Nakatsu Houki: The Japanese Craft of Handmade Brooms
A broom is a quiet, familiar presence in almost every home. But when you first hold one from Nakatsu Houki (中津箒), something shifts. It stops being just another household tool and becomes something you enjoy reaching for every day.
Among all the brooms Nakatsu Houki makes, we found ourselves especially drawn to their naturally shaped branch handles.
Instead of being cut into straight, uniform sticks, each handle keeps the original curves, knots and texture of the wood. The makers primarily use wild grapevine branches (Yamabudo), selecting each one for its natural character.
Some curve gently, while others twist in unexpected ways. Every branch is paired by hand with a woven broom head. Even when a branch has a strong natural curve, the maker carefully adjusts the direction of the broom so it feels balanced and comfortable in the hand.
This is why we wanted to bring Nakatsu Houki to ZAKKAsine. We love that the makers never try to force nature into artificial sameness. They allow the individuality of the branch to become part of the finished object.
Behind this simple form is a craft passed down in Aikawa Town, Kanagawa Prefecture, for more than 150 years.
What impressed us most is that their work begins long before the weaving starts. Rather than buying processed materials, the makers grow their own Houki Morokoshi (broomcorn) from seed, entirely without pesticides. In the peak of summer, when the grass grows over two metres tall, they harvest every stalk by hand before drying them under the summer sun.
That care becomes apparent every time the broom is used.
Instead of cutting the plant fibres bluntly, the makers spend time aligning the natural, feathered tips of every stalk by hand. By keeping these soft ends intact, the broom gently gathers fine dust without scratching wooden floors or tatami.
With regular use, the fibres gradually become familiar in your hand, becoming softer over time while maintaining their gentle touch.
Every branch handle in our shop is one of a kind.
The differences in colour, shape and grain are not imperfections. They are simply the character of the plant and the tree.
To us, these natural differences are part of what makes each broom special. They remind us that the beauty of handmade objects often lies in the things that cannot be repeated.
