History of Our Company

The history of our company has a close relation with the history of making the brush in Kumano Town.
Mr. Yasubei Shiromoto became a brush craftsman in 1868 (Meiji 2) and started the brush making in Kumano Town.
Mr. Joichi Shiromoto, (Shodai=First) received the license from Hiroshima Prefecture as "Fude Yui (making and selling brushes)" first in Kumano Town in January 1881 (Meiji 14), and we, as a company, started brush manufacturing and selling, officially. Therefore, January 1881 is the official foundation year of our company.
We built a small Temple dedicated to the Kannon, who protects people in the town, in the company in appreciation of the ancestor and/or senior brush craftsman's achievement in 1869 (Meiji 3).
(Although Houto, stone lantern, remained with that time, the temple was rebuilt in 1964 (Showa 39).
We promise and respect tomorrow's prosperity of the town and the company.


Makeup Brush

Our makeup brushes are made individually by hand by skilled artisans using materials carefully selected from all over the world. Only highly trained and highly skilled workers, who have mastered traditional brush making skills over a long period, can make these brushes. Many people from all over the world have attested that our make-up brushes are of the highest quality. We will deliver a genuine artisan-made makeup brush.
One of our brushes, “Kumano makeup brush set in KIMONO”, won the Bronze Medal in
the Essential Japan Category at the Most Attractive Japanese Souvenirs Award Competition 2011, organized by the Japan Tourism Agency.
and this item sells in Japanese souvenir shop "桜　Sakura” in narita airport.


The president's greeting

I assumed the position of President and CEO on April 1, 2009. Since its establishment as a brush manufacturer in 1869, Hiroshima Artist Brush Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has manufactured many different types of brushes.
The brush industry has been suffering increasingly in recent years, but as the leading company in the brush industry, we will strive to maintain the traditional craft goods of Japan and export them globally. Our mission is to keep manufacturing products that not only satisfy customers' needs, but also "something creative," "something good,"and "something interesting" while using the best traditional techniques developed over 140 years of brush making.

Kenji Shiromoto, President & CEO