160年灯し続けた「あかり」は
未来を照らす「ひかり」へ

提灯は、美しい。提灯は、新しい。提灯は、楽しい。
2025年に創業160年を迎える鈴木茂兵衛商店。
私たちは伝統を受けつぎながら、生活を彩るあかりで、
未来を、そして人の心を照らします。

The light kept burning over 160 years
now becomes a beam to illuminate the future.

A chochin is beautiful and novel, a joy to behold.
2025 is the 160th anniversary of the founding of SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEN.
By preserving our age-old traditions, we shall illuminate the hearts of people and the future, bringing light to add color to our daily lives.

About us

Warmly adding color to each and every one of our customer’s lives.
We want our chochin to maintain that kind of presence.

We, SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEN, were established in 1865.
Ever since then, we have continued to make chochin to offer to our customers to be used on various occasions such as festivals and Obon events.

We can sense the traditional beauty of Japan in the features of having light and durable structures made of bamboo and paper, and of being foldable for storage and to unfold for use.
We would like to take the skills of making chochin and their appeal and hand them down to future generations.
The chochin with their traditional beauty are also lighting tools and practical pieces of equipment which light up your lives at the same time.
We shall convey the gentleness of the light, the beauty of their shapes, and their appeal as interior decoration, and suggest further new possibilities they may have.

We will incorporate new ideas such as useful shapes for indoor use, reproduction of flickering light and lighting using sound sensors, while making the most of traditional techniques, to make chochin that will illuminate and add color to our lives today.
In addition to conveying our tradition and continuing to make new challenges, what we enjoy the most is our connections with the customers using our chochin.
It is up to the customers themselves to choose how, when and where to use those chochin, but our important and enjoyable job is to have them make the choice which would add color to their hearts through our mutual communication.

We will respond to each and every one of our customers’ thoughts through our communication with them, at times from our production line-up, and at other times from the development of new products.

Chochin—Beautiful, new and fun lighting equipment.
SUZUMO will continue to offer light receptacles which light up tradition, the future and people’s hearts.

Our thoughts

“伝統”“未来”“人の心”をキーワードとした、
私たち鈴木茂兵衛商店の想い。

The thoughts of SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEN, the keywords being ‘tradition,’ ‘future’ and ‘people’s hearts.

For us, tradition is all the things we have nurtured for more than 150 years, meaning the skills for making the chochin, our honesty and sincerity in business and the mutual relationship of trust we have, including between our customers and our craftsmen.

Our future aim is to continue to convey the appeal of chochin and the enjoyment of using them to as many people as possible.
The hearts of everyone involved with chochin are what supports us to go on.

Carefully relaying our tradition and remembering to challenge toward the future, we shall offer products and services which brighten up the hearts of those making, using and looking at chochin.

Chochin are beautiful.
Their structure and appearance and their foldable functionality, which is supported by the skills of making them—every single one of them is beauty backed up by tradition.

Chochin are new.
The chochin we make are lights which add color to our lives today and illuminate the future.

Chochin are fun.
The feeling of excitement when you first use one, and the connections between those who look at them, use them and make them. that kind of fun is created by chochin.

We will continue to deliver these three elements from Mito to Japan, and from Japan to the world.

SUZUMO is interwoven by our good connections with people.
We wish to be a light that stays with your hearts.

The strongest thing about SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEI, or SUZUMO, is the idea that ‘our people are good.’ Those who work at our company, our chochin making artisans, the firm and sure bonds with our wholesalers, and the encounters with our customers, all of these bring to mind expressions like good luck and good relationships.

The functional beauty of chochin still remain unchanged, however, their roles in demand have greatly changed with the changing times. We hope to continue lighting up the hearts of our customers who intimately call us ‘SUZUMO-san,’ without merely resting on the laurels of age-old tradition of making lanterns for our customers since our foundation.

History

1865年(慶応元年)

四代目鈴木茂兵衛により創業。以来、戦前までは「稲葉屋」という商号で商いをしていました。

Established by Suzuki Mohei IV. He had up to then been running the business under the trade name ‘Inaba-ya’ until the Second World War.

1951年(昭和26年)

有限会社鈴木茂兵衛商店として法人化。東京の問屋さんから「すずもさん」と呼ばれていたことが、のちの「すずも」という愛称のルーツです。

Incorporated as SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEN LLC. The later name SUZUMO originated from being called intimately ‘SUZUMO-san’ by the wholesale dealers in Tokyo.

