Armchair
Commissioned by Mitsukoshi Ltd.
Manufactured by Chikukousha
Japan, 1973 (designed in 1937)
Bamboo

Measurements
75 x 60 x 72h in
30 x 23,7 x 28,5h in

Provenance
Private collection, Tokyo

Literature
Japan Living Design, Exploring 20th-Century Modernism. Published by Japan Interior Designers Association. 40th Anniversary Commemorative Project. Tokyo, 2004. Pages 72, 73, 76 and 77.
Domus, n°269, April 1952, similar model p. 41 in an article about an exhibition curated by Kenzo Tange, Takashiyama, Tokyo

Details
The design was inspired by the idea that "I wanted to somehow use the familiarity with bamboo as a more meaningful and useful material in modern furniture" (Kogei News, January 1938 issue). All components are made from bamboo. The frame is made by joining together eight thin pieces of bamboo.

Notes
The shape is a curved surface, supported between two U-shaped sections that meet at the top of the backrest. The seat is cantilevered and does not require rear legs, bending slightly with the weight of a person. The design is based on an armchair by Alvar Aalto from the early 1930s and demonstrates the influence of Scandinavian design at the time. The first version was developed in 1937 for Mitsukoshi, a department store that was instrumental in introducing and promoting European modernism in Japan. Aalto’s armchair, and Kidokoro’s later version, expresses an artisanal response to the Bauhaus and international modernist style, using warm, natural materials instead of cold metals.
This armchair by Ubunji Kidokoro inspired Charotte Perriand for her iconic creations in laminated bamboo. In the 1940s, Charlotte Perriand exhibited the Kikokoro armchair in the Takashimaya department stores in Tokyo and Kyoto and produced furniture designs using similar methods. The Kikokoro armchair perfectly illustrates the mutual exchange and influence between Western and Japanese modernisms.