INDEX
I wanted to be a sculptor, but I found myself becoming a bricklayer.
Takano: Come to think of it, I felt that bricks are quite rare. And actually, there are not that many bricklayers in Japan, are there?
Takayama：Yes, as far as I know, there are 50 or 60 bricklayers like us who are involved in construction. They are already an endangered species, a craftsman in the red zone.
Celeina: That’s amazing. I apologize for being a real beginner, but what exactly do bricklayers do?
Takayama：You all know the story of “The Three Little Pigs” in which the youngest child builds a very strong brick building and finally chases away the wolf. So, from public buildings to private buildings to landscapes, I am working to pile bricks on the exterior walls of buildings.
Celeina：I see. In “The Three Little Pigs” the little pig piles up bricks so easily and effortlessly, but in reality, it takes a lot of calculation and time to create a single building, doesn’t it?
Takayama: From the very beginning, with gravity on our side, we piled up about 1,000 or 1,500 bricks from the first level to the highest level. It is a tremendous amount of work, but I think the fact that we enjoy doing it is because it is so fascinating.
Takano: Do you still need mathematical skills, a sense of style, or knowledge?
Takayama: Yes, it does. Since the material requires a great deal of structural elements, it is difficult to become a first-rate craftsman without a certain amount of mathematical or numerical skills in one’s head.
Celeina：I see.
Takano: Since both your grandfather and father were bricklayers, did you always want to be a bricklayer?
Takayama: Actually, I didn’t have the slightest idea that I wanted to be a bricklayer at that time. When I graduated from high school at the age of 18, I wanted to be a sculptor. I didn’t want to go to school or anything, but I wanted to go to Italy and train as a sculptor under a master. But I needed to save up money to go there, so I quickly asked my father to let me have a part-time job. It was the height of the bubble economy, and the construction industry was quite lucrative. I was allowed to work part-time for about a year, and when I had saved up enough money, I said, “Dad, I’m leaving soon. I thought it couldn’t be helped, so I helped for another six months, and after six months, when I finally said, “Dad, I’m leaving,” he said, “Toshihiko, you’re abandoning me, aren’t you?
Takano: It was a sneaky thing to do (haha).
Takayama: It was really sneaky. After another six months, I said, “Toshihiko, maybe you should learn a few words.” I was also a simple person, so I thought, I should learn a few words for about six months. So I was tricked, tricked, tricked into becoming a craftsman.
Takano: There may have been some kind of strategy on your father’s part.
Takayama: I think he was probably quite strategic.
