Omori, Oda City; a tiny village in the mountains. This place was known as far away as Europe during the 17th century as a silver mining town. In 2007, the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine was registered as a World Heritage Site. A key player in making this happen was Toshiro Nakamura, a modern-day hero. He’s accomplished two heroic feats. One is the registering of the mine site as a World Heritage Site. The second is the founding of a business which manufactures high-quality prosthetics. Let’s take a look at this amazing man who has accomplished so much.

Interviewed by Takafumi Suzuki
Translated by Claire Tanaka

Did you have a strong motive when you started on this path?

I started this business merely as a means to make a living. I wasn’t thinking about making a contribution to society, or being a pioneer in the field, or continuing something I studied in school, none of that. I just tried to think of something I could do to make a living, and this is what came along.

Where did you learn about making prosthetics?

An acquaintance introduced me to an old prosthetic manufacturing plant in Kyoto, and I worked there after I graduated from High School. I worked there for about six years, and that’s how I learned the basics of prosthetic limb production. At first, when I went to visit the shop, there were all these limbs lined up outside the shop, drying in the sun, and I thought, “Wow, this must be an interesting business to work in.” There was no textbook or manual. I had no choice but to learn by watching my co-workers on the job and copy what they did.

Staff member concentrating on her work

Every staff member has a high degree of skill

So what was the reason you decided to go to America at that time?

It was because I had begun to feel a need to make something better, something newer. It seemed the natural step to study abroad in an advanced nation like America. So I went to America and studied at University of California, and after I graduated I was hired to work at a company called Modern Orthopedics.

What kind of impressions do you have of your time there?

There was a company called Hozma located in the small town of Campbell in California. Hozma was a prosthetic leg manufacturing company, and at the time, it was number one or maybe number two in the world in its field. That’s what made me think, “It’s possible to succeed at this business even in a little town like this.” There was one more thing that happened while I was there which was a big turning point for me. I was in a terrible accident. I opened my eyes, and I was lying in the morgue. That’s how bad it was. I almost lost my life. That’s when I decided I had to do something with the knowledge and skills I’d acquired. I decided to go back to Japan, return to the town where I was born, and make prosthetics.

Prosthetic legs stacked on a shelf

The thigh portion of a prosthetic leg

You have been known to say, “When I came back, my hometown looked so desolate.”

Yes. But my father had told me so many times, about how this place, which used to house the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, had a population of 200,000 during its peak. “Iwami silver went all the way to Europe during its heyday. You can reach the world from Iwami.” This was what my father always used to say. I think these words were what enabled me to keep on trying.

It seems like it must be a really hard job to run a prosthetics company from such a small town. How did you face this challenge?

Everyone was thinking, “He can’t do it.” but I say you never know unless you try. Through my work, I challenged everyone’s preconceptions. At first, the factory was just a little shack beside my family’s garage. I worked all alone. The people in the village all thought, “He’ll never make a living out here in the boondocks.” But I had seen globally successful companies in Silicon Valley when I was in America, and I knew I could do it.

High standards of cleanliness

Not an uncommon sight at the workshop

But how were you able to expand your business out here in the country?

I got my first order from my uncle. His lower back was hurting and he asked me to make him a corset. I’d talk to one customer about their needs, then talk to another, and a third. My customer base grew one person at a time, literally. I gradually built up a good reputation, and doctors at the hospital started to introduce me to other doctors. My work grew little by little, through word of mouth.

Many people say that the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine would have never been registered as a World Heritage Site if it hadn’t been for your efforts.

I put a lot of effort into getting it registered as a World Heritage Site because I wanted to help revive Omori. I bought about thirty old traditional buildings with my own money and restored them to use as staff housing and factory space. I put hundreds of millions of yen into it. But I thought, if it will help the town, it’s worthwhile.

Tell me a little about the unique concept your company has which you call “Medical Art”.

Medical Art is a new concept, which approaches the making of prosthetics from an artistic perspective. It’s a concept that sprung from the desire to make customers happy by making beautiful, realistic prosthetics. Our order-made prosthetic breast, Vivify, is made for women who have undergone a mastectomy. There are also ready-made prosthetic breasts on the market, but most women want a prosthetic breast that looks just like the one they had before. They want their own, unique breast. In order to make a beautiful, realistic body part, artistic skill is more important than mechanical skill. We start by taking measurements on the patient’s body, then we go through a long process of producing the form and adding color and hair. As a result, the way it feels to the touch, the appearance of blood vessels and hair, the color of the skin, all those details are just right. It’s the ideal combination of form and function. That is Medical Art. The majority of our staff are actually art school graduates. They work day and night to produce that ideal.

You’ve got incredible luck and vitality, haven’t you?

The “brace” in Nakamura Brace carries the meaning of “to support”. We support people with disabilities, we support society, and we support our local region. All those meanings are expressed by “brace”. I’m in this business so that I can be of help to other people, that’s all.

Nakamura Brace
Ha 132, Ohmori-cho, Ohda-city, Shimane prefecture

Toshiro Nakamura
Born in 1948. President, Nakamura Brace Company.**