Tohoku London

Tohoku London’s goal is to introduce items of northern Japanese cultural heritage to the rest of the world in a creative way, to benefit people struggling to keep traditional industries alive after the devastation of 2011. Tohoku London designs products in London, manufactures them using northern Japanese materials, and aims to sell them around the world. The first collection features aizu momen, which is a traditional cotton kimono fabric from the Aizu area of northern Japan. Aizu momen has been used in Kimono tailoring for more than 300 years – it is stronger than normal cotton fabric and, much like Scottish tartan, it comes in hundreds of local variations on a traditional stripe pattern. The traditional aizu momen is turned into stylish handcrafted products, such as business card cases, mobile phone cases, bow ties, hair scrunchies and corsages.

The project was founded by Tomomi Sayuda in June 2011. Tomomi made research trips to northern Japan, visiting the workshops of around 20 northern Japanese craftsmen –meeting the local people and listening to their stories. The pieces in this first collection were designed by Tomomi Sayuda, Chika Nagai, Ryoko Mutasono and Sanae Kido.

Tohoku London」はロンドンの新進気鋭のデザイナーと東北の伝統工芸、新素材、加工技術等の企業がコラボレーションをしていくことで新製品を開発し世界をマーケットに販売していく、東北の地域振興型復興支援プロジェクトです。
東北で技術提供、UKをはじめ世界の見本市に出展し、新しいデザインを世界に向けて販売し、東北の地域振興と、日本のデザイン業界の産業活性化を図ることが目的に始まりました。
２０１１年の６月に東北六県の２０近くの伝統工芸工房を訪問し調査を行い、ロンドンのデザイナーを中心に、デザインデベロップメントを行いました。

左右田はTohoku Londonのクリエイティブディレクターとしてこのプロジェクトの運営、デザイン企画を行いました。

September 2012 El Mundo NHK BS1 (Japan)

Creative Direction
Tomomi Sayuda

Design
Tomomi Sayuda
Chika Nagai
Sanae Kido
Ryoko Mutasono