hisakazu shimizu presents his one-off design products at gallery space intart, tokyo

hisakazu shimizu presents his one-off design products at gallery space intart, tokyo (above) ‘chonmage piggy bank’ by hisakazu shimizu photo by miyahara muga

during tokyo design week 2009, 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 development of a number of the brand’s most successful product lines, including the canon IXY (IXUS, ELPH).

‘li naosuke’ mirror photo by miyahara muga

‘li naosuke’ mirror is influenced by the idea of checking one’s hairstyle when looking at the 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 into his apartment photo by designboom

‘chonmage piggy bank’ by hisakazu shimizu photo by designboom

based on the theme of japanese history, the ‘chonmage piggy bank’ draws on 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

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.

hisakazu shimizu and ‘chonmage piggy bank’ image courtesy of eizo okada