'chonmage piggy bank' by hisakazu shimizu
photo by miyahara muga


'li naosuke' mirror
photo by miyahara muga

'li naosuke' mirror was inspired by the idea of checking one's hairstyle when looking
into a mirror. the first in a series based on historical figures, this piece is modeled after 'li naosuke',
one of the most important political figures of the late edo period who is most famous for his proposal
supporting the opening of japan to the outside world.


hisakazu shimizu invites us to come in
photo by designboom

hisakazu shimizu, invited designboom for an exhibition installed in his private apartment.
as an design consultant of canon, shimizu has pushed the boundaries of industrial design
with his involvement on a number of their most successful product lines such as the canon IXY
(IXUS, ELPH).


'chonmage piggy bank' by hisakazu shimizu
photo by designboom

based on the theme of 'japanese history', this piece is inspired by an event that took place
during the meiji restoration in 1868 and shocked the people of the time. as part of the movement
to open japan to the west, the government ordered all samurai to cut their hair (arranged in the
traditional topknot called chonmage) to a short western style.
the piece draws its inspiration from scenes of a samurai cutting off his chonmage, which have
been meticulously reenacted countless times in historical dramas.


mirror
photo by designboom


mirror
photo by designboom


art director eizo okada among hisakazu shimizu's 'naosuke li' mirror series

the objects were part of an exhibition of deroll commissions directed by eizo okada,
who asked talented japanese artists, designers and architects to design one-off products.
the collection was first shown at the gallery space intart in tokyo october 28 - november 3, 2008
and at design miami/ basel in june 2009.

deroll commissions series 2 : japanese history from kazuhiro kita on vimeo

hisakazu shimizu and 'chonmage piggy bank'
image courtesy eizo okada


detail
image courtesy eizo okada