Chopsticks are a 4000-year-old eating implement that has remained untouched. And, for almost four centuries, the quaint town of Obama in Fukui Prefecture, Japan has manufactured beautiful lacquered chopsticks. The lacquered chopsticks are considered the hardest and the most beautiful of the Japanese lacquer chopsticks, and they’ve been named ‘Wakasa-nuri’. Nendo teamed up with Hashikuru Matsukan – a manufacturer who has continued the Obama legacy. Nendo gave a contemporary and innovative twist to the age-old chopsticks!
Designer:
Called the Rassen or spiral chopsticks, these unique chopsticks merge fun and functionality to create a product that is quintessentially Japanese, yet quite contemporary. The Rassen chopsticks can be joined together to create one convenient single unit, and they can be detached or separated whenever you need to use them! Rather than having two separate pieces of tableware, you have a single unit in the shape of an elongated cone. When you pull both the chopsticks apart, you notice an interesting twist in their wooden handles.
The entire experience of bringing the chopsticks together and then separating them becomes a fun and amusing experience. It feels like you’re playing with a jigsaw puzzle! Using the chopsticks to eat your meals, brings joy and a certain sense of playfulness to your everyday ordinary meals. Putting them back together is really quite swift and easy too, and it eliminates the fear of losing one of them.
While designing the Rassen chopsticks Nendo had the intention of giving people a small ‘!’ moment. We often find many small ‘!’ moments in our day, and these tend to make our days brighter and richer. Nendo wanted to contribute and add a ‘!’ moment in people’s lives with their lovely chopsticks. These chopsticks are handmade by artisans, and Nendo also utilized a multi-axis CNC miller to build the unusual yet useful utensils.
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