be purchased at www.WazaIsshin.jp, with bag prices ranging from Bt6,200 to Bt11,000.