Floor Chair (Zaisu)
Manufactured by Tendo Mokko
Japan, 1960s
Bent plywood, Fabric upholstery

Measurements
50 × 57 × 46h cm
19,7 × 22,4 × 18,1h in

Provenance
Private collection, Japan

Literature
Tendo. Eight decades of masterful designs from leading Japanese furniture maker Tendo Mokko. Published by Tendo Mokko. Japan, 2020.

Notes
Low chair (zaisu) produced by Tendo Mokko, exemplifying the refined aesthetics of Japanese Modern design. The chair features a sculptural plywood frame with a softly curved seat and backrest upholstered in fabric.

About Tendo Mokko
In northwest Japan, in Yamagata Prefecture, a group of carpenters and joiners created a cooperative that primarily produced wooden objects, ammunition and supply crates for the army. Incorporated in 1942, the cooperative worked with the Sendai Institute of Industrial Arts and used the new molded plywood technology to make decoy aircraft. After the war, Tendo opened an office in Tokyo (1947). It produced furniture for the occupying troops, then turned, in the early 1950s, to furniture for the domestic market One of his first commissions came from the architect Kenzo Tange, who designed plywood seats for the Ehime Prefecture, built in 1953. Plywood was then a new material for designers, and Tendo was one of the first manufacturers to use it for its furniture, notably for the Butterfly stool, created in 1956 by Sori Yanagi. Tendo's policy of paying royalties for design projects attracted many other designers, so much so that, in the sixties, Tendo could boast among its ranks the leading furniture designers Isamu Kenmochi, Daisaku Choh, Riki Watanabe, whose creations are still produced. In addition, Tendo encouraged young designers by funding an annual competition from 1960 to 1967 and by manufacturing some of the winning designs itself, such as Reiko Tanabe's plywood chair. In 1964, Tendo received the Mainichi Prize for Industrial Design for its pivotal role in furniture manufacturing.