Sony and Fujifilm Kokeshi Exhibition

Design-forward brands Sony and Fujifilm are coming together in a unique way to honour and revisit a traditional Japanese craft. Kokeshi dolls, traditional children’s toys turned souvenirs from the Tohoku region of northern Japan, have been reinterpreted and recreated in creative, useful and even humorous ways by the two companies’ design teams. The reimagined dolls, which incorporate modern sensibilities and uses, will be exhibited and sold at Isetan Shinjuku from June 17 to June 25.

Sony designers were inspired by the craftsmanship of Sakurai Kokeshi, a family of craftsmen who have been making their own style of kokeshi doll for generations in Naruko Onsen, Miyagi. Expect dolls wearing a knit dress, a silk scarf decorated with the brushstrokes of Sakurai artisans, as well as a rotating kokeshi made by upcycling wood shavings discarded in the process of manufacturing the dolls.

From Fujifilm, expect to see a more daring rethink of traditional kokeshi, including a machine-milled stainless steel specimen made by Goto Iron Works in the steel-famed town of Tsubame-Sanjo, or a paper lantern kokeshi by Suzuki Mohei Shoten. The latter is made with washi paper that expands and reshapes like an accordion, lending the same kokeshi a variety of shapes and playful character.

The exhibition takes place daily at Isetan Shinjuku’s 5th-floor ‘The Stage Five’ event space.