Featuring Kyuichi Tanaka,
President of MINEX METAL Co., Ltd.

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Pursuing Ease of Use You Can Truly Feel in Everyday Cooking

MINEX METAL Co., Ltd. is engaged not only in strainer manufacturing, but also in import operations. One of the company’s distinctive strengths lies in its manufacturing technique: creating durable colanders reinforced with a thick core wire rolled into the rim.

The creation of WAHEI eNZO’s strainer—designed for long-lasting use—would not have been possible without the company’s expertise.

We spoke with President Kyuichi Tanaka about the craftsmanship and attention to detail behind their manufacturing process.

How WAHEI FREIZ Helped Shape the Beginning of Their Wire Mesh Manufacturing

When the company was first established in Tsubame City as “Tanaka Press,” its main business focused on manufacturing whisks and providing polishing services.

According to President Kyuichi Tanaka, the reason the company eventually began producing strainers—now one of its core businesses—has a close connection to WAHEI FREIZ CORPORATION.

“Going back 50 or 60 years ago, the former chairman of WAHEI FREIZ was traveling through Fukushima as a door-to-door salesman and happened to share a room with a wire mesh manufacturer from Osaka. During their conversation, our company was introduced as a factory in Tsubame that also worked with wire mesh materials.

Thanks to that connection, we were able to source the materials we needed. And now, years later, we are producing the strainers used in WAHEI ENZO products. It’s an interesting cycle of mutual support.”

Strainers are made by combining metal sheets, mesh materials, and wire components. Each material must be sourced separately, and if even one is missing, the product cannot be made. And of course, products only reach the market when there is demand for them.

“We value our relationships with material suppliers just as much as our relationships with customers,” says Tanaka.

The Beauty Shaped by Skilled Hands

Cutting wire mesh into a precise circular shape requires different machine settings depending on the material and mesh type. Even when calculations are technically correct, the mesh can still deform during processing, causing subtle variations in size.

Because of this, the work is difficult to fully automate and relies heavily on the intuition and experience of skilled craftspeople.

“The pressing process after the mesh is cut is another particularly challenging step. Since the mesh overlaps around the rim, the key is how cleanly and beautifully those layers can be aligned.

Especially when working with fine mesh and creating deeper shapes, it truly becomes a matter of craftsmanship.”

At the factory, it was clear to see how artisans carefully adjusted the process by hand in sync with the movement of the machines.

No matter how advanced the equipment becomes, fully automating or standardizing wire mesh processing remains extremely difficult.

Even the elegant curve of the WAHEI eNZO strainer—visible when viewed from the side—is something born from the skilled hands of experienced craftspeople.

We Have to Keep Creating Something New to Move with the Times

Strainers are the kind of kitchen tool people rarely compare closely, and few know exactly when it is time to replace one.

Many people may simply think, “a strainer is just a strainer,” placing more importance on price than on usability or quality.

“We’re confident that once people actually hold and use our products, they’ll immediately notice the difference.

For this WAHEI eNZO product as well, we went through repeated rounds of trial and error to create something we truly believe in. We hope people will experience that ease of use for themselves,” says Tanaka.

A strainer may seem simple, but it is a tool that appears surprisingly often in everyday cooking.

Thoughtfully designed for both usability and aesthetics, the WAHEI eNZO series is something we hope you’ll experience firsthand when you come across it.

Discover the WAHEI eNZO Stainless Steel Strainer