Myochin Fire Chopstick Wind Chimes Family.

The clear sound that resonates when theres a chopsticks touch. It is said this enigmatic trailing sound is emitted only from forged iron. The skills of heating and forging this iron are skills kept secret and passed down through the generations of this one family. The Myochin family is a lineage of armor and helmet makers unbroken since the Heian era (784-1184), the family name Myochin ("bright" and "rare") having been bestowed by Emperor Konoe in the mid-12th century in commendation of those skills. then a time of great change came. With the turn of the Meiji era came the end of the age of the samurai, demand for armor and helmets disappeared, and the family was faced with ruin, but, learning from the historical precedent of their ancestors having made  chopsticks for the tea master Sen no Rikyu, the family sought to revive its fortunes by making there chopsticks. the family was faced with crisis again and again. To ensure the survival of their traditional skills, the current and 52nd family head, Munemichi Myochin, persisted through trial and error until Finally the First Myochin Fire Chopstick Wind Chime was produced in 1965. The superb qualities of the sound of Myochin Fire Chopstick Wind Chimes have received high praise not just in Japan but from around the world as an Eastern enigma. But the Myochin family have not rested on their laurels. They continue to devote themselves assiduously and unstintingly to improving quality and crasmanship. The Myochin family have passed down through the generations this untiring tenacity in taking on challenges, making Tamahagane Fire Chopsticks using traditional tamahagane (traditional Japanese steel), as well as Buddhist bells hand-forged from a new material, titanium. 

The superb qualities of the sound of Myochin Fire Chopstick Wind Chimes have received high praise from musicians and establishments around the world The timbre of Myochin Fire Chopsticks has been used to test the sound quality of SONY microphones. Isao Tomita, composer and synthesizer performer has been captivated by the sound of Myochin Fire Chopsticks, which he encountered by chance and has used in compositions such as The Tale Of Genji, Symphonic Fantasy (composed by Isao Tomita). London Philharmonic Orchestra performance, England, 2000. Mr. Tomita played the sound of the Myochin Fire Chopsticks for Mr. Stevie Wonder, who gave them high praise saying "They're an Eastern enigma. At first they sound as though they are right next to you, but then the sound seems to come from far away, tens of thousands of light years away." 

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