Extension of Human Hands – Keiji Nemoto | Interviews

Keiji Nemoto is one of Japan's leading commercial interior designers. He has been designing retailers and food & beverage stores for various leading brands, including the Shinjuku Takano Fruit & Cake Shop, for many years. After graduating from ICS College of Art and Interior Design, he worked at Izumi Design Office, established Touch Down Inc. in 1982, and launched Keiji Nemoto Design Office in 1989. In addition, he educates young students at ICS as the Director of Department II of Interior Architecture & Design.

In the 1980s, when Keiji Nemoto was in charge of designing a store for KENZO in Nagasaki, he used wires for the first time and encountered ARAKAWA GRIP. He used to adopt turnbuckles, commonly used in construction to tighten by turning screws on both ends in opposite directions. However, he sought more delicate tension grips suitable for interior spaces, so he consulted with Mr. Arakawa. According to Nemoto, it was a time when wires were starting to gain significance as a decorative element. Amidst this trend, he was looking for functional and delicate devices suitable for his artistic expression and found ARAKAWA GRIP intriguing.

In the design of Takano's boutique, he created a retail store system that integrates all the elements, including grippers with turnbuckle functions, glass shelves, and grips that support the hanger pipes. Since the clothing section of Shinjuku TAKANO was a large retailer, it required a system that could flexibly adjust the height of the racks and shelves to accommodate seasonal product shifts, from swimwear in the summer to coats in the winter. Although he was not involved in the product development process, he would make requests for the type of items in need, and Mr. Arakawa would always respond to these requests.
In this sense, Nemoto’s practical feedback has indeed led ARAKAWA GRIP to expand the possibilities of its products. Naturally, the emphasis is wider than functionality alone. It was essential for the products to be versatile while maintaining their full functionality.

Another interesting project that Nemoto and ARAKAWA GRIP have worked on to date is the installation at the JAPAN SHOP exhibition. In 1989, when Nemoto established his current office, he began to develop
a closer relationship with members of ARAKAWA GRIP team, and an exhibition stand design project emerged from there. According to Nemoto, they still needed to establish a proper system for the exhibition stand plan for ARAKAWA GRIP in the beginning. They always had a unique exhibition style, but where did Nemoto come in? The theme was to show the use of wires in outdoor settings, and the challenge was creating such a display inside the exhibition space. For Arakawa, it was their first time appointing an interior designer to create their exhibition space. Similarly, it was also Nemoto's first attempt at designing an exhibition stand of this nature. Nevertheless, the finalized exhibition stand consisted of colored acrylic boards built into a framework that made it appear as avant-garde artwork. Arakawa planned to distribute souvenirs for the visitors who came to the exhibition, and Nemoto suggested an egg-shaped keychain made of wires called "Super Egg." Nemoto said it was a simple little item, but the process behind creating this product generated many memories. The final version used aluminum dyeing and plastic for the egg component, whereas the initial version used rubber. Various eggs were created using acrylic, luminescent, and gold-plated materials and then vanished.

Nemoto recalls, "I am a space designer, but I have learned so much from working with ARAKAWA GRIP concerning the details and expressions contained in the drawings of products." Nemoto was also involved in the development of ARAKAWA GRIP catalogs and presentations. As a consultant, Nemoto offered suggestions once or twice a month, and there were times when he joined the staff meeting to provide feedback from his experience as a user. For example, he wanted to improve the image of hardware catalogs, which were thick, heavy and challenging to browse. They thought the wires' thickness was the most important factor when customers used them, so he suggested that the wire thickness should be the base of the catalog. He is unsure if a specific industrial sector exists for wires in Japan, but he believes ARAKAWA GRIP has a complete collection. In the Internet age, there is less need for real contact with products, so he suggests young designers who use wires in their designs visit showrooms and see the actual products. In the philosophy of engineering, it is said that every tool is an extension of human hands. The minimalistic nature of the Wire and Grip devices is a testament to this philosophy. They become handier as they are used, and the knowledge accumulated from experience becomes a source of the design. text by Masaaki Takahashi