with them. I could do something by making tops even under the cruel life during the war. I wish for playful and peaceful moments to make a difference. How can I do it? I want to see people having fun. When I see people having fun and sparkle in their eyes, I can recall the fun moment with the loved ones. What should I do? I am good at making tops. Maybe…, I could do it by making tops. My mother, my younger brother, my classmates and my friends were so happy with the tops I made. It was such fun playing with tops with them. Even my mother was amazed and smiled at the tops I made. I have decided never to forget them as they were. I will always remember them. They might be seeing me from heaven. To make them happy and smile, I will make tops. I will make the best possible tops I envisage. To make better tops, I have to know the world outside home. The pursuit in my mind to make up for the lost stirred me to see the outside world. I have to know as much as I can about the world to make a difference. I have to become a person with a broader view about the world…. And, besides traditional crafts, I want to make something, which comes out of imagination and curiosity, with playfulness.” ~ Masaaki Hiroi
There is an ordinary-looking man sitting in front of the lathe carving wood in his workshop. He stops for a while and starts carving the wood, again. Even, he doesn’t know what he will make as a final product. He sits for hours and hours, trying to turn his imagination into tops or toys…
His name is Masaaki Hiroi. He sits in front of the lathe every day when he is in his workshop for hours, thinking of what he is going to make out of his imagination. Every moment is a challenge to him… A challenge to make something, which comes into his mind.
Tops are the toys which are played by people all around the world for thousands of years. The interesting points are that how they originated and why people have been playing with tops are still full of mystery. Why are people attracted by the movements of tops for ages? And, why are tops played by people for thousands of years all over the world in spite of the difference in shapes and sizes? Who first invented the tops?
Throughout his life, Masaaki Hiroi has dedicated himself to preserving Edo Koma, Edo tops. The beginning of his career dates back to his childhood. His ancestors served as doctors for the Tokugawa shogunate during Edo period and his grandfather served as doctors for Meiji Emperor. His family belonged to one of the most prominent families in Japan. However, since his grandfather’s generation, top making has become his family business. Masaaki Hiroi succeeded to his family business and has become the fourth generation of craftsman to make wooden tops and toys.
Edo Koma, Edo tops, part of which Masaaki Hiroi makes, were common tops made in Edo area, present Tokyo area during Edo period(1603-1867). Among Edo tops, there are standard tops and various kinds of Trick tops, which require traditional Japanese intricate engineering skills, which have 300 years of historical background.
Unlike electric toys, the structure of trick tops does not have mechanical system like gears. Instead of gears, Trick tops harness the force of the spinning movement of the tops to make wooden dolls move in many different ways. Masaaki Hiroi’s Trick tops have unexpected movements, which would surely make you smile or amaze. What Masaaki Hiroi would like you to feel is playfulness that every top has, and at the same time, the peaceful moment people could “share” with the Japanese toy he makes.
One contribution Masaaki Hiroi made to preserving Japanese culture is to revive Japanese traditional tops which were and are used for Japanese vaudeville-style stage shows using Kyokugei Koma, Kyokugei tops. Without his endless challenges and efforts to revive the tops, such shows would have disappeared from Japanese stage culture. The unknown background story about how Masaaki Hiroi revived Kyokugei tops is written in Chapter 6 of this book. However, preserving the tradition is not Masaaki Hiroi’s primary intent.
Masaaki Hiroi has always been interested in evolving and developing his original toys out of his curiosity and creativity. He has been interested in how to develop playful tops and toys, which make a lot of people smile. Masaaki Hiroi has come up with numerous kinds of Trick Tops using spinning motion to move wooden dolls or other wooden tops. He likes to make things out of his interest and original ideas, which are from imagination and creativity. His tops are full of playfulness, which never fails to make people smile.
Why do you think he decided to devote his life to making numerous kinds of tops? He has been innovating Edo Trick tops out of the traditional styles and creating far more than 3,000 unique kinds of tops with variation and playfulness. What drives him to create so many kinds of tops?
By the way, Tippe tops are now sold at many toy stores all over the world. Do you have any idea about the origin of Tippe tops? The Birth of Tippe top has a lot to do with Masaaki Hiroi. In Chapter 5, there is an unknown story of the birth of the Tippe tops. He’s the father of wooden Tippe tops. Masaaki Hiroi created Tippe tops from the historical document. Some famous professors and publishers tried to revive them but they could not revive Tippe tops until Masaaki Hiroi did.
Tippe tops were the tops created in the 15th century. According to the old historical documents, Tippe tops in those days were not made of wood. Instead, something else was used to make Tippe tops. Can you guess what the craftsmen in those days used to make Tippe tops? Masaaki Hiroi created Tippe tops out of wood. He became the first person to create Tippe tops out of wood in the historical world documents. His achievement has been highly recognized internationally. And, there are a lot of secret background stories about “the birth of wooden Tippe tops” in Chapter 5.
Masaaki Hiroi is a craftsman, who earned his status to be recognized as an artist. He has devoted his whole life to making tops, which are toys played by adults as well as children all over the world. What makes him do so?
Making a top has always been a part of Masaaki Hiroi’s life. His career started in his childhood. And, during his childhood, he enjoyed playing with the tops he made with his classmates. The memory of fun time with his classmates, playing with his tops, is something which still stays in his mind. What he went through in his childhood, when he started making tops, was hardest time in his entire life.
Through his harsh childhood experience, there is one treasonous thing he always has kept in his mind, which comes from his love for people. Even though his mother, his brother and his friends disappeared in one night, his memory with them has never disappeared. His love for them moved him forward. He has wanted to meet people and make friends through making tops to share fun moments. And, by meeting numerous people, he has grown up to be a person of broader view…
When Masaaki Hiroi was about to be 30 years old, there was a turning point in his life. Until then, he had been learning how to make wooden tops and toys from his father in Sendai Prefecture, the Northern part of the main island in Japan. He wondered whether he should just make tops for his whole life in Sendai or should search for something he still did not know. He came to the conclusion to pursue “his unknown part of the world.” He decided to leave Sendai for Tokyo to find what he really wanted to know and then the beginning of his journey started.
This became the turning point for Masaaki Hiroi to spend the rest of his life. And, through the urge which occurred to him, he later earned the opportunities in succession to meet many people with different cultural background inside and outside Japan. From various governmental organizations and private corporations, Masaaki Hiroi was invited to visit more than 30 countries for the purpose of introducing Japanese culture, leading him to earn countless honor and awards internationally.
He never wishes for anything extraordinary. Always, what he keeps in mind is to make tops which are fun for people who are from any cultures. He would like anyone in the world to enjoy playing with his tops, and for that purpose, he sometimes starts his jobs from scratch. As a result, he has created something extraordinary.
Why is he so rich in resources to create products of wonder and where does his imagination come from? Those were my long-time questions. He would often laugh and say, “I love to make something which is fun to play for people.” When I was writing this book, I asked a lot of questions I had never asked. I instinctively thought culture was something important but I could not tell why exactly. I found one clue to where his rich imaginations come from. Love for people. The fun memory of the lost always urges him to make fun things. It was not the anger that he kept in his mind. He was in deep sorrow for the loved ones but he has