History 3
3. The Kakudo series, born from cutting boards
Sasaki: When you first visited Takahashi Kogei, you brought a Styrofoam model with you. Did that mean the design was already complete?
Daiji: It was a cutting board that I designed and made when I participated in a workshop at a woodworking manufacturer that a senior designer was involved with. I really wanted to turn this cutting board into a product, and I was like, "Mmm!", and then Rin invited me to Asahikawa, so I thought, "Let's take this idea with us!" and I think that's what I did.
Sasaki: lol
Daiji: Of course, cutting boards alone would be too abrupt and wouldn't sell, and I knew about Kami Glass, so I thought about what other items I could combine with cutting boards to make a viable product. On the plane on the way there, Rin and I were thinking about the three series "Kami," "Cara," and "Kakudo," and we started brainstorming, "What kind of tool can we make with an NC router?"
Sasaki: What was your impression of Takahashi when you saw Kakudo?
Takahashi: Before we even discussed whether or not to do Kakudo, it started with "I want to make a cutting board, I want you to make one," and I said it was fine to make one, but I had already started the Kami series and Cara series, and while it would be fine to just make a cutting board, I think I said it would be easier to present it if you thought of other things as well. At first it was something like, "Just make this for now! Bye-bye" (laughs).
Daiji: What a nuisance (laughs).
Takahashi: We had just decided to exhibit at the GIFT Show, so we thought, "Let's do something." Do you have any other tools besides cutting boards? Oji-san seemed to have an idea for trivets, so we thought, "Let's have that and one more, so about three types would be enough." So we had trivets, butter cases, and maybe something else.
Sasaki: Was it after that conversation that you decided to make a butter case?
Daiji: I think that's probably true.
Sasaki: Was the cutting board octagonal from the beginning?
Daiji: It was octagonal.
Ono: Yes.
Takahashi: At first it was thicker, about 40mm.
Daiji: That brings back memories. At the time, there was a demand for mugs at Kami Glass, but we wondered how to make them, so we thought about making something like a paper cup with a thin handle, and came up with a prototype (looking at the screen).
Ono: At first we were talking about how the paper cups for hot coffee that you used to get at drive-ins were similar to this, but in the end Daiji came up with the cute triangular handle design.
Daiji: We designed the mugs much later. We had already finalized the three lineups, so we decided to start over with the mugs.
Takahashi: Maybe about three or four years later? I thought that I would wait until I could sell the Kami glasses we had and get the general public to know about Cara and Kakudo before I even started on mugs. I knew that the mugs would definitely sell, but I thought that if they sold first, the impression of the mugs would be too strong and people would stop carrying our other products, so I brought the mugs over last. I had been letting them brew up until then, and I think Oji had a lot of ideas in mind during that time, and he had made prototypes of various handles, including ones like the handles on paper cups. The first Kami mug prototype came out, with a completely different handle.
Sasaki: I didn't make it because I knew it would sell.
Takahashi: That's right. Even in the Enju series, the mugs are the best-selling items. I thought that if the mugs sold well, the Kami glasses would definitely not sell, and that sales of the other Cara cups would also be slow at first, so I told Daiji and others that we should put off the mugs until the other products became more well-known.
Daiji: A styrofoam model came out. (Looking at the screen) lol