地域社会とのかかわり

「水戸を提灯のまちにしたい。」
この想いを胸に、私たち鈴木茂兵衛商店は地域の皆様とともにさまざまな活動を繰り広げています。
提灯を見ること、使うこと、つくること。そして提灯の灯りや楽しさがあたりまえにあるまち。その実現は“提灯の 美しい 新しい 楽しい を日本から”の第一歩ですし、水戸の地で生まれ、育まれてきた私たちの恩返しでもあると考えています。
私たちの、ふるさとのまちである水戸での取り組みを紹介します。

Community Relations

We want to make Mito the city of lanterns.
With this in mind, we are engaged in a variety of activities together with local residents. We are involved in a variety of activities together with local residents, including the viewing, using, and making of chochin. We want to create a town where the lights and enjoyment of chochin are a natural part of life. We believe that this is the first step toward "bringing the beauty and joy of chochin to Japan," and that it is also our way of returning the favor to the people of Mito, who were born and raised in this region.
We would like to introduce our efforts in Mito, our hometown.

官公庁との取り組みInitiatives with Government Agencies

提灯といえば「お祭り」と連想される方は多いのではないでしょうか。
私たちの官公庁との関わりも「水戸黄門まつり」「水戸の梅まつり」というお祭りから始まりました。
これらの取り組みが提灯に触れる機会となるだけではなく、皆様が水戸という地域に関心を持ち、
より好きになるきっかけとなることを私たちは願っています。

Many people may associate chochin with "festivals. Our involvement with public offices also began with festivals such as the "Mito Komon Festival" and the "Mito Plum Festival. It is our hope that these events will not only provide opportunities for people to come into contact with chochin, but also to develop an interest in and a love for the Mito region.

Mito Komon Festival

Mito's summer tradition, the Mito Komon Festival, which was renewed in 2019, has added a new highlight: the lantern procession. We are cooperating with this procession by making chochin.

The festival also offers a workshop for making lantern-shaped wood charms, in which visitors can easily make their own original key chains by applying colored Japanese paper and using stickers and stamps.

Mito Ume Festival "Yoru, Ume, Matsuri"

The "Yoru, Ume, Matsuri" held at Kairakuen on the first Saturday night of March during the "Yoru, Ume, Matsuri" is an event that also serves as the unveiling of the MIC series. We provide chochin to light the tea ceremony and hold an event called "Let's Walk with Lanterns! We also hold an event called "Let's Walk with Chochin!

When the scale of the "Yoru, Ume, Matsuri" had to be reduced due to the Corona disaster in 2020, and the scheduled workshops had to be canceled, we sold the "Kanzashi chochin" that were to be offered at the workshops only during the Plum Festival, with the idea of "Don't lose to Corona! We sold "Kanzashi chochin," which were supposed to be offered at the workshop, only during the Ume Festival period.

これまでの事例Past cases

水戸黄門まつり「提灯行列」 / 水戸の梅まつり「夜・梅・祭」

Mito Kimon Festival "Lantern Procession" / Mito Plum Festival "Yoru, Ume, Matsuri"

教育機関との取り組みInitiatives with Educational Institutions

教育機関との連携は、子どもや学生といった若い世代の方に提灯を知ってもらう貴重な機会です。
そして、固定観念にとらわれない視点で提灯に対する新鮮な価値観を与えてくれることもあり、私たちにとって学ぶことが多い取り組みです。
未来を担う世代の皆様が、提灯について考えて作ったり使ったりすることを通して、ふるさとである「地域」や「ものづくり」や「仕事」ということに興味を持ってもらえたらうれしいです。

Collaboration with educational institutions is a valuable opportunity to introduce chochin to the younger generation, such as children and students.It is also an initiative that provides us with a fresh perspective on chochin from a non-stereotypical viewpoint, which is a great learning experience for us all.We would be happy if the future generation can become interested in their hometown "community," "manufacturing" and "work" through thinking about, making and using lanterns.

New possibilities for lanterns created by students

We also value the connection with education and learning. The Advertising and Promotion Design Department of Bunka Designer Gakuin, the only design school in Ibaraki Prefecture, had students work on various production projects over a six-month period as their graduation project, with the theme of "how to get more people to pick up BURARI CHOCHAN lanterns for the 'Yoru, Ume, Matsuri'".

The final presentation, which took the form of design, video, and sales promotion (event planning), showed the potential of chochin that can be created by a generation unfamiliar with chochin. The "Suzumo Chochin Exhibition" was also held at the school's gallery.

Children design chochin

We are also teaching children about the "beauty, newness, and fun of paper lanterns.
Lilly Academic Lab, a hands-on learning school run by the Lilly Academy Group, has been assisting a class in the "KenQ Room," where students work together with local businesses and organizations to tackle problems.

The theme was "lanterns that make you want to take your family to Kairakuen. The lanterns, which the children made while learning about Kairakuen and Mito, were so vividly designed with a story that they wanted to take them with them right away.
Of course, everything from the making of the lanterns was done by the children. We hope that the thoughts and feelings that they have learned and thought about Mito will brighten up the city and its culture.

Someday, anyone from Mito will be able to say, "I've used chochin before. We made them ourselves. We hope to see a future in which anyone from Mito can say, "We have used chochin (paper lanterns) before.

これまでの事例Past cases

文化デザイナー学院 広告プロモーションデザイン学科「修了制作」 / リリーアカデミックラボ「研Q室」

Bunka Designer Gakuin Advertising Promotion Design Course "Graduation Works" / Lily Academic Lab "Ken Q Room"

民間との取り組みWorking with General Businesses

ショッピングセンター、アリーナ、駅など、多くの人が足を運ぶ場所に灯る提灯。
その風景は、提灯の面白さや楽しさに気づいてもらう、あるいは水戸が提灯の三大生産地の1つだということを知ってもらうきっかけになりえます。
これまでに、さまざまな民間との取り組みを積極的に行ったことで、今では多様な業種の方々からお声がけをいただくようになりました。
今後もご要望に応え、提灯の新しい使い方を提案していくことが私たちの使命だと思っています。

Chochin are lit in shopping centers, arenas, train stations, and other places where many people visit.The scenery can be an opportunity to make people aware of the fun and enjoyment of chochin, or to let them know that Mito is one of the three major production centers of chochin.Through our active involvement in various private sector initiatives, we have now been approached by people from a diverse range of industries.We believe it is our mission to continue to respond to their requests and propose new ways to use lanterns.

これまでの事例Past cases

JR水戸駅「モニュメント」 / 無印良品 ヨークタウン水戸「シャンデリア」 / イオンモール水戸内原「MITO魅力発見機 装飾」 /
茨城ロボッツ「ペンライト用提灯」 / 水戸ホーリーホック「会場装飾」 / 常磐神社「会場装飾」 / とう粋庵「装飾」

"Monument" at JR Mito Station / "Chandelier" at MUJI Yorktown Mito / "MITO Charm Discovery Machine" at AEON MALL Mito Uchihara /
"Lanterns for penlights" at Ibaraki Robots / "Venue decoration" at FC MITO HOLLYHOCK / "Venue decoration" at TOKIWA JINJA Shrine / "Decoration" at Tosuian