Vintage Japanese Lathe-Turned Spinning Top by Hiroi, Masaaki
Dimensions: 6-1/2”h x 4-1/2”dia.
Hiroi, Masaaki, ((1935-2019) a well-known top maker of Edo-style toys was the first Japanese creator of Spinning Tops (Koma) which began in the 1960, when prior these pieces were only for the Japanese tourists. During this period he was featured in an article entitled: “Edogoma Spin Around the World” when his work began to be noticed throughout Europe. Masaaki’s great-grandfather was a low-ranking court doctor in charge of the emperor’s health, and as a sideline made his livelihood out of his hobby of making koma. This family background introduced Hiroi, a fourth-generation top-maker to this art form that lasted throughout his lifetime.
Masaaki-san created many kinds of tops because of the war which gave him focus, but his Edo tops have a particular way of spinning. He did not create just traditional forms [of tops] but also came up with new technical forms to accentuate a “beautiful” spin. He particularly used wood from Tōhoku which was of high quality complimentary of his competition-type forms. He began to develop a great deal of knowledge about centrifugal force and the locals began to understand the mathematical reasoning behind the tops in everyday play as well as in competitions. The idea that tomorrow he would be able to make even better tops than he did today kept me producing wonderful variations of tops for the rest of his career.
The top being offered is beautifully done and has a vertical handle that stays upright and straight to keep the body from wobbling. When this top continued to spin for a long time Masaaki-san called it “sleeping”. Masaaki felt that the top is always being taught the lesson that “because the axis doesn’t wobble, it tells the user that his/her life is on the right track in their everyday life.” This is a heavy and well-balanced top in which the vertical handle has a metal tip or point on the bottom to facilitate a good spin. It has a perfectly formed crown, (The crown is often the part you hold with your fingers to spin the top shoulder and body). The top is painted in circles of color in deep royal blue and red, and has an excellent “hand” or “touch”. The top is unsigned as with most of his Koma for he felt the top identified the maker.
You can read more about this family in our BLOG by going to: https://mingeiarts.com/collections/artisan-interactive-toymaker-hiroi-masaaki-1935
Condition: Excellent meaning the piece is perfect, totally original, and complete and functions as intended. No cracks, no breaks, no missing pieces, and retains its wonderful presence and is previously protected and treasured in respect of Masaaki’s workmanship. The artifact meets all the standards of the collectible Vintage Kokeshi toys and tops and without question a unique treasure for the Japanese
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Artisan | Interactive Toymaker: Hiroi, Masaaki | 1935-2019
Origin:
Masaaki-san is a fourth-generation suburban Tokyo resident, and maker of hand-crafted children’s toys, which he created with traditional Edo and wind-up techniques, (1603-1867) when studying under Master Hiori Kenjiro. Admired throughout Japan and around the world, his creations have been exhibited and acquired for the permanent collection of the Louvre. Hiroi died in 2019 and has been named an honorary citizen of Seattle, Washington.
Collector's note – descriptive qualities, standard characteristics & ornamentation styles:
The majority of his toys are automatonical figures. Many are inspired by the everyday life of citizens and folk stories. All are brightly painted and fashioned from wood. He is famous for his spinning tops of all sizes; all beautifully functioning as conceived.
Artist's comments: The Tops in People's Hearts
"I am sad to see so many old toys become obsolete around the world. I want to make people who buy my toys laugh, and make toys that anyone, old and young, men and women can enjoy”. I don’t create just traditional forms [of tops] but also come up with new technical forms. I haven’t counted them, but I’ve probably invented around 4,000 or 5,000 types.
One day, my father gave me a foot-powered lathe so I could make tops and other things to play with. I liked working with my hands, so every day I worked on the lathe. My older brother and I made tops and kendama (cup and ball toys) and sold them on the Sendai black market. It was a time when there were no toys, so they sold quite well.
I became facinated earlier in my career with automatons, which come to life as they spin. There are no diagrams for top-automation making. When I come up with an idea for an automaton, I don’t ever give up until it’s been realized. There’s one top, “Momotarō” (Momotarō the Peach Boy)—when you pull the string and make it spin, the peach part is supposed to pop open so you can see the little boy— but the peach’s mechanism doesn’t open properly. I thought about it for days on end. I made an adjustment to the placement of the elastic, and when the peach popped open smoothly a bell went off somewhere. It was in 1965 that I decided to take these larger automaton figure overseas rather than just selling in Japan. Twenty seven years ago, I took about 70 of my works to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. The curator at that time said, “I’ll only collect items that you designed yourself” and not toys designed by you and created by your apprentices. I gave a dubious expression saying: there is value in contemporary artists creating new art. That I am able to proudly say today that I am producing tops that are my own work is because of his words to me.
For complicated mechanisms, sometimes it can take as many as 10 days to produce them. Even though I’ve been on this path for 60 years, that’s nothing to boast about. If one cannot do their craft skillfully, there is nothing but failure. The idea that tomorrow I will be able to make even better tops than I did today—that is what has kept me going for such a long time". HM
