What I'm Thinking About Interior Design Now Vol.21

After being postponed twice, Shin Evangelion was finally released on March 8, 2021.

The anime celebrated its 26th anniversary in 2021.
26 years ago, I was 16 years old.

Because it was broadcast on TV Tokyo, people living in rural areas couldn't watch it in real time, and had to wait until a while before it started airing late at night on a local station. (This time difference applies not only to Evangelion but also to other shows, and I think people living in rural areas will understand this.)

I'm glad I was able to see it while I was alive.

As I write this, I have Utada Hikaru on repeat.
The impact of the images is so great that you can feel the passage of time just from the TV version from 26 years ago and the new Evangelion from 26 years later.
However, that doesn't mean that the TV version is old and not good; there are good things about the screen size and pictures from that era.

I believe that new things are not the only good things, old things also have their merits.

Even in the interior design industry, there are some good practices that used to exist but have now almost disappeared.
It feels like it's been forced together quite a bit though.

Among them is wedding furniture.
Of course, buying furniture when getting married hasn't disappeared, but in the past it was considered something of a happy ritual.
Even 20 years ago when I started this job, it was rare, but I did have the opportunity to experience it a few times.
I think this varies depending on the region, and my memory is becoming hazy, so I'll just say that this may not be accurate.
This is my experience, sorry if I'm wrong.

It seems that wedding furniture was sometimes purchased with the betrothal money, or given to the bride by her parents.
Wedding furniture generally refers to a set of three items: a clothes chest, a Japanese (clothing) chest, and a dresser, but it can also include a complete set of furniture such as a bed, sofa, and dining set, all necessary for starting a new life.
There are many differences from regular deliveries, such as on a lucky day, a red and white curtain is wrapped around a truck with a glass-covered loading area so that the cargo can be seen from the outside, and the wedding furniture is loaded and the truck first goes to the bride's parents' home, where the futon, kimono, and other wedding accessories are then loaded and the truck heads to the delivery destination.

Backing up the truck at this time was strictly prohibited as it could be seen as returning home, so as we approached the delivery destination, we played a song on the speaker attached to the outside of the truck so that the neighbors would know that the wedding furniture had arrived. (I looked up this song and found out it was a song from Ishikawa Prefecture called Kaga Nagamochi Uta.) Once the delivery was complete, we were treated to a meal and given a gift.
I remember it being something like this. I guess it had an element of a grand wedding ceremony. Anyway, it was a very extravagant and special delivery.

In modern times, I think that due to changes in housing conditions, lifestyles, and the way we buy furniture, there is no longer a need for the kind of furniture that we had in the past.
As fewer people own kimonos, opportunities to use paulownia chests are dwindling.
Chests of drawers may no longer be necessary if you have a walk-in closet in your home.
We still buy sofas and beds, but we no longer deliver them as wedding furniture like we used to.

However, I think it's a wonderful culture that parents send their children off with furniture that they can use for the rest of their lives.

I think it would be good to give lounge chairs, dining chairs, and lighting, which can be used anywhere these days, as wedding accessories.I also think that giving items that can be kept close by, such as kitchen tools, art, and tableware, which are not furniture, is a culture that should remain, even if it is not the wedding furniture of the past.

(text: Doi)

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