Our Philosophy
“yahae” is a brand born in 2020, named after “Yahei”, who started a cotton business and our company Yamaya Co., Ltd. Socks work not only as basic clothing item that directly touches our skin, but also as a fashion item that’s visible from the outside. In order to bring both of those aspects to a higher level, quality materials, in addition to our manufacturing techniques and designing skills, are essential. However, just like with cooking, the highest quality ingredients do not always result in a delicious dish. In the end, the most important thing is maker’s love for what they’re creating.
Our Techniques
We think socks are a fruit of human wisdom, made with threads entwined, creating soft touch and warmth woven with artistic imagination. Regardless of how they are woven, by hand or machine, the artisan’s technical skills and creativity are embedded in them.Yahae’s socks are woven by skilled engineers who use various knitting machines to their fullest, just like making food that brings its ingredients’ potential to the fullest. What’s matters most to us is whether we can make good socks, not how well we can use the machinery.
Craftmanship
Those socks that you see at shops are the fruits of crafts people’s enduring labor. Making socks using complex knitting machines may look like a purely industrial endeavor, but in fact there are many people’s hands involved. While our socks are made with machines, and not with hands, but we care about them as much as socks hand-knitted for someone you love.
Our Town
Yamaya is based in Koryo, Nara – a town sitting in the Yamato Basin surrounded by low-rising mountains, and is known for its textile industries and historical ruins from the Kofun period. The cotton industry blossomed during the Edo period, and sock-making started around the end of the Meiji period. The town then has become a “Town of Socks”, the leading socks manufacturer in Japan. Although the amount has vastly declined compared to its peak, sock-making is still the main industry of our town, and many related industries also remain.
About our Future
Living in a time overflowing with so many different products, there was a time that we weren’t sure about staying in the manufacturing business. The answer we arrived at is – if it’s something meaningful, we need to keep our business going. We believe that as long as we pursue quality of life, while being mindful of the environment, through our socks and make it into a culture, it becomes a good, albeit small, influence on the human history. What will become of the sock-making industry? Even though sometimes it could be uncertain to live through this rapidly changing time, where many things are hard to predict, we’re excited about the future at the same time.
