Long before the Turkish government's decision to designate 2003 as “Year of Turkey in Japan”, many Japanese had come into contact with Turkish culture through Ali Tasbasi, a kilim dealer from Istanbul. Of course, this is not Tasbasi's official role, but rather the based kilim business, where he not only explains to customers the finer points of kilims but also answers questions about Turkish food, the country's geography and whatever else his customers want to know.
”My customers ask me (lots of) questions. They should. They don't know the capital city of Turkey. That's normal,” Tasbasi said. “Here, I represent my culture (and) Turkish art, and I introduce them to people in Japan”.
He feels a strong responsibility to inform those inquisitive about his culture. "For many Japanese, I'm the first Turkish man they meet (in their lives). So, I'm always very careful to answer questions,” Tasbasi said.
And kilims were something he missed when he moved from his native land.
”One day he said the look of streets in Tokyo were so boring,” said his wife, Kumiko. “It was before our marriage and he was visiting me in Tokyo. He went out for a walk but said it was no fun because he couldn't see kilims and carpets drying outside people's houses as would be the case in Turkey.”
Kumiko suggested Tasbasi set up a business and found a single room for him to work from. In it, Tasbasi has created a truly Turkish atmosphere for his shop, which opened in 1996.
Tasbasi said the overall ambiance of his shop, Mammoth Istanbul in Ebusu, needs to be authentically Turkish there are piles of kilims occupying much of the floorspace in the rather dusty shop, with a flood of hues from the top quality antique kilims decorating the walls.
”In this shop, you can feel Turkey,” Tasbasi, 34, said. “This is the typical carpet shop in Turkey. Customers must feel relaxed and I need to feel relaxed, too. Otherwise, I can't do this business.”
Kilims, handwoven rugs that come in various colors and distinctive motifs, are widely collected in Europe and the United States, but in Japan, at least when he settled in 1995, the word kilim itself was not commonly recognized.
”This is a new culture for Japan. So it was very hard (for me) to introduce this culture. Japan has tatami culture, right?” Tasbasi said.
Tasbasi, however, soon learned that many Japanese houses have rooms with wooden floors. He also noticed that the number of shops dealing in kilims was increasing.
”There are many shop selling damaged kilims (due to age) with big holes and people here would think that's what kilims are. That's a very bad image for kilims,” he said. “I want to change that. This is real art; you must sell really good ones.”
”Every single old kilim should look different because they were made for the maker's own use, not intended for sale. In old kilims, we can see the feeling of the maker. I have seen millions and millions of kilims and carpets, and as a professional I know which points to check.”
Even now, women in remote villages make two or three kilims a year for their families, he said. “I want to buy those kilims.”
Growing up in a family that runs a carpet shop in Istanbul, Tasbasi was raised in the perfect environment to learn about the variety of kilims.
”When I was small, my father would ask me, “Get an old kilim,” without specifying which ones were old kilims, and out from the pile. I picked up the one I thought was an old kilim for him, and I was always right.”
He added that he knows how to wash carpets as well as how to repair them, which is not the case among all kilim dealers.
”My family members learned these things special step by step. But the next generation, like my brother's son, he wants to become a computer engineer. That's how we are losing our culture.”
At the age 22, he opened his own kilim shop in Turkey, but he later met and married Kumiko, a jewelry designer, and decided to move to Japan and open a kilim shop in her country.
His family was behind his decision to try his luck in Japan because they were convinced that kilims could be enjoyed by people anywhere in world.
But, naturally, kilim tastes differ depending on a person's cultural background. Before coming to Japan, Tasbasi was selling huge kilims to Europeans and Americans. “Designs and the meaning of motifs are very important for Westerners”, he said.
According to Tasbasi, Japanese customers have a special taste for color and he attributes this tendency to the kimono tradition. “They know the colors. They can easily understand the weaving (process), too.”
One thing did surprise him, though. “About 70 to 80 percent (of my customers) buy kilims as tapestries. They are buying kilims for hanging. How can this be?” he asked rhetorically.
The answer lies in the quality of kilims, he said. “People who had wanted to put a kilim on the floor and see it there, take it off from the floor, (hang it on the wall) and come back to this shop to buy one more kilim for the floor. It's always like that.”
Tasbasi tells his customers they should never consider the price when they choose a kilim. “The price (kilim) does not necessarily mean the quality,” he said. “But if it is good for your furniture, sofa, or wall color “ when you are hanging the kilim “ or if the kilim itself makes you happy, just take it. You don't have to spend much money.”
He has customers of nearly all generations. Naturally, many younger customers find kilims expensive. In such cases, he shows them small kilim for around 5,000. “They are happy because they feel they are buying a kilim. What matters (to the customers) is that they buy something called a “kilim,” Tasbasi said. ‘When they are buying the kilim, they always give me a beautiful smile and say “Arigato gozaimasu.'”
Apart from kilims, food is another way for Tasbasi to introduce his culture to Japanese people. In 1998, Tasbasi and his wife published their first cookbook in Japanese, featuring traditional family recipes from the Tasbasis. “I called home (to ask for recipes). For certain dishes, I even went back to Turkey so that my sister and mom could teach me how to cook them,” Tasbasi said.
With such commitment to introducing his own culture, Tasbasi has high hopes that the government “organized year” long program will succeed in introducing Turkish culture as authentically as possible.
(Asami Nagai, Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer)
