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Tend
o M
okko
Ca
se s
Tud
y
A cAse study of best prActice in the integrAtion of mAteriAls technology And design to improve innovAtion
1
Tendo Mokko is an innovative plywood
furniture maker based in tendo, yamagata,
Japan. The company has flourished
despite an unusually remote location,
making full use of design and technology
expertise to find inventive ways of
manufacturing with an unpredictable
raw material. The story of Tendo Mokko’s
early development has been researched
by Royal College of Art historian of design
and manufacturing Sarah Teasley for this
InnoMatNet case study.
ConsorTiuM
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best prActice in mAteriAls And design
Sarah Teasley is an historian of
design and manufacturing at the
Royal College of Art in London,
who grew up around the sights and
smells of her grandfathers’ wood and
automotive workshops. She defines
her role as ‘history for practice’ –
making observations, connections
and comparisons in order to explore
issues such as:
• How do manufacturers and
designers adapt to changing
conditions, processes, materials
and technologies?
• How do these shape the built
environment and daily life?
• How can lessons from the
past make today’s design and
manufacturing better?
In Teasley’s view, the history of
plywood furniture is particularly apt
for these questions as it involves both
machinery and material innovation,
technology transfer, sustainability,
funding and the role of design.
“I was halfway up a mountain, talking
with designers and engineers about
plywood furniture manufacturing in Japan
in the 1950s and ‘60s, while eating wild
mushroom stew in northern Japan. I was
there because Tendo Mokko is a brilliant
company for thinking about technology,
materials and all the different constraints
and propellers for innovation.”
dr sarah Teasley
4 5
best prActice in mAteriAls And design
Sarah Teasley’s research looks at
Japanese furniture manufacturer Tendo
Mokko, rather than the more obvious
Nordic countries, because in the postwar
period Japanese firms created innovative
plywood furniture in a competitive yet
collaborative environment, drawing on
local skills and materials and participating
in international networks. origins & drivers for innovaTion Tendo Mokko was founded in 1940 by a
group of eleven ornamental carpenters
who, faced with a wartime decline in
house building, decided it would be more
efficient to bid for government contracts
if they worked together.
They shared a fundamental curiosity
about how wood works, how it can
be manipulated and what its specific
properties can offer the maker.
The group spent the war years making
wooden boxes for munitions, and were
commissioned to develop mock aircraft
to divert American bombers. Despite
their traditional background, they
became interested in advanced overseas
manufacturing techniques, e.g. those used
in production of British Mosquito aircraft.
Manufacturers, craftsmen and design
researchers began talking with each
other, spending time at each other’s
institutes and companies, all inspired by
a fascination with plywood materials, as
well the business opportunity.
Sarah Teasley believes that Japan is
a very useful comparison for Britain,
Germany and other EU countries as it
also industrialised in the 19th century, so
contrasts can be made about successes,
failures and the factors involved.
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best prActice in mAteriAls And design best prActice in mAteriAls And design
role of business enTrepreneur The group soon realised that they
needed business acumen as well as
technical excellence to grow the market
for their products. They also had to
overcome their isolated location in
mountainous Northern Japan, an area
locals jokingly referred to as ‘the Tibet
of Japan’.
They started by recruiting a business
entrepreneur with strong networking
skills who established new marketing
outlets through Tokyo department stores.
The entrepreneur and Tendo Mokko’s
technical lead saw the need to modernise
the company’s manufacturing processes
and contacted the government-backed
Industrial Arts Research Institute (IARI),
a specialist in plywood design and
technology located over the mountains.
By 1945 they had gained considerable
manufacturing experience, built up
stocks of wood and fuel, and were very
quickly able to make the transition into
a post-war economy. They began the
new era making folding dining tables and
other furniture for people living in very
small, temporary accommodation during
the re-building of Japan.
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best prActice in mAteriAls And design best prActice in mAteriAls And design
role of loCal researCh insTiTuTe The Research Institute’s role was to
research how traditional local industries
and materials could be updated for
contemporary markets. Many of the staff
were trained in furniture and product
design, others had a hands-on training in
materials R&D. They introduced a strong
design and technical understanding
which complemented the craft expertise
at Tendo Mokko.
Tendo Mokko had the advantage of
having access to plentiful, untouched
local supplies of wood to manufacture
plywood furniture. However, this
Japanese form of beech wood was more
subject to warping and inconsistencies
than European beech – understanding
its physical composition, behaviour and
processing techniques was a riddle that
had confounded previous generations.
The former carpenters therefore became
keen attendees at Research Institute
lectures and reciprocated by inviting their
technicians, engineers and designers – as
well as overseas experts – to visit the
Tendo Mokko factory.
