This summer, a new collaboration with some of Japan’s most highly skilled artisans in metal casting has given birth to the “NOUSAKU Pokémon Collection” of prized items crafted in pure tin.
The Pokémon Company’s partner in this new project is NOUSAKU CORPORATION, a company with a history in metal casting tracing back more than a century. NOUSAKU is located in the city of Takaoka in Toyama Prefecture, an area renowned for its metal casting products. For this project with Pokémon, NOUSAKU exclusively uses pure tin, a metal offering supreme malleability. All processes, from manufacture of the molds into which the molten metal is poured to refining the prototypes into the final products, are performed by hand by NOUSAKU’s outstandingly skilled artisans. Their burnished skills enable the creation of textures and curved surfaces of a level of beauty not possible using machines.
Headlining the NOUSAKU Pokémon Collection is the “Ditto Tray.” Crafted in the shape of Ditto, the transform Pokémon that can change shape any which way, the Ditto Tray too can be flexibly bent to different shapes. Its malleability of course comes from use of 100% pure tin.
The other star of the NOUSAKU Pokémon Collection is the “Poké Ball Bowl.” Inside the base of the bottom half is a silhouette of Pikachu. Because tin has an antibacterial property, it is ideal for use in vases, as it helps prolong the life of flowers. Poké Ball Bowls can be used in many different ways, including as tableware and accessory cases.
The collaboration between The Pokémon Company and NOUSAKU CORPORATION came about in response to the aspirations of both partners.
For NOUSAKU, how to convey the beauty and artistry of traditional metal casting in today’s world posed a major challenge. The company was eager for more and more people to become familiar with metal casting, an art inherently integral to everyday life yet often seen as “high-class,” befitting formal occasions only. Considering various options, NOUSAKU decided the answer was to tie up with Pokémon – a relationship it felt would surely shine a bright new light on the art of metal casting.
For Pokémon, the possibility of collaborating with NOUSAKU, a company with a long and proud history in traditional craftsmanship, was considered a great honor. Pokémon also quickly realized that the special nature of metal casting in pure tin shared much in common with the traits of various Pokémon. This common ground led Pokémon to offer up specific ways in which the two companies’ aims could be simultaneously achieved.
NOUSAKU has many Pokémon fans on its staff. When the company called for suggestions of products to include in a “NOUSAKU Pokémon Collection,” close to 120 ideas were put forward – one being the Ditto Tray. Pokémon was highly receptive to the idea, given how Ditto’s ability to change shape freely is so similar to the malleable nature of tin. From that point, the two companies cooperated closely, exchanging ideas until they arrived at the final Ditto Tray product.
Metal casting begins by fabricating the mold into which the molten metal is to be poured. NOUSAKU mainly adopts the traditional technique known as sand molding. For each product, first a prototype is created and then sand is compacted around it to form a mold. Molten tin is then poured into the mold to achieve the finished product. The casting process is repeated for each item made. Use of sand gives the product a natural texture.
For NOUSAKU’s artisans, fabricating the Poké Ball Bowl was especially challenging. Supreme technical precision was indispensable to make the top and bottom halves fit together perfectly. In retrospect, NOUSAKU says getting everything just right was difficult because they hadn't had so many chances to produce something like this before. Ultimately, though, their artisans’ technical prowess and rich experience overcame all difficulties, making the Poké Ball Bowl a work they are especially proud of.
To complement the development and production of items for the NOUSAKU Pokémon Collection, this summer NOUSAKU is holding a special Pokémon-themed casting workshop at its head factory in Takaoka. Participants in this event experience making a chopstick rest of pure tin. The event was planned out of a desire to give people, especially newcomers to metal casting, the opportunity to become familiar with this fascinating art.
Four Pokémon were selected as motifs for the chopstick rests, each chosen for their traits having associations with casting. The first was the freely transforming Pokémon Ditto introduced above. Second was Chimecho, the Wind Chime Pokémon, known for making sounds like a wind chime. Wind chimes are one of Nousaku’s leading products. Third was Sandshrew, a Pokémon who loves to burrow in sand – a perfect match given the use of sand in fabricating molds. The fourth motif was the Flame Pokémon Charizard. Charizard’s fiery breath is suggestive of the hot flame used to melt metal during the casting process.
The workshop (underway until September 30) has attracted participants of all ages not only from the local area, but also from other regions of Japan – and overseas visitors too. The event provides a rare opportunity to become familiar with metal casting, a hidden gem in the world of traditional Japanese arts and crafts.
NOUSAKU, assessing its collaboration with Pokémon, says that conventionally the popular image of metal-cast products has been “cold,” but by tying up with Pokémon that image has now changed to one of warmth and fun. Throughout its long history the company has built up the NOUSAKU brand not simply by keeping to traditions but also by continually taking up new challenges. Today, collaboration with Pokémon has expanded the company’s range of possibilities even further, and NOUSAKU says it has benefitted happily from the growing recognition of the company and its products resulting from its new partnership.
The NOUSAKU Pokémon Collection has brought together two companies that, on the surface, would appear to have little connection,but through this collaboration founded on mutual trust and understanding, the strengths of both partners have been enhanced – yielding a synergistic success that has expanded the realm of Pokémon for Pokémon fans everywhere.
