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Tanabes keep up
their crafty ways
The family's creations
use various woods and
Japanese fabrics
The creativity of their seamstress mother and furniture-maker father is a living legacy for the descendants of Ethel Y. and George Tanabe of Waialua.
The craft-fair days are behind them, and Tutu and Papa have died, but their collaboration in an evolving line of handcrafted creations has become an abiding family tie.
"We all have our own careers; this keeps us in touch," said the junior George Tanabe, a University of Hawaii religion professor, who comes home to a professional-caliber woodworking shop where he makes tables, tansu chests and lamps in a variety of woods.
In the adjoining room at their Waialua home, the works-in-progress on a recent day included parchment and obi-cloth lampshades and a hassock being covered with Japanese brocade.
Tanabe's wife, Willa, chairwoman of the UH Art Department, and sister, Carol Tanabe Nagano, a retired U.S. Department of Defense administrator, are in constant collusion over new uses for the rolls of material that fill floor-to-ceiling storage cabinets.
"When I first came here, Tutu had me sew aloha shirts for my future husband and for my father," Willa recalled. "That was 38 years ago. I thought it was so old-fashioned. Now it's a retreat from stress."
Ethel Tanabe gave Willa her first sewing machine.
George and Willa recently continued that tradition, giving a new sewing machine to daughter-in-law Kelly, who is learning to sew. Musubi-shaped potholders are her entry-level specialty.
Gen Tanabe, George and Willa's son, said he and Kelly are "marketing advisers" for the family operation. The couple owns Super College publishing company in Palo Alto, Calif. They were on Oahu two weeks ago to speak at high schools on their specialty, publications to help students gear up for college.
"I used to turn wooden bowls, and I designed our aloha shirt potholder," Gen recalled as they joined a brainstorming session around the Waialua worktable.
He organized the Web page for Tanabe Furniture & Designs. Samples of items available to order can be seen at www.tanabefurniture.com.
The family's work is also sold at Wabi Sabi co-op store at 1223 Koko Head Ave. in Kaimuki.
A current best seller is a small box in the shape of geta, raised wooden clogs, the work of Carol's husband, Richard Nagano, a retired civil engineer. Dressing up the "geta bako" are thongs made of colorful braided cord that is traditionally tied around the obi waistband in a formal kimono ensemble.
Carol Nagano went to Japan to learn the "kumihimo" braiding art and teaches it at Moiliili Community Center and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. "Nowadays in Japan, the cord is used as an accessory, a necklace or a lanyard," she said.
"She's the only one who has had training," said George Tanabe. "The rest of us are making it up as we go along."
Tanabe Furniture & Designs sponsored a one-day product show Sept. 24 at JCCH. The business name is a link with the Tanabe Furniture Store, which was started in 1914 by George and Carol's grandfather.
The Tacoma, Wash., contingent of the family was here for the show, and for some creative jam sessions in the Waialua workshops. Rae Tanabe Iwamoto, a court administrator, is a seamstress and her husband, Robert Iwamoto, marine biologist, shares the woodworking talent of the men. His specialty is wooden trays.
Seeing their work displayed in the show made them nostalgic about the craft-fair days -- a little bit.
"When we started selling ties, it changed my mother's life," George said. "She knew all the crafters. She loved it. We dreaded it!"
Carol said: "My parents loved craft fairs; it was socializing for them. When someone complimented her on her work, she just glowed."
The family members would split the proceeds of the fair season.
When Tutu died in 1996, they decided to perpetuate her share. They established the $1,000 Ethel Tanabe Memorial Scholarship, given annually to a Waialua High School graduate for further education.
The senior George Tanabe was active in the Waialua Lions Club, which sponsored a storytelling contest in North Shore elementary schools each year. After his death in 2003, the family began an annual donation to fund prizes for the contest winners.