Company Information

INDEN-YA's Origins as a Weapon Maker in the Sixteenth Century

Japanese leatherworking began to proliferate around the 4th to 5th century when leather processing and ornamentation techniques were imported from mainland Northeast Asia. These techniques were put to use in the manufacture of decorative items and weapons given as tributes to powerful individuals.

By the 10th century or so, Japanese society had become dominated by the warrior class, and a wide range of dyeing and ornamentation techniques were put to use in armor and helmet design to give a more impressive appearances to samurai. Japan had fallen into a state of bloody civil war by the 15th century, with warrior clans competing for dominance throughout the land. The Takeda Clan, known as having the strongest cavalries in their homeland of Kai Province (today's Yamanashi Prefecture) and beyond, hired a retainer named Uehara Dekibei who, in 1582, began to produce weapons for them. This was the start of what would become INDEN-YA.

Uehara decorated the armor of Takeda Clan members with the kozakura cherry blossom symbol, which symbolized the spirit of the samurai and demonstrated the wearer's willingness to lay down their life for their lord. This symbol and the spirit behind it remain alive today in INDEN-YA designs.

Stylish INDEN Products for Customers with Refined Tastes

Around the 16th century, trade with Europe (particularly Portugal and Spain) and India flourished, leading to the import of various ornamented leather goods. Japanese crafts were influenced by these novel designs, leading to a unique type of Japanese leather good which came to be called INDEN.

After the end of the Warring States Period of the 15th and 16th centuries, Japan entered the peaceful period known as the Edo Period (1603–1867). It was during this time that INDEN-YA founder Uehara Yushichi devised the unique method of applying lacquer to deerskin leather and put it to use in the production of small leather goods which became the very first Koshu INDEN products. Although leather goods had been primarily for the upper classes in the past, they became commonplace as daily goods for the masses during the Edo Period, and INDEN pouches, tobacco holders and other such products gained widespread popularity.

In a celebrated travel novel of the era, Tokaidochu Hizakurige, which is known as Shank's Mare in English, a main character is depicted as carrying an INDEN pouch, which demonstrates the commoners' love for such products at the time.