Institute staff researched plywood glues,
bending and steaming processes, and
with their help, Tendo Mokko gradually
built a complete plywood production
system. By buying freshly-felled logs then
drying and processing them in-house
they could maximise quality control and
oversee the entire operation from raw
material to finished product.
best prActice in mAteriAls And design
pioneers of plywood ManufaCTuringBy setting out to build a local and
international knowledge network,
embed entrepreneurship, and develop
a deep technical understanding of
how to work with plywood, Tendo
Mokko were set to become one of the
pioneers of plywood furniture in Japan.
They began to focus on
manufacturing contract furniture,
having foreseen that as part of
Japan’s physical reconstruction and
democratisation many new civic
buildings would be built.
In another astute move, their leaders
persuaded Inui Saburo, a senior
plywood researcher at the Research
Institute, to become their head of
technology in 1959. He became integral
to the development of specialist
plywood presses, seeking information
from Danish experts and working
closely with Japanese press makers on
specifications and training initiatives.
Value of output-driven TenderingBy the 1960s, 90% of Tendo Mokko’s
market was contract rather than
domestic furniture. According to
Sugasawa Mitsumasa, an integral
member of the design team, this
stability and the government tendering
process gave them scope to be more
innovative and experimental.Their
remote location was another important
innovation driver – they felt they had
to “come up with something different”
and were fortunate in having the nearby
Research Institute to provide technical
and design support/inspiration.
best prActice in mAteriAls And design best prActice in mAteriAls And design
design experiMenTaTion They made the business decision to
partner with Japan’s leading avant-
garde architects – also involved in the
contract market – making it easier to
experiment with plywood’s possibilities
and developing a unique market niche
for Tendo Mokko’s creativity.
Alongside fast-track innovation, they
also took a long-term view of research
and development. In many cases they
would be given a design that couldn’t
be made at the time, but with in-house
engineered technical advances in
plywood presses, it might then put it into
production 20 years later.
global design neTwork We tend to think of globalisation as
recent. But in the early twentieth century,
European and American designers
were travelling to Japan, and Japanese
designers to the West. In the 1930s, the
architect Bruno Taut was learning and
building personal networks in Japan.
As Tendo Mokko evolved towards making
cosmopolitan sculptural furniture during
the 1950s, they wisely tapped into these
high-end, international expert networks
which had begun re-forming after the war.
Through the Research Institute’s design
head, Tendo Mokko began to collaborate
with outstanding creatives from Tokyo,
including Tange Kenzo (soon to be at
Harvard) and ex-Le Corbusier architect
Sakakura Junzo.
They later sent one of their promising
young designers to the Danish Furniture
Research Institute, with a remit of learning
new skills, networking and bringing fresh
knowledge back to the factory.
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best prActice in mAteriAls And design
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best prActice in mAteriAls And design best prActice in mAteriAls And design
design for exporT MarkeTsDuring the 1950s the Japanese
government strongly encouraged
companies to seek export markets.
Eventually, this resulted in the opening of
a joint showroom office in San Francisco,
featuring high-end ‘flagship’ designs.
But before that, they made sure to show
the most stunning pieces at the Milan
Triennale – and as a result had work in
the permanent collection of the Museum
of Modern Art, New York by 1958.
Tendo Mokko today – Vision and longeviTyWhile Sarah Teasley’s research mainly
focuses on the formative years of Tendo
Mokko between 1945 and 1965, she
has recently brought their story up to
date, as part of exploring how Japanese
industrialists and others are continuing to
innovate today.
The past 20 years in Japan have been
haunted by economic stagnation,
driven by outsourcing to China, a
quickly ageing population and a difficult
financial climate, and worsened by the
2011 earthquake and tsunami.
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best prActice in mAteriAls And design
In the absence of bold, sustained action
from central and regional government,
there is an emerging sense among
companies and community groups that
they need to reinvent Japanese business
and cultural life. They are starting on a
small scale, asking:
• How can they capture imaginations
and channel this interest into active,
dynamic attempts to reinvigorate
communities?
• How can they spark local and regional
excitement about the future, and a
sense that ordinary people and SMEs
can have a positive impact, too?
• What does company-led social and
environmental sustainability look like,
for local and regional SMEs?
• Can local and regional SMEs with
a deep history of community
contribution find fresh energy by
revisiting what worked in the past?
Partly because other, more standard
measures have already been tried, the
approach is becoming more experimental.
In Tendo Mokko’s case, they have begun
exploring social innovation and co-design
around products that have a long life –
very explicitly involving everyone in the
company in the design and production
of new pieces, and creating product
narratives that involve the end user.
Several of the eleven founders’ children
and grandchildren are involved in
running the company today, and
while many of their competitors are
no longer in business, Tendo Mokko
have remained unusually successful
at understanding the market while
remaining true to their core design
vision, materials and product quality.
