COVER STORY: The Way of Cool

Caption: “Something to Touch” speakers are all made to order. Several months are required from the time of order to completion. Price around 360,000 yen.
Credit: TADASHI AIZAWA

Crafts About the House

Japanese traditional handicrafts are widely admired as works of art, but their real attraction lies in their everyday functionality.

A drop-shape object of a size that can be cupped in both hands is laid on its side to reveal a speaker unit in the shape of an eyeball. This is “Something to Touch,” a speaker created by the three-man design project MILE that can also be appreciated as an interior design feature. Wajima lacquer, a traditional Japanese craft, has been applied to the elegant black surface.

Why did Japan’s leading-edge team of designers choose Wajima lacquer? Sound engineer Bandai Matsuo, a member of MILE, explains:

“We wondered whether we could incorporate Japan’s beautiful traditional crafts into an article for daily use. Firstly, we paid a visit to the Wajima factory in Wajima City [Ishikawa Prefecture] to study the technique.”

What astonished the three designers on their visit was the number of processes required for the finished product, the craftsmen’s perfectionism in respect of their work, and the soft texture of good quality lacquerware.

“In Japan, Wajima lacquer has an exclusive image, but we thought that it is through everyday use that its real merits can be appreciated. This gave us the idea of combining lacquerware with a speaker for music, a representative object that is indispensable for contemporary lifestyles,” says Matsuo.

The response to the Wajima-lacquer speaker is very different in Japan and overseas. “At exhibitions in Japan, most people look at it from a distance, as an artwork, but at overseas exhibitions everyone readily reaches out to touch it. Yet they do not treat it roughly. You get the sense that even if they are not familiar with Wajima lacquer, they understand its quality,” smiles MILE member Kentaro Kai.


It was Iwachu, the colorful Nanbu ironware manufacturer of Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, which changed the image of Nanbu ironware from that of austere black or dark brown. This colored ironware is mainly for export. “People in Europe and North America care strongly about lifestyle issues such as coordinating the colors of kitchenware or furniture,” says senior managing director Isao Fukumura. “Ironware has advantages such as keeping water hot for longer, as well as durability. Also, Nanbu ironware has the characteristic of not rusting easily. Aspects such as these are also valued.” Currently, collaborative products with the globally popular character Hello Kitty are on sale.