ICHHTO to Attend Tokyo Gift Show

Iranian artisans will participate in the Tokyo International Gift Show for the first time. The 85th edition of the event is slated for January 31-February 3 and February 7-9 at Tokyo Big Sight, the international exhibition center in the Japanese capital, Mehr News Agency reported. The first phase of the exhibition is titled ‘Life & Design,’ with the slogan of ‘Good Design for Happy Life.’ It is about home furnishing and decorative items that can “add color” in homes. On show will be tableware, floral accessories and gardening products. After three days and in the second phase of the exhibit, there will be ‘Toy & Stationary.’ Action figures (posable character figurines), smart-phone accessories, fashion-ware and Kawaii goods are to go on display. Kawaii is the culture of cuteness in Japan. It refers to items that are charming and childlike. ‘Hello Kitty,’ a fictional character of a kitten, created by Japanese graphic designer Yuko Shimizu, 71, is a famous example of the culture. Iran will attend the second part of the exhibition. The country will have a 54-sq meter stall where products by Iranian artisans will be shown, according to Abbas Ali Emamieh, tourism representative of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization in Japan. In 2017, the exhibit had 4,093 stalls, which seemed huge in comparison with Maison et Objet, a professional trade fair dedicated to lifestyle, decoration and design, held in Paris, where there were 2,871 stands. The Japanese event also dwarfs the New York International Gift Fair which housed 2,600 stands. “This year, Tokyo International Gift Show has grown even more, by 22%, hosting some 5,000 stalls,” Emamieh said. Eleven Iranian artisans have applied to attend the event.