"Creators Meet TAKAOKA" is a collaboration project between Takaoka City's traditional craft workshops and creators. Prototypes of products and music born from this collaboration were unveiled.

"Creators Meet TAKAOKA" is a project that Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture, has been undertaking since fiscal year 2019.

Takaoka City has developed into a leading "city of manufacturing" along the Sea of Japan coast, with a history spanning over 400 years in traditional industries such as copperware and lacquerware, as well as modern industries.

This project aims to create new value for Japanese craftsmanship and foster a sense of connection with the region by fostering collaboration between creators and the traditional craft workshops of the Takaoka area.

Following PR events and model tours in Tokyo in 2019, fiscal year 2020 saw a further step forward with creators and Takaoka workshops collaborating to produce new products and materials.

When applications opened in August 2020, 20 teams applied for the four available slots.

From these applicants, five creator teams from diverse fields, including product design, new material development, and music, were selected. They were then matched with six workshops specializing in metal crafts, lacquerware, and sedge weaving.

Two of these teams had also participated in fiscal year 2019, further contributing to the creation of new relationships between the region and creators.

To begin the production process, a kick-off tour was organized for all participants to visit and experience the overall atmosphere and culture of Takaoka by visiting all collaborating workshops. Subsequently, teams held meetings and discussions, utilizing online tools to complete their prototypes.

The resulting prototypes presented unique proposals, born from the chemical reactions of collaboration between artisans and creators, which neither could have achieved alone.

Nousaku x Hamanishi DESIGN: "Candlestick"
This collaboration features "Nousaku," a leading metal casting manufacturer in Japan's traditional industries, and Shu Kamata, a product designer from Hamanishi DESIGN, who also participated in the model tour in fiscal year 2019. The "Candlestick" boasts a pop design that visually expresses the casting process of Takaoka copperware, which involves "melting." The upper part, appearing molten, is mirror-finished, while the base retains the raw texture of the casting, showcasing different expressions of brass within a single product.

Lacquerware Kunimoto x Mitsui Chemicals MOLp: Accessories "En/En"
The collaborator for "Lacquerware Kunimoto," a planning and wholesale company for lacquerware, is "MOLp (Mitsui Chemicals Oriented Laboratory)," a volunteer group formed by members within Mitsui Chemicals. This is also a continuation from last year. Sample prototypes are progressing for "En EN / Wa WA," a series of lacquer accessories designed to be enjoyed as they age. Accessories molded from "STABIO(R)," a resin derived from marine minerals and plant-based urethane resin developed by Mitsui Chemicals, are then coated with lacquer. This is expected to create new textures, such as weight and translucency, not found in traditional lacquerware primarily based on wood.

Takenaka Copperware x Takashi Teshima Design: "Re Produce," "TO YA MA," "Still we live," "Gradation"
Teamed up with "Takenaka Copperware," the largest planning and wholesale company in the Takaoka copperware region, is Takashi Teshima, who is involved in product design as well as the creation and sale of fashion items. This initiative explores the possibilities of surface treatment in metal casting from four different perspectives. All ideas are initially materialized, and then those suitable for productization are selected.

Sano Masa Manufacturing x shy shadow: Three-Dimensional National Flag "View Point"
Sano Masa Manufacturing, a copperware maker that handles custom orders and produces original prayer bead stands, is collaborating with a team led by Akira Yoshimura, a designer who has worked at the forefront of the product industry in the United States for 20 years. They are creating a three-dimensional national flag object called "View Point." The photo shows a wooden mold; the finished product is planned to be made of brass. Instead of coloring, differences in color will be expressed through surface treatment. The size is approximately 6cm x 4.3cm.

Shimadani Shoryu Kobo x Hitsuioto Seisakusho: Music Played by "Orin" (Bell) "Vague"
Shinji Wakasa, a music creator/artist, leads "Hitsuioto Seisakusho" (Sheep Sound Studio), which is collaborating with two workshops this time. One is "Shimadani Shoryu Kobo," a metalworking studio that crafts "orin" (small bells), with fewer than 10 artisans nationwide. In 2020, they repaired the "orin" at Eihei-ji Temple, the head temple of the Soto Zen sect. This project involves processing the sound of the "orin" when struck, as well as the sounds produced during the "orin" making process (such as firing sounds), to create five conceptual musical tracks that express the process of "orin" creation.

Takaoka Folk Crafts x Hitsuioto Seisakusho: Sedge Speaker "Sedge"
Wakasa's other collaborator is "Takaoka Folk Crafts," which handles the entire process from cultivation to processing of sedge. While Takaoka's sedge hats (from the former Fukuoka Town) hold a 90% share for demand in historical dramas and festivals nationwide, the low wages, due to their origin as winter sideline work for farmers, have led to a serious aging population and a shortage of successors. Amidst this, Kouun Nakayama is dedicated to creating sedge hats that can also be displayed as art pieces, as he is the only young artisan in the production area. This team's proposal is a speaker made of sedge. The photo shows the frame, and the sedge will be woven onto it.