In consideration of the financial crisis and the fact that Cibone, the shop that sells our products in Tokyo, had once again invested in a large-scale presentation, I felt it would only be appropriate to attend the presentation. One of the reasons not to attend a presentation like this is that it usually coincides with a major event elsewhere, in which not only your own work, but that of all other designers in the world is on display. The journalists, who naturally are part of the reason to attend, hold one interview after the other and you need to really stand out in order to attract the right attention amidst such media frenzy. The evenings are filled with opening after opening, during which you need tonetwork and socialise as much as possible and it’s all so very exhausting. Personally I prefer a simple event in which we are the ones to create the excitement.
All the same, once you’re there, it’s tremendously inspiring nonetheless. Nowadays, we have an extra goal of sorts. Since we started with the new building, we now view matters in a different light, items that we might also be able to sell. Good food as well, since we will soon have a restaurant as well as inspiring presentations and concepts. Since recently, we have a different outlook on matters, which actually makes our work a lot more fun since, after all, our focus is also practical.
Five years ago, Cibone was the first international dealer to present our products, making it a sort of anniversary as well. During my first meeting with Mac, the owner of Cibone, I told him that it would take years before our product would be successful. But it has taken far less time than initially expected, since we have had a relatively good sales level since the very beginning. We ship a few containers to Japan each year. Right before the last shipment, we sent an extra one and part of the cargo consisted of a number of building kits made especially for the Japanese market. They can be used to make both cabinets and chests. I didn’t see them anywhere and was afraid it had turned out to be a fiasco, but when I asked about it I was told they sold out immediately.
The days flew by quickly, with all kinds of interviews and photo sessions scheduled one after the other. The highlight was instructing the personnel early Sunday morning, which was voluntary and following a week of very hard work, with Mac the interpreter explaining the products. You can really tell that the entire team is tremendously motivated and enthusiastic, reason enough to visit again.
After spending the night in an itsy-bitsy room without either air conditioning or sleep, we quickly booked a room in a different hotel. This one was nice and large, pleasantly cool and with high ceilings. But after that one claustrophobic night, the time seemed right to start working on meeting the demand for smaller products. As big as Tokyo is, every square centimetre is filled and worth a fortune, which is why many of our products are simply too large.
After five years, it seemed like the right time to invest in this. On the way back from that crazy grind, you cannot help but feel a sense of absurdity. Why go to the other side of the world to sell your goods? Why get onto a plane and put your work in a container? But overseas trade is as old as the road to Rome. My earlier idea to produce locally, i.e. export the concept, not the product, resolves the issue of schlepping products from one country to the next. Right now, it is only a dream for the future, since obviously you need to create some turnover first.
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