Isamu Kenmochi

Background

Isamu Kenmochi (剣持勇, 1912–1971) was born in Tokyo. He graduated from the wood-craft course of the Tokyo College of Industrial Arts (now Chiba University) in 1932 and joined the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Industrial Arts Research Institute, where he studied functional prototypes for chairs under the German architect Bruno Taut. In 1952 he became the first Japanese designer to tour the United States on an official study visit, and in the same year helped found the Japan Industrial Designers Association with Riki Watanabe and Sori Yanagi. He established Kenmochi Design Associates in 1955.

Signature Style

Kenmochi championed Japanese Modern — a modern design rooted in Japan's own material culture. Working with Isamu Noguchi from 1950 and in frequent collaboration with the architect Kenzo Tange, he moved freely between mass-produced industrial design and bespoke interiors, using rattan, moulded plywood and solid wood.

Notable Works

• Rattan lounge chair (1960, Hotel New Japan) — in 1964 the first Japanese furniture selected for the permanent collection of MoMA, New York
• Kashiwado Chair (1961, Tendo Mokko) for the Atami Garden Hotel
• Stacking stool (Akita Mokko, on sale from 1958)
• Interiors for the Kagawa Prefectural Government Office, the Kyoto International Conference Center and the Keio Plaza Hotel; the Yakult bottle (1968)

Legacy

Kenmochi won the Mainichi Industrial Design Prize (1963, 1970) and helped lead Japan's Good Design movement. He died in Tokyo in 1971. Kenmochi Design Associates continues, and Tendo Mokko still produces many of the studio's chairs, tables and office furniture.