A Chicago Designer Finds Lessons in the Toy-Making Traditions of His Japanese Heritage

I was still a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago when northeastern Japan was hit by the tsunami in 2011, and I remember seeing a video of nuclear plants collapsing and someone saying, "Japan is finished." After graduating, I hosted art workshops with Peace Boat, a humanitarian organization that travels around the world to help underserved communities in places like Senegal and Morocco, but it felt a little hypocritical, given the situation in Japan. I wanted to learn more about my people and my heritage. So as soon as the boat trip ended, I started making trips to northeastern Japan every year to learn about its craftsmen and their traditions, which are dying out. That’s when I was introduced to kokeshi, the two-centuries-old practice of making dolls out of wood, and started this collection.