Representative Director
Shigemi Hirano
3rd-Generation Representative Director · Since 2017
The third generation of Hirano Sarashi, founded in 1927, he became Representative Director in 2017 — the company's 90th anniversary. Having grown up watching the factory's work up close since childhood, he holds a deep affection for the wa-zarashi process and for the craftsmen who carry it out.
"As the number of wa-zarashi processors declines, our company carrying this tradition forward carries real weight," he says. Despite the physical demands of handling heavy fabric, he works alongside the craftsmen in daily production.
To spread the value of wa-zarashi — which draws attention not only domestically but from abroad — he has actively pursued outreach, including coverage in the Senken Shimbun trade newspaper (2021).
"I want to pass wa-zarashi on to future generations.
I want people to rediscover what makes it so good."
— Shigemi Hirano, 3rd-Generation Representative Director
