A Legacy of Craft: The Unstoppable Pursuit of an Inheritable Art
Guardians of Time | Tsutomu Yonaga
At glue, a shoe repair workshop in Mejiro, all sorts of shoes are brought in, from well-worn vintage pairs to high-end footwear. While examining the condition of each shoe, the owner, Tsutomu Yonaga, engages in thorough conversations with the owners. Sometimes, these discussions can last over an hour. His aim is to find the most suitable repair method for each pair, thereby extending the life of the shoes and the time they spend with their owners.
Text by SETOGUCHI Ryu | Photographs by NAKAMORI Makoto
Red Western Boots
The first pair of shoes Yonaga repaired was a pair of red Western boots worn by a female staff member at a regular café he frequented.
“She had worn them so much that the heels were almost gone,” he recalls. “The leather was scuffed and had a mottled appearance. At the time, I was a designer at an advertising production company, but I said, ‘If you love them that much, let me fix them,’ and took them in.”
He didn’t have any prior knowledge of shoe repair. However, for Yonaga, who spent his days facing a computer screen and responding to client requests, the very act of changing something with his own hands was a novel experience.
After seeking guidance from a paint shop, Yonaga single-handedly repainted the boots.
“I couldn’t tackle the heels myself, so I took them to a repair shop, but they attached new heels so seamlessly. When I returned them to her, she was incredibly happy. Seeing something that was in tatters restored, and the owner delighted… I thought, ‘This is a good job.’ So, I decided to change careers.”
A Probationary Period Overcome with Persistence
Yonaga approached the very shop that had repaired the heels of the Western boots.
“They weren’t hiring, so the people at the shop were taken aback,” he says. “But I brought a pair of leather shoes I had tried to repair myself, and the owner seemed amused. He agreed to let me work there for just three months.”
However, after three months, he was told, “You’re not useful, so please leave.” He hadn’t graduated from a specialized shoe-making school, nor was he particularly young to start a career as a shoe repair craftsman. It was an understandable outcome. Still, Yonaga pleaded, “I’ll accept a pay cut, just please let me stay.”
“The tools weren’t right for me either. I’m left-handed, but the shop only had tools for right-handed people. When the owner found out, he exclaimed, ‘You’re left-handed?!’ He then procured left-handed tools for me, and from then on, I somehow managed.”
After approximately two years of apprenticeship, Yonaga found employment at a large repair company. Following his exposure to a wide variety of shoes there, he opened glue in Mejiro.
Learning About Leather Shoes After Starting Repairs
His understanding of high-end men's dress shoes deepened after he opened glue and began working with the shoes brought to his shop. This is because the shops he had worked for previously received few requests for repairs of luxury dress shoes.
“When I was just starting out, I didn’t have much knowledge about shoes,” he admits. “I wondered why they were so difficult to fix. It was only after I started repairing dress shoes like Alden and John Lobb that I finally understood. Before that, I was struggling to repair shoes that weren’t really designed to be repaired.”
His mentors during this period were the shoes brought into the shop and the enthusiast customers. He listened to their discussions about brands and manufacturing methods, and he meticulously examined the shoes he received, disassembling them to verify their claims with his own eyes.
When an old Church's shoe was resoled, he was astonished by the craftsmanship, which rivaled that of Edward Green.
“When I opened it up, I saw that even the wood paste in the hidden areas was applied incredibly neatly. It’s a part that’s invisible once the shoe is finished, and only people like us would ever see it. I was amazed at the amount of effort that went into it.”
An old pair of shoes, said to have been worn by a U.S. Army officer, featured a hidden channel stitch to conceal the stitching on the sole. Despite being military boots where sturdiness would suffice, such meticulous, unseen work had been incorporated.
“Whatever they were asked to do, they probably had a pride in their work, thinking, ‘If I were making this, it would have to be at this level.’ It wasn’t about profit.”
Shoe Maintenance Enters the Realm of Hobbies
It has been 17 years since glue opened its doors in March 2009. The types of shoes brought to the shop have gradually changed. Alongside traditional leather shoes for work, there has been an increase in maintenance requests for leather shoes enjoyed as fashion items.
“It’s entering the world of hobbies, much like tuning and maintaining motorcycles or cars,” he observes.
The customer base has also shifted. The proportion of middle-aged and older customers has decreased, replaced by an increase in students and individuals in their twenties. Some customers now enjoy leather shoes across two generations, with both parents and children utilizing glue.
“In the past, people often started with affordable shoes and gradually moved up to higher-end options as they gained experience. But today’s younger generation feels like, ‘If I want John Lobb, I’ll buy John Lobb from the start.’ With the internet providing instant information, they probably don’t consider other options upfront.”
However, knowing a shoe’s specifications on a screen is not the same as understanding your own feet.
Leather shoes vary in width and instep height depending on the last. Despite this, some young people buy a model they desire, even if it’s slightly too large or too tight, saying, “This was the only size available.”
“But eventually, those individuals do find ‘shoes that fit them comfortably.’ And often, those aren't the shoes they initially desired. In that sense, as they try various options and discover what fits their feet and is practical, it might be similar to how things were in the past.”
It has shifted from an era where people gained knowledge while wearing shoes and then acquired their coveted pair, to an era where they first obtain their desired shoes and then come to understand their own feet.
Even though the entry points and the order of the journey have changed, the desire to cherish a beloved pair of shoes for a long time remains the same. That is why shoes continue to be brought to glue every day.
Carrying On, Even If Alone
However, Yonaga notes that the future of the shoe repair industry, particularly for independent shops, is uncertain.
“Chain stores tend to standardize their work for operational efficiency. Customers choose from a pre-defined menu. On the other hand, customers unsatisfied with chain stores come to me wanting specific adjustments or color matching. That's where intuition comes into play. It’s not something that can simply be taught to an apprentice.”
Even so, it’s not a matter of simply teaching Yonaga’s sensibilities over time. The shoe repair industry doesn't offer wages that adequately compensate for the long apprenticeship and high level of skill required.
“As long as I’m doing this myself, I want to provide a high-quality service. But that’s only possible because I can dedicate my own time; I can’t expect others to do the same.”
It’s not just the artisans who are disappearing; the craftsmen who make repair tools and the machine manufacturers are also dwindling.
Despite this, Yonaga does not despair about the future; he quietly focuses on the shoe before him. His demeanor mirrors that of the old shoe craftsmen who honed their skills without concern for external validation. And his dedication to pouring everything into 'the shoe in front of me' has remained unchanged since his days as an amateur, when he single-handedly repaired that red Western boot.
Tsutomu Yonaga
Owner of shoe repair workshop glue. After working as a graphic designer in advertising for about 10 years, he entered the world of shoe repair in his 30s. He gained experience at shoe repair shops in Saitama Prefecture and at a major repair company, and then went independent about four years after entering the industry. In addition to repairing men's dress shoes, vintage shoes, designer brand shoes, and sneakers, he also offers services such as reinforcement and pre-maintenance for new shoes.