Part 2The World of Painter Kumiko Higami
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- We had painter Kumiko Higami illustrate the eye-catching teddy bear picture featured on the Steiff Caviar Chocolate tin. I’m sure your customers already know and love Higami’s work from your existing chocolate tins. When did you first start working with her?
- Tsuchiya
- She’s been doing artwork for the shop since before we started Caviar Chocolate. She was a customer, first, and asked me if it was OK if she bought a cake and drew a picture of it. I happened to be the one at the counter then, and wondered why she would have to ask permission for something like that.
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- Yeah, if she was just drawing a picture of it, that seems fine to do without asking.
- Tsuchiya
- It was about three or four months later that she came back holding a small book. There were pictures of cakes she’d bought from about 20 different shops, including ours. She told me that it would be in an illustrated book Shogakukan was publishing, where each cake was printed on a perforated postcard that could be pulled out and used. I was really impressed by the texture and look of her drawing. I can’t explain it very well, but my instincts told me she was really good. I ended up buying a few dozen copies from her to sell in our store, and it turned out we were the only ones who bought that many.
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- I’m sure she was excited to have you buy her book like that.
- Tsuchiya
- Apparently it was a very special moment for Higami, too. Our bond was solidified when we hired her to illustrate a big picture of sweets for us to hang up inside the shop. Since then she’s illustrated all the animals on our chocolate bar packaging. Higami originally illustrated mystery novels covers, so she’s got kind of a spooky touch to her art. Some of it depicted blood, or pearls coming out of someone’s heart, things like that. The cakes and sweets and things were just a hobby for her, but since beginning to work with us she’s worked on cuter subjects more often.
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- So her illustrated packaging also led to the unique branding of Theobroma. I’m sure plenty of customers purchase these chocolates so they can get the packaging, too.
- Tsuchiya
- At this point it’s almost the face of Theobroma at this point, and Higami is practically one of the team. I’ve had customers tell me lately that they buy these chocolates specifically because the packaging is so cute. But that means it has nothing to do with the taste. It’s unrelated to our pursuit of flavor as artisan chefs, but I’m perfectly happy hearing people say they got something because they love pandas, or they’re buying something for their kid who loves cats. If the customers are excited about it, eat it, and find it delicious, they’ll come back for more. I’m all for people buying from our shop because they think the packaging is cute.
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- It seems like the packaging contributes to the enjoyment that comes with chocolate.
- Tsuchiya
- But you know, when we create new chocolate to enter into competitions, we submit that without any kind of packaging, so it gets assessed on its own. We focus strictly on what kind of cacao beans we use, how we melt it, and how we capture the aroma in the new chocolate we make. That’s why we win awards.
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- So without that packaging, your chocolate receives top accolades purely for its quality.
- Tsuchiya
- That’s right. So when we finally reach a point where we’re ready to sell a new type of chocolate we’ve come up with, that’s when we commission Higami for the packaging. As creators, each of us enjoys our own work on these new projects. When we go to Higami to ask for new artwork, she gets very excited about thinking up a new concept. She has drawn over 50 illustrations for us so far, and my collection of original drafts has gotten so big that I don’t have enough room at home to hang them all up. Even when Higami’s plate is really full, whenever we come to her with a commission for Theobroma packaging, she’ll tell us she’s very interested in the job and turn the art around quickly for us. I’m sure she was excited to draw Steiff teddy bears, too.
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- It leads back to what you said at the beginning about wanting to skip while doing your job.
- Tsuchiya
- Higami’s art does a lot of skipping, too. When we commission her, we don’t give her very detailed instructions. We just tell her the dimensions, text, and what it’s for. She picks out the colors and everything, and hands us back packaging design with animals on it. Her trademark is adding a little something extra somewhere in the illustration.
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- Ah, that’s true.
- Tsuchiya
- At first I didn’t know why she added a little baby panda atop the main panda in her illustration. Wouldn’t a single panda be enough? But when customers saw it in our store, they said “This packaging is just wonderful.” It’s the special world of Kumiko Higami.
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- I hope everyone enjoys the artwork on the Steiff tins as well.
- Tsuchiya
- Having such specially designed packaging sitting out at home or at work on a desk would certainly catch the eye of friends and have them asking all about it.
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- I see a lot of interactions like that within the Hobonichi office.
- Tsuchiya
- That’s all just in my head, though. All I can do is picture it, because like I said, pastry chefs don’t get to see how things actually turn out.
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- So you’ve spent all this time only imagining how your customers react.
- Tsuchiya
- My imagination is all I have. I’ve had people tell me stories, but who knows if they’re adding fluff. In the end, it’s just me and my imagination.
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- Have you had a vivid imagination since you were young?
- Tsuchiya
- No, I started out as a serious craftsman—I was this craftsman that trained in France with a dry approach to everything, so I was really stubborn about how things had to be, and I never budged on anything. I was pretty hard on the younger staff, too. But the more I studied my customers, the more I realized the chocolate I was envisioning was not the same chocolate that customers wanted. As a chocolate chef, I assumed my creations would sell as long as they tasted good. But that wasn’t what customers were looking for. They wanted to go somewhere that was easy to get to, on a stylish street corner in the city, with comforting decor inside. They wanted something out of the ordinary, delicious, with cute packaging and good shelf life, that would make an excellent gift for friends. It’s not like those can all be implemented, but I was able to change my perspective to align with that of the customer.
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- So it was a gradual transformation. What are some of the most interesting moments for you in your career?
- Tsuchiya
- The most interesting moments? I wonder. I suppose I like people, and I’m able to meet all kinds of people through my job. For example, there was a man I met who ran a souvenir shop I stopped by on one of my trips. He ended up coming to Tokyo and buying chocolate from me. It’s so nice getting to meet people unexpectedly like that.
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- So you’ve been able to work on a career you love by meeting good people.
- Tsuchiya
- I learn a lot from my customers, and when my friends give me gifts and souveneirs, I’ll get inspiration for new chocolate. I don’t feel a sense of burden from new challenges. Once I get an idea for something new, I constantly think about how I’ll make it, even if it’s late at night, or I’m in the shower or the bathroom. It’s just fun for me to think about. I like trying it out, seeing what doesn’t work, and then trying some more.
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- Because you can get involved in your work while you skip, you can create something that makes others happy. Thank you for your time today.
- Tsuchiya
- Thank you! We’ll have plenty of Steiff Caviar Chocolate stocked in our shops, so I look forward to meeting new people—Steiff fans, customers who buy them for the bear design, and all the other people who will visit our shop for the very first time.
(End)
