What Women Make

What Five Japanese Women Make

Ever since I took on my first Japanese client and traveled to Kyoto with her, I’ve fallen in love with Japan like many before me. I was reluctant to present Japanese makers so soon because when I start in on Japan, its an Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole. Time freezes and all my other work is left undone. But I took the risk because I happened to find a small gem of a design graduate, Naoko Ogawa, and so off I had to go. I limited myself to two days to find a few more Japanese women, all in the name of a regional focus. And here they are, three Japanese designers and then the interview with Naoko-san which I’ll create for Wednesday’s post so stay tuned!

Emiko Oki

Emiko Oki

Based in London, born in Tokyo
Emiko-san uses each part of a place setting to form a trophy, her comment on what she calls a “fairly useless object” which is “masculine and sports related” rendering it “feminine, fragile, and functional.”

Trophy

Until August 23rd, you can see her work at the Museum of Art and Design in New York as part of an exhibit entitled Object Factory.

Then there’s Rie Isono and her firm Pear Design Studio. She worked for Sony before going off on her own. Here are two products of note, the elegant toothbrush holder and the skin-like fruit basket where the contents give it a unique shape every time you fill it:

Pear Design elegant toothbrush holder

Pear Design skin-like fruit basket

More traditionally Japanese are Hina Aaoyama’s intricate paper art cut-outs that she hand cuts! The zen patience of a saint. Makes me dizzy to watch it. So beautiful and delicate like couture clothing. She lives in France and has a permanent exhibit at the Museum of Miniatures in Lyon.

And I wanted to include the genius of Kazuyo Sejima the architect who makes up half of Sanaa with her protégé and partner Ryue Nishizawa. They are responsible for, in addition to this years summer pavilion in London, Tokyo’s Dior building and “Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion, which stunned critics for being perhaps the world’s first genuinely transparent museum — both external and internal walls are made of glass.” –Japan Times

And last, they’re not women, but noteworthy indeed. They fall under the category of “Men We Love” which obviously could be its own website. Check out the whimsy and inventiveness of Kyouei Design - from their oozy liquid bookmark to their aluminum mesh chair and gravity defying wine carafe.