Frel is a company in Shimane Prefecture that plans, manufactures, and sells wooden cutlery.
Founder Tetsuya Yamada creates products with the idea that "we want to propose products that we ourselves believe are truly good."
At the root of this idea were Yamada's unique thoughts and values.
Embarking on a new path
Yamada spent his time in his hometown of Shimane until high school, and then went on to attend a vocational school in Osaka.
"I studied acoustics at a music vocational school. I've loved music since I was in elementary school, and whenever I got my pocket money I would go buy CDs."
After graduating from vocational school, he got a job at a record store in Osaka.
"As I was approaching 30, I had achieved everything I wanted to do through my work. Then, I found myself unable to find my next goal in the work I was doing at the time."
Having decided to embark on a new path, Yamada reconsidered what he wanted to do.
"Apart from music, I also liked making things. My parents owned a model shop, so I would make plastic models and carve wood that was used as building materials to make fishing lures."
To pursue a career in manufacturing, he quit his job at the record store and went to a vocational school to learn woodworking. After graduating, he got a job at a venture company and trained there before founding Frell.
Giving shape to what we think is good
Yamada's passion for manufacturing is also embodied in the company name "Frel."
"The cutlery we make is something that people touch in their daily lives. That's why we named our shop 'Frel.'"
Yamada himself uses their products in his daily life and continues to improve them, asking himself, "How can we make them even better?"
"For example, just by slightly changing the angle of the spoon, the texture changes. I think it could be even better. I never get bored of it, and I'm never satisfied."
It's been that way since childhood.
"Even when I was making my own lures, I would think about how I could improve them to catch more fish, and then I would actually make them."
This innate spirit of inquiry is strongly present in Frel's manufacturing.
Dealing with each one
Yamada does almost all of the processes by hand.
"Even with the same type of wood, the hardness varies depending on the grain and part of the wood. I look at the condition of each piece of wood and think about how to carve it to create the best possible product. The things I want to make cannot be made by machine."
And because it is a "living tree," there is also a desire not to waste it.
Yamada cherishes these feelings and lives life to the fullest, true to herself, but she says that this wasn't the case in the past .
"Long before I started woodworking, I lived my life thinking, 'I have to be like this,' or 'I want to be like that person.' However, when I realized that I was only imitating others, I felt a great sense of discomfort."
He now feels that the things he creates are a part of himself.
"Five years after I started woodworking, I wondered if I should continue. At that time, I reconsidered and realized that the things I had made up until then were products of trial and error in our daily lives. At this point, the products themselves are me. Once I realized this, I began to feel that I wanted to express that, and my doubts disappeared."
Yamada has continued to face himself at each turning point in his life.
I believe that this way of life is embodied in the manufacturing process at Frell, which continues to handcraft each and every item.
