Passagen Cologne 2014: Modernes Japanisches Design at the Japanisches Kulturinstitut

When Charlotte Perriand arrived in Japan in 1940 to begin her commission from the Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry to investigate the current state of industrial production in Japan and suggest new ways forward, her guide and translator was a young man by the name of Sori Yanagi.

Some 15 years later Sori Yanagi created one of the archetypal and most instantly recognised pieces of modern Japanese design: the Butterfly Stool.

There are those who can see Ms Perriand’s influence on the work, or at least the influence of the classic European Modernism. We don’t count among them, but do count among those who believe that through episodes such as that of inviting Charlotte Perriand, or the German architect Bruno Taut, Japanese design became visible to a wider pubic. And that has helped it develop. And so helped Japan develop.

The Japanisches Kulturinstitut in Cologne is currently hosting the exhibition “Modernes Japanisches Design”, a collection of 100 objects that tell the story of  contemporary Japanese design. Starting with post war design classics including Isamu Noguchi‘s Akari light sculptures, Yoshiharu Iwata’s rice cooker for Toshiba, Sou Shimada’s TV8-301 television for Sony, and of course the Butterfly Stool, the exhibition expands out to present objects as varied as childrens toys, tableware, cutlery, furniture, lighting, safety helmets and of course examples of those technical objects that have brought Japan so much wealth in recent decades; be they cameras, televisions, telephones, automobiles or motorbikes.

Despite all the technology on show a particular highlight for us is and was the 1961 Kikkoman soy sauce bottle by GK Graphics Inc., being as it is one of those evocative and provocative objects that restores ones faith in the simplicity of the design profession.

One slightly negative aspect is the exhibition has been touring since 2004. And has barely been updated in the past decade. The only two new products being a Canon scanner from 2008 and the 2009 VAIO P Series netbook.  And if a week is a long time in politics, a decade is an eternity in design.

And so it would have good had the exhibition been more thoroughly updated. Its certainly advisable that it should be.

That said, as a snapshot of  the Japanese design story, as an introduction to the development of design in Japan, Modernes Japanisches Design is entertaining as it is informative and presents a thoroughly enjoyable overview of a healthy and robust design industry.

And poses the obvious question: what would Charlotte Perriand make of the way design and industrial production in Japan has developed?

Modernes Japanisches Design can be viewed at the Japanisches Kulturinstitut, Universitaetsstr. 98, 50674 Cologne until February 22nd 2014.

In addition to the exhibition the Japanisches Kulturinstitut is also running an fringe programme including on February 8th a lecture and presentation on Japanese carpentry.

Full details can be found at www.jki.de