Maruni Wood Industry Inc. was founded in Hiroshima in 1928. Maruni worked with in-house designers on standard western models of chairs such as the Bank chair from 1928, inspired by Thonet chairs, and the Versailles chair from 1968, with a cabriole leg. In 2008 Maruni launched the Maruni Collection, working with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa on developing a new collection of chairs. The first result of this collaboration was the Hiroshima armchair, followed by the Cord chair by Nendo in 2009. Jasper Morrison came onboard in 2011 with the Lightwood chair and the T chair followed in 2016.

The Hiroshima armchair is a perfect expression of Naoto Fukasawa’s philosophy, which he calls ‘Without a Thought’. In an interview with the US magazine Dwell in September 2006 Fukasawa described it thus: ‘People shouldn’t really have to think about an object when they are using it. Not having to think about it makes the relationship between a person and an object run more smoothly. Finding ideas in people’s spontaneous behavior and realizing these ideas in design is what Without Thought is about. Designers often want to make something special, something that really grabs people’s attention. But I realized that when we actually use these products, whether or not they are special is not that important. So I decided it would be a good idea to look at people’s subconscious behavior instead—or, as I call this principle, “design dissolving in behaviour”.’

As a result of this thinking Fukasawa always looks to pare back the shape and functions of products, but without making them too strict or austere; they are always considerate of their user by providing comfort and an ergonomic form. The Hiroshima armchair demonstrates this quality very clearly in its smooth and gently curving armrests, its generously proportioned seat and the gentle tilt of the backrest. The construction is all wood and all aspects of the construction are visible to the eye. The chair is made up of ten separate parts (four legs, two armrests, one seat, two stretchers and one backrest), all of which are produced using state-of-the-art, five-axis CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling machines and then assembled and finished by hand. The hand-making skills required for the assembly and finishing of a chair like this are considerable, and an equal or even higher degree of woodworking experience is required for the initial selection of the timber. The principle is followed in this example by leaving the wood as bare as possible in order to reveal the quality of the wood and the craftsmanship.
This particular chair represents an important moment in the history of Maruni, with the launch of Maruni Collection trying to reach a global market through the work of internationally renowned designers and recognising that the material and manufacturing expertise of the brand had an international appeal. It embraces Maruni’s current philosophy of ‘industrialised craft’.