Takatoshi Hayashi
林貴俊

Portrait

Takatoshi Hayashi grew up in Ishinomaki, one of the largest cities in the Tōhoku region, and comes from a family of textile entrepreneurs. Since 2015, he has been developing a distinctive Kokeshi style that translates his knowledge of kimono patterns and textile aesthetics into contemporary form. His work has earned recognition well beyond Tōhoku.

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Takatoshi Hayashi was born and raised in Ishinomaki. After completing his university degree, he spent ten years in the public sector before joining the family kimono business: Hayashi Gofuku-ten, near Ishinomaki station.
In 2015, he began developing his own Kokeshi style, drawing on his knowledge of kimono patterns and textile aesthetics. Traditional visual language meets contemporary design decisions; the result is Kokeshi that are unmistakably rooted in Ishinomaki whilst pointing beyond the region.

Hayashi-san works in the studio within the family business and describes his situation plainly: he wears two hats — the family enterprise and his own creative practice — spending around 80% of his working time making Kokeshi. For him, the two are no contradiction, but part of the same endeavour: to make Ishinomaki visible, to draw people to the city, to build a bridge between craft and the everyday life of the place.

He regularly holds workshops where he shares his approach and his passion for Kokeshi with enthusiasts and collectors.