The name of Sui-Gen-Kyo (水玄京) was built based on fundamental factors that we want to remember when running our business, each syllable has a meaning that is important to us.
Sui
-水-
means water
“The best people are like water, which benefits all things and does not compete with them. It stays in lowly places that others reject. ”
This is the quote from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, he explained this phrase as what he believes people should strive to be like. I was deeply impressed by this quote, which made me realise that I want to be this kind of person, someone who does not forget to be modest and helps those around me to the best of my ability.
Upon the establishment of Suigenkyo, I desired to create an organisation with this philosophy as a central ethic, and decided to use the word of Sui at the beginning of the company name. This would be the first building block for the future I have envisioned for the company.
Gen
-玄-
means professional, intricate and black
Gen coveys a number of meanings.
Firstly, it means professional. Gen refers to the professionalism of a person who is practiced in creating certain thing and we would like to show our respect to the ‘Japanese craftsman’ by using this word. Secondly it means intricate, the reason why we put the word Gen is to share the intricacies of Japanese craft as well as Japanese culture to over the world. Lastly, Gen means black, from this meaning of Gen, we wanted Suigenkyo to be a sophisticated company with a uniform, black colour palette.
Kyo
-京-
means foundation and metropolis
Our vision for the future of Suigenkyo is for it to be an advocate of Japanese traditional craftspeople and their work.
Based on this vision statement, we are aiming to be a company that can be the metropolis of Japanese culture and its development. Additionally, as the city we established our company in was Kyoto, we can remember where we first began in using the word “Kyo”.
To Conclude
Through the trade of Japanese traditional craft, we want to be a company that people can rely on for a long time, the same way Japanese people have relied on the crafts we want to share with the world. We are excited for you to join our journey!
