Systematization of Design and Technique of Rattan Furniture in Modern and Contemporary Japan

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K12666
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 90010:Design-related
• Research Institution: Shibaura Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Arai Ryuji 芝浦工業大学, デザイン工学部, 教授 (20389810)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 籐家具・籐工芸・籐製品・籐椅子 / 西京丸・台湾椅子・海老椅子・三折寝台・長寝台 / 進駐軍・GHQ・Paul T. Frankl / Ｑデザイナーズ・渡辺力・松村勝男・剣持勇 / 全国籐製品新作品評展示会・全籐連展・籐竹 / 小菅恭太郎商店・小菅商店・小菅工業・コスガ / 風間製作所・カザマ・マダムロタン / 山川ラタン・ワイ・エム・ケー長岡

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Rattan furniture design in early modern Japan was introduced from mainland China, and had some common types throughout Japan, with variations in details such as weaving patterns. It used bamboo and small diameter rattan for frames, binded with rattan peels, and seats, backs, and tabletops were woven with rattan peels. It was linear.
In the latter half of the 1930s, when the direct import of Tamin rattan (large diameter rattan) became full-throttled, curvilinear designs using Tamin rattan as frames emerged.
The modern design of rattan furniture in Japan germinated under the influence of German modern design in the 1930s, sprouted under the influence of GHQ and the United States in the 1940s, and blossomed in the 1950s by Q-Designers and Isamu Kenmochi. After 1980s, postmodern designs were also seen in Japanese rattan furniture.

Free Research Field

家具史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

戦前日本の中流階級上層部にまで広まり、戦後は一般大衆にまで浸透した籐家具は、自然素材を活用し、夏涼しく、軽量で持ち運びし易いため、高温多湿で、高齢化が進んだ現代日本住居に適した家具である。本研究の成果により、日本家具史の研究が発展するとともに、日本の籐家具のデザイン開発と技術開発の進展が期待される。
また、籐家具のデザインと技術は全世界の多くの国々で独特の発展を遂げながら、相互に影響し合ってきた。これまで近現代日本の籐家具の体系的研究書の発行は皆無であり、本研究が日英両文で発行されると世界のデザイン研究者及びデザイン実践者に大きな影響を及ぼすことになると有望視される。