They remain Japan’s premier plywood
furniture manufacturer in terms of
technique and quality, keeping prices fairly
high and diversifying astutely, e.g. into
veneers for the luxury automobile sector.
They have maintained a long-term vision,
despite the economic climate being more
challenging than 20 years ago, and appear
to benefit from considerable goodwill
among current and former employees.
As a company, a hierarchical structure is
inevitable, but a sense of collaborative
work is present among all parts of the
design and manufacturing process.
One of the challenges Tendo Mokko
currently face is the need to operate
within a weakened industrial ecosystem
and supply chain. As an example, their
favourite plywood presses were built by
Japanese manufacturers in the 1950s
and 1960s, but many manufacturers have
folded, so replacement parts must be
hand sculpted or cast.
Despite this, Tendo Mokko still
experiment with press technologies,
and with the forms that they’re able
to make, building on the deep tacit
understanding of the technical limits
and possibilities of plywood that
underpins this innovative company.
20 21
Best practice in materials and design Best practice in materials and design
lessons froM Tendo MokkoBuild knowledge• Seek out expertise and don’t be shy
about it.
• Voraciously consider bringing in new
technology, but also take advantage
of the older skills and methods that
you might have in your work force.
• Acknowledge your strengths and
acknowledge the strengths of others.
• Be aware of resources around you –
in Tendo Mokko’s case an abundant
supply of wood and the expertise of
the research institute.
• Be mindful of the importance of
access to researchers and research
institutes – whether at universities,
further education colleges, companies
in complementary industries or
regional research institutes.
• Encourage long-term thinking
on the part of government /
business research funders. Blue-
sky research has value in bringing
ideas and connections to industry
collaborations. “It’s nerve wracking,
but there is an economic impact”.
Look ahead• Look ahead and think about markets
that haven’t yet emerged, making
what your company and people are
good at your selling point.
• Diversify, but diversify strategically so
that your core image is clear.
Experiment• Maintain curiosity about materials
and the processes – encourage a
culture of experimentation and
questioning around materials and
business opportunities.
• Don’t be afraid to bring in young
designers and engineers with wild or
unconventional ideas, or to support
their development.
Collaborate• Cultivate and maintain connections
with other interesting people in
different fields, local and international.
Think about how you might be able to
collaborate with them.
Maintain internal culture• Pay strong attention to corporate
culture, employee culture and worker
satisfaction – especially if you are in
the manufacturing sector and founded
on craft skills as well as automation.
• Maintain trust, even in times
of uncertainty – allowing for
experimentation, giving people
the room to play over the long term,
and recognising that you may be
able to capitalise on that later on,
even if you’re not technically able
to do so immediately.
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best prActice in mAteriAls And design best prActice in mAteriAls And design
24 25
Best practice in materials and design Best practice in materials and design
disClaiMerThis report forms part of the
deliverables from the InnoMatNet
project which has received funding from
the European Commission’s Seventh
Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013
under grant agreement n° 290583. The
report reflects only the author’s views
and the European Commission is not
liable for any use that might be made of
the content of this publication.
The project runs from the 1 April 2012
to 30 September 2014. It involves
eleven partners and is coordinated by
Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI).
More information on the project can be
found at www.innomatnet.eu
The lead contractor for the case studies
was InnoMatNet consortium partner
the Institute of Materials, Minerals
and Mining, with delivery through
the Materials and Design Exchange
(MaDE), a group within the UK Materials
Knowledge Transfer Network.
www.iom3.org.uk
www.materialsktn.net/made
© innoMatnet 2013Images pp. 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 22-23 © Tendo Co., Ltd.
Image p17 © Yanagi Design Office. All Rights Reserved.
We are grateful to the following individuals and organisations for their contribution to the InnoMatNet case studies: sarah Teasley, Royal College of Art Tendo Mokko
Case study suggestions taken from the InnoMatNet survey. Reviewed by: Claire Claessen and John Conti-Ramsden, Chemistry Innovation KTNJohn bound, The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (MaDE, Materials KTN)
Research & editing: John bound, The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (MaDE, Materials KTN)
Graphic design: lara Collins, The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining
aCknowledgeMenTs
Dr. Sarah Teasley’s research on Tendo Mokko was funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
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Best practice in materials and design
ConTaCT
Tendo Co ltd
1-3-10 Midaregawa
Tendo City, Yamagata
T + 81 23 653 3121
www.tendo-mokko.co.jp
dr sarah Teasley
Reader in Design History and Theory
School of Humanities
Royal College of Art
Kensington Gore
London, SW7 2EU
T +44 (0) 20 7590 4444
www.rca.ac.uk
twitter.com/sarah_teasley