1989年(平成元年)

業界初となるカッティングプロッターの導入。今では当たり前の機材ですが、それまで手書きで文字や家紋を入れていた業界としてはかなり抵抗感があったようです。一定以上の品質の提灯をより多く提供するための決断でした。

Introduced the cutting plotter for the first time in the industry. Though it is a common piece of equipment today, many in the industry were uncomfortable at first since they’d been used to engraving characters and family crests by hand. It was our great determination to offer as many chochin with quality above a certain level as possible.

1992年(平成4年)

社屋を現在のものに改装。

Renovated our building into the current one.

1995年(平成7年)

株式会社に組織変更。株式会社鈴木茂兵衛商店となりました。

Made an organizational change to SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEN COMPANY, LIMITED

1997年(平成9年)

業界初となる業務用大型インクジェットプリンターの導入。

Introduced large commercial inkjet printers for the first time in our industry.

1999年(平成11年)

CAD(Computer Aided Design)を導入、金属による提灯の型づくりが可能に。この時点では量産のためでしたが、これにより、今までになかった意匠の提灯を自由に開発できるようになりました。

Introduced CAD (Computer Aided Design), making it possible to mold the lanterns with metal. At the time it was for mass production, but this turned out to enable free designing of the lanterns as well.

2003年(平成15年)

業界初となる缶型提灯、瓶型提灯を販売開始。この2つは、今までにない提灯として意匠登録しております。

Began sales of can-shaped lanterns and bottle-shaped lanterns, the first in our industry. We have registered the designs as unprecedented chochin.

2004年(平成16年)

広告燈の販売を開始。ギフトショーに初参加しました。

Began sales of advertising chochin. Took part in a gift show for the first time.

2005年(平成17年)

「鈴木茂兵衛商店」およびロゴを商標登録。

Trademark registration of ‘SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEN’ and its logo.

2006年(平成18年)

瓶型スタンドの販売開始。提灯を自立させるスタンド構造について特許を取得。この構造は、MICシリーズにつながっていきます。

Began sales of bottle-shaped chochin stands. Acquired a patent for the self-standing structure mechanism for chochin. This structure leads to our MIC series.

2007年(平成19年)

名入れ提灯のネット販売を開始。

Began sales on the Internet of name-engraved chochin.

2009年(平成21年)

水戸・偕楽園で開催された第4回夜梅祭に協力。それまでの提灯にはない造形のMICシリーズが、好文亭内を幻想的に彩りました。同年、MICシリーズの「夜梅-よるうめ-」が、いばらきデザインセレクションに知事選定されています。

Cooperated with the 4th Yoru Ume Matsuri (Night Plum Festival) held at Kairaku-en in Mito. The MIC series with their unprecedented chochin formative designs added magical and fantastical color inside the Kobuntei. In the same year, Yoru Ume of the MIC series was designated as the Governor’s Selection among the Ibaraki Design Selection.

2010年(平成22年)

「SUZUMO」「suzumo」「スズモ」を商標登録。

Trademark registration of ‘SUZUMO,’ ‘suzumo’ and ‘スズモ.’

2012年(平成24年)

「ICHI-GO」「SWING」「瓶型提灯」がグッドデザイン賞を受賞。

ICHI-GO and SWING receive Good Design Awards.

2014年(平成26年)

MICシリーズのSWINGに採用されている、倒れかけても起き上がり小法師のように復帰して自立することができる提灯について特許を取得。ワークショップを開始。

Acquired a patent for a chochin that can stand on its own and come back upright like the self-righting Dharma doll even if it tumbles over. Began workshops.

2015年(平成27年)

茨城県の無形文化財でもある西ノ内和紙を使用した製品、スターオーナメントの開発。

Developed the STAR ORNAMENT, a product which uses Nishinouchi Washi, an intangible cultural asset of Ibaraki prefecture.

2016年(平成28年)

スペイン・バルセロナの照明ブランドと和紙照明シェードを共同開発。

Joint development of a washi lamp shade together with a lighting brand manufacturer in Barcelona, Spain.

2018年(平成30年)

イギリス・ロンドンの家具メーカーと和紙照明シェードを共同開発。

Joint development of a washi lamp shade together with a furniture manufacturer in London, U.K.

2019年(平成31年/令和元年)

茨城県石岡市出身の橘流寄席文字書家 橘吉也氏の文字を入れる名入提灯「贈燈」の販売を開始。

Began sales of ZOUTOU, a name-engraved chochin. The characters are engraved by Tachibana-style vaudeville character calligrapher Tachibana Kichiya, who was born in Ishioka city of Ibaraki prefecture.

