Photo Anders Westerholm.
For a long time, Finns have been said to share with the Japanese an affection with simple shapes and basic colors. Scandinavian design has been popular in Japan for over a decade, and its popularity doesn’t seem to be fading. The Hirameki project, set for launch in Tokyo in October, aims to keep it that way.
Strolling through Tokyo’s trendy Omotesando region, you can spot several familiar products and brands from Helsinki’s cityscape in less than an hour: Marimekko, Artek, Iittala, OIVA TOIKKA as well as magazines and books on Scandinavian design.
The distance between Finnish and Japanese countries and cultures are drastic, and it might be hard to believe that Finnish design is visible in Tokyo’s cityscape. However, common visual penchants seem to be more than just a myth. New connections pop up all the time.
“The deep understanding between the Finnish and the Japanese has existed for a long time,” says designer NAOTO NIIDOME, who was born in Finland and spent a large part of his childhood in Japan. “The biggest masters of Finnish design found an early admiration for the traditional Japanese style. The interplay has worked both ways after Finland was put on the world design map.”
Photo Anders Westerholm.
The connection also came up in the spring of 2009, when the results of a study by Helsinki School of Economics called Marketing Finnish Design in Japan were revealed. Among others, VESA LEIKOS’ and KATARIINA VILLBERG’s study interviews about design and Finland in Japanese culture clearly showed that the interviewed people felt that there were similar aesthetic values in the two cultures. The interviews also revealed that it is the simplicity of shapes and colors in Finnish design that pleases the Japanese.
Niidome also mentions simplicity, but adds ingenuity to the list. The project manager for Design Forum Finland’s Hirameki project, SIRPA FOURASTIE, further lists an interest in technology, tacticality regarding materials and a sense of harmony.
“Excluding water and wood, both countries have had scarce natural resources, and pomposity is a foreign concept,” analyzes Niidome, who lives in Helsinki. “Even the villa of the Japanese emperor has been built – if you pardon my expression – out of bamboo twigs and moss, but with excuisite skill and detail without compromising the surroudings. Finns also prefer this type of building, and they can turn pinewood into anything.”
The Japanese seem to be fascinated also by the Finns’ silence, slower lifestyle, love for nature, familism and a slighly less commercial approach to life. “Perhaps some other culture is seen as more perky, and our silence works in our favor,” Fourastie ponders.
A continuing fad
Nordic design has been the bee’s knees in Japan for almost a decade, and these days many so-called ordinary consumers recognize Scandinavian design when they see it.
“Design enthusiasts can even name the Nordic country that produced an item,” Naoto Niidome says.
“In Tokyo, Finnish design is often incorporated into a larger concept,” says HENRIIKKA SAARELA, founder of design management agency Double I. “The Japanese think very conceptually, and they place products into a concept instead of selling them as just ‘Finnish design’.”
Saarela has been living and working in Japan for twelve years. At the end of 2009, she founded Double I, which operates from Helsinki and consults designers as well as small and medium enterprises about the Japanese market and looks for the right contacts to launch products in Japan.
Photo Anders Westerholm.
“The vintage world is also very popular, and both individual people and companies import a lot of Finnish vintage furniture, ceramics and textiles into Japan,” Saarela states.
You can also quite easily run into Finnish or Swedish words in Tokyo in the names of stores and restaurants. Finns will be delighted by Japanese clothing brand Minä Perhonen (“me butterfly”), the name of which is its only connection to Finland.
“Using Finnish in Japanese names is fresh at the moment, but it shouldn’t be interpreted as a special ‘win’ for Finland,” Henriikka Saarela smiles. “You have to put thing into proportion – in the 1980s, French was the trend, which is visible for example in the Japanese fashion brand Comme des Garçons.”
Insight in design
In Japan, the most familiar Finnish things are Moomins, Santa Claus, reindeer, lakes, nature and the northern lights, as well as design brands like Marimekko and Artek. Organized by Design Forum Finland, October’s Hirameki project will hopefully add new design products and brands to the list.
Eighteen months in planning, Hirameki will show off Finnish design in a broad showcase during Tokyo Designers Week and create contacts between Finnish design companies and Japanese buyers. Furthermore, the project has already included communications, kick-off events and export training days.
The exhibition, set in Living Design Centre Ozone, will include products from over 60 Finnish companies and designers from newbies to large industrial corporations.
“In addition to the exhibition, the project also includes matchmaking events and networking,” says HANNA PUNNONEN, the other Hirameki project manager. “At the event, there will be a Japanese business consultant who will create relevant contacts one company at a time. Every time we’ve been in Tokyo, we’ve met with department store buyers, told them what is coming, and what kind of products will be at the exhibition.”
“The basework of this project includes Finnish Minister of Culture STEFAN WALLIN’s visit to Japan and universities’ previous work in Japan. We are now creating a link between all these parties,” clarifies Sirpa Fourastie.
Hirameki, which translates to ‘insight’ or ‘spark’, is backed up among others by the Ministry of Education and Culture, Aalto University, the Ministry of Employment and Economy, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Helsinki World Design Capital 2012 venture. Partnering are also Finnair and Fennia Prize.
“We’re also aiming to make a brand out of Hirameki, and the upcoming exhibit isn’t a one time only thing. We’ve already discussed seminars and other follow-up events for the coming years,” Hanna Punnonen says.
“There’s already a spinoff of the exhibition, set to be revealed at Hirameki,” Fourastie hints. Perhaps Marimekko and Artek will be joined by other Finnish brands in the crowded Omotesando. †
Hirameki Design x Finland in Tokyo 29.10.–7.11.2010. www.hiramekidesign.com
-
Text Heini Lehtinen Photos Anders Westerholm
Light snow 
