To commemorate the 300th anniversary of Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten, which was founded in 1716, the "Dai Nippon City Exposition" toured various parts of Japan, kicking off at the "Tokyo Exposition" held at Tokyo Midtown.
Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten's President and CEO, Jun Nakagawa, commented on this initiative, "We hope this will be an opportunity to let more people know about our ongoing goal of 'revitalizing Japanese crafts.' We also hope it will be a place where outsiders can experience the local crafts of each production area and convey how wonderful they are." The aim is to create limited-time spaces in five regions across the country where people can "buy," "learn," and "experience," rediscovering the appeal of local craftsmanship and creating excitement in the hosting areas.
Representing one of the concepts of this exhibition, "Learning from the past to create something new," the exhibition features an "old" deer, based on the company's logo and crafted using traditional techniques such as a single-stroke engraving and a saddle with mother-of-pearl inlay, as well as a "new" deer by artist Kohei Nawa, created based on a 3D scan of the old deer.
Also, a must-see is the gold folding screen "Crafts Chronicle," created to commemorate the 300th anniversary as a substitute for a company history. Because a document-based company history would not be read, and because some of the documents were burned during the Meiji period, it would not be very thick, the exhibition focuses on the history of crafts as a whole. Traveling through eight eras from the Stone Age to the present, the gold folding screen features illustrations of iconic objects and places from each era, as well as insights into the business models of each era. The final period includes a future industrial tourism model, predicting that it will bring producers, distributors, and users closer together—a vision Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten is currently working to realize in Nara. "Crafts Chronicle" is supervised by the Editorial Engineering Institute, headed by Seigo Matsuoka, and illustrations by Susumu Zenyoji. These will also be exhibited at future venues. 300th anniversary commemorative products will also be sold at the venue. The "Japanese Crafts Edition Monopoly ZIPANGU," which will be sold in limited quantities at Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten stores nationwide from February 17th, will also be available for pre-sale, showcasing a new approach that combines traditional crafts with overseas-inspired games. Additionally, talk events and workshops will be held daily at each venue. Former Japan national soccer team player Hidetoshi Nakata appeared as a guest speaker at the Tokyo talk event on January 15th, followed by creative director Manabu Mizuno on January 16th.
The exhibition is scheduled to tour the Iwate Expo (May 3rd-5th), Nagasaki Expo (September 22nd-25th), Niigata Expo (October 6th-9th), and Nara Expo (November 1st-6th).