2020年(令和2年)

風鈴提灯「えん」の販売を開始。光のゆらぎによる癒し効果をより大きくしたこの提灯の構造は、2018(平成30)年に特許を取得しています。

Began sales of the Windchime Chochin EN. We acquired a patent in 2018 for the structure in which the relaxing effect of the flickering light is enhanced.

2021年(令和3年)

地元プロバスケットボールチーム「茨城ロボッツ」とのコラボ商品としてペンライト用提灯を開発。「発光装置及び提灯、及びイベント会場における提灯による広告方法」として特許を取得しました。

A glow stick chochin was developed in collaboration with Ibaraki Robots, the local professional basketball team. Acquired patents as ‘a lighting device and lantern, and an advertising method using lanterns at event venues.’

Company Profiles

会社名Name 株式会社鈴木茂兵衛商店
SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEN COMPANY, LIMITED
代表者President(CEO) 鈴木 隆太郎
SUZUKI RYUTARO
設立Establishment 1865年(慶応元年)、創業。
1951年(昭和26年)、有限会社鈴木茂兵衛商店を設立。
1995年(平成7年)、株式会社鈴木茂兵衛商店に組織変更。
Founded in 1865.
Established SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEN LLC. in 1951.
Organizational change to SUZUKI MOHEI SHOTEN COMPANY, LIMITED in 1995.
所在地Location 〒310-0055 茨城県水戸市袴塚1丁目7番5号
1-7-5, Hakamatsuka, Mito-shi, Ibaraki-ken 310-0055
電話番号Phone number
TEL:029-221-3966
FAX:029-231-7862
主な業務Major businesses 提灯の製造・卸売・販売、新しい提灯(和の明かり)の企画・開発、提灯による広告方法の提案
Manufacturing, wholesaling and sales of chochin, planning and development of new types of chochin (Japanese-style lamps), suggestions for advertising methods using chochin.
取扱品目Product Line 提灯全般(奉納提灯、祭提灯、看板提灯、盆提灯、ビニール提灯など)
Chochin in general (dedication chochin, festival chochin, signboard chochin, Obon chochin, plastic chochin, etc.)
営業時間Business Hours 月曜日~金曜日 9:00~18:00
(6月より8月12日までは水曜日のみ休業)
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Friday
(Closed only on Wednesdays from June to August 12)
受賞Awards received
  • MICシリーズ「夜梅-よるうめ-」
    (2009年度いばらきデザインセレクション知事選定)
  • すずも提灯 びん型ちょうちんスタンドLEDゆらぎ(2012年度GOOD DESIGN賞受賞)
Yoru Ume of the MIC series (Designated as the Governor’s Selection among the Ibaraki Design Selection in 2009)
SUZUMO CHOCHIN Bottle-shaped CHOCHIN STAND LED YURAGI (Received the GOOD DESIGN Award in 2012)
意匠登録Design Registration
  • 缶型の提灯火袋(意匠登録1191484)
  • 瓶型の提灯火袋(意匠登録1191483)
Can-shaped CHOCHIN Fire Box (Design Registration No. 1191484)
Bottle-shaped CHOCHIN Fire Box (Design Registration No. 1191483)
特許取得Patents acquired
  • 台座の中心に立てた支柱内部のバネの力で火袋を内側から張り支え自立させるスタンド構造の提灯(特許番号4403148)
  • 上輪や下輪を設けず、球面台座で外力が加わっても起き上がり小法師の仕組みで自立する提灯(特許番号5610322)
  • 風を受けることで光が搖動し、ゆらぎ効果によって見る人に対して癒しを与えることのできる風鈴提灯(特許番号6320663)
  • ペンライトの乱舞する光を、提灯紙を透過させて柔らかな柔和乱舞光とし、イベント会場の盛り上げに寄与する提灯(特許番号6993755)
Self-standing structured chochin, standing on its own because the fire box is supported from inside by the spring force of the post standing in the center of the stand (Patent No. 4403148)
Self-standing chochin which comes back upright with the same mechanism of a self-righting Dharma doll even when an external force is added to the spherical stand, with no upper or lower wheel (Patent No. 5610322)
Windchime chochin in which the light sways back and forth with the wind, causing a flickering effect relaxing those who watch it (Patent No. 6320663)
Having the joyful light of a glow stick permeate the chochin paper so that it is softened into a gentle dancing light contributes to enlivening event venues (Patent No. 6993755)