足立区の江北駅から徒歩約8分のところにある「株式会社安心堂」。安心堂はパッド印刷技術に優れ、曲面や小さなスペースへの印刷を得意としています。

ANSHINDO inc., is located around an 8-minute walk from Kohoku Station in Adachi City. They excel in pad printing techniques and specialize in printing on curved surfaces and small spaces.

コロナ禍で仕事がなくなるピンチに直面

Facing a difficult situation, as work dried up during the Coronavirus pandemi

2020年2月末、仕事の依頼が途絶えました。どんな曲面、小さなスペース、1個からでも印刷ができる安心堂ではイベントグッズやアーティストグッズ、ノベルティなどの仕事が多く、コロナの影響をかなり受けました。

At the end of February 2020, work requests stopped coming completely. ANSHINDO,which can print on any curved surface, small space, or even just one item, had a lot of work involving event goods, artist goods, and novelty times, but was severely impacted by the pandemic.

そんな中、丸山さんは会社を継ぐべきなのか、たたむ道を選ぶべきなのか、私たちの印刷の価値とはなんなのだろう、と悩んだそうです。アーティストグッズなども手がけていたことから、ファンの方が生涯大切にしたい、その人の宝物になるものを作っていたことに改めて気づき、安心堂の印刷の価値を再確認しました。そして丸山さんが先代の父のあとを継ぎ、社長に就任したのは2020年4月１日のことでした。

As this was happening, Mr. Maruyama was quite worried about many things – such as whether to take over the company or shut it down, and what the value of their printing was. As they are involved in making artist goods and other products,they once again realized that they were creating things that their fans would value for life, items that these fans would always treasure. This reconfirmed the worth of ANSHINDO’s printing work.And because of this, Mr. Maruyama followed in his father’s footsteps and became President of the company on April 1 2020.

地元愛をつむぐ沿線グラスの誕生

Creation of Railway line glasses made with love for one’s hometown

「沿線グラス」は、もともとは草加の飲食店からの依頼で作成したオリジナルグラスでした。草加と北千住を結ぶ線路が描かれたグラスは飲食店で話題となり、そこで購入した人がSNSのグループに投稿したところ「欲しい！」という人が続出しました。

“Railway line glasses” started out as an original glass created by request of a restaurant in Soka. The glass, which depicts the railway connecting Soka and Kitasenju, became a popular topic at the restaurant. Guests who purchased the glass at this restaurant posted about it to a social media group, leading to more people wanting to purchase it.

2020年、3つの沿線（東武スカイツリーライン北千住〜浅草、江ノ電、和歌山電鐵）から4種類のグラスが誕生しました。2021年には足立区にある駅を集めた東武スカイツリーライン牛田〜竹ノ塚が販売開始。大師線開通90周年のイベントを記念したイベントで販売した時には、普段話題になりにくい駅を最寄りとする人たちからの反響が大きかったそうです。現在では、沿線地域の活性化などを目的に28種類のグラスを展開しています。グラスは、線路や電車のイラスト、駅名がデザイナーで違うデザインとなっており、全部そろえたくなるかわいさです。

In 2020, 4 kinds of glass were created based on 3 railways (Tobu Skytree Line from Kitasenju to Asakusa, Enoden, and Wakayama Electric Railway).In 2021, this glass began to be sold based on the Tobu Skytree Line, which has stations in Adachi City, from Ushida to Takenotsuka Stations. When it was sold during an event to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Daishi Line, there was quite a big response from people living nearby the stations, which normally aren’t a hot topic of conversation. Currently, 28 kinds of glass are being offered to help revatlize areas along railway lines. The glass varieties are so cute that you’ll want to collect all of them, as they have illustrations of railways and trains, and station names depicted in different designs depending on the designer.

先代が開発した手動小型パッド印刷機「なんでもくん」

Nandemo-kun – a manual small pad printing machine developed by his predecessor

そんな話題の沿線グラスを印刷しているのは製版から印刷まで可能な手動小型パッド印刷機「なんでもくん」。パッド印刷をもっと知ってもらいたい、もっと工程を手軽にしたいという思いで先代が開発しました。こちらを使えば、小さなデザイン会社などでもパッド印刷が内製できる優れもの。安心堂では「じざいくん」や「どこでもくん」も販売しています。

Nandemo-kun is the name of the manual small pad printing machine which prints these popular Railway line glasses. It can handle everything from plate making to printing. It was developed by Mr. Maruyama’s predecessor based on his desire for more people to know about pad printing and to make the pad printing process easier.Using Nandemo-kun lets small design companies create excellent pad-printed products in-house. ANSHINDO also sells “Jizai-kun” and “Dokodemo-kun.”

この日は、実際に丸山さんにパッド印刷を実演していただきました。柔らかいシリコン製のパッドにインキをつけてグラスに押し付けるようにして印刷します。印刷工程を見るだけでもおもしろい！

The day we visited, Mr. Maruyama was kind enough to give us a pad printing demonstration. He prints by adding ink to the soft silicon padd and pushing it down on the glass. Seeing his printing process was quite interesting!

地元の人たちがつながって、楽しい時間をともに過ごすコミュニケーショングッズ

Communication goods that let local people connect and have a good time together

どんな小さな駅にも住んでいる人がいて、それぞれにストーリーがある。同じ沿線グラスを持っている人同士が集まって、懐かしい思い出に浸りながらお酒を楽しんだり、地元愛を語り合ったり、楽しみながらつながってほしい。沿線グラスは、そんな願いが込められています。

Everyone has their own stories to tell, regardless of how small the station they live near is. ANSHINDO wants people who have the same glass to gather, enjoy sake while reminiscing about the past, discussing their love for their hometown and having a good time connecting with each other. These Railway line glasses were made with these desires in mind.

丸山さんの今の目標は「沿線グラスで日本全国をつなぐ」こと。これからも全国各地の沿線グラスが増えていくのが楽しみです。

Today, Mr. Maruyama’s goal is to connect all of Japan through these Railway line glasses. Look forward to seeing more Railway line glasses appearing throughout Japan.

沿線グラス商品ページはこちら
Click here for the Railway line glass - Adachi-ku based stations from TOBU SKYTREE Line product page.