Misawa's latest shoe art piece, which has been garnering worldwide attention, is "Horn Shoes," based on the horn mark of Gekkoso.
Noriyuki Misawa is a shoemaker who also creates innovative shoe art as an artist. Misawa has produced works for the Hollywood film industry, including director Spike Lee, and the Imperial Household Agency, and has held successful solo exhibitions in five major cities around the world: Tokyo, New York, London, Singapore, and Paris.
Misawa's next stage will be at Gekkoso Art Supply Store (Ginza, Tokyo), which was founded in 1917. He will be showcasing a shoe art piece themed around the "horn," Gekkoso's trademark.
The trademark of Gekkoso, "The Horn that Calls Friends," was invented by a group of intellectuals at the time, led by Yosano Tekkan and his wife Akiko (Kaoru Oyamauchi, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Toson Shimazaki, Takeo Arishima, the first Ennosuke, Ritsuko Mori, Takeji Fujishima, Saburosuke Okada, and more than 30 others), with the hope that many friends would gather around the sound of the horn. (Quoted from the Gekkoso website)
MUSICⅥ ~Horn~ (Photo: Morikazu Ichikawa)
In addition to Misawa's representative work "Foot Nest," which won the overall championship at the 2021 international competition GLOBAL FOOTWEAR AWARDS and attracted attention from around the world, the exhibition will also feature "Mice Killed!", which is highly acclaimed in the art industry.
Foot nest (photo by Ichikawa Morikazu)
I was attacked by a rat! (Photo: Ichikawa Morikazu)
Noriyuki Misawa is also preparing to present an exhibition titled "The Shape of Shoes of the Future" at the Osaka Kansai Expo (TEAM EXPO Pavilion) in May 2025. Please keep an eye on Misawa's activities as he continues to propose new concepts for shoes.
[Event Summary]
NORIYUKI MISAWA SOLO EXHIBITION “A SINGLE SKETCH ~Creative Toughness~”
■Dates: Monday, January 20, 2025 – Sunday, February 2, 2025
*From January 27th to February 2nd, the exhibition content will be changed to include works by young artists studying under Misawa.
■Time 13:00 – 19:00 (Until 18:00 on January 20th. Until 16:00 on the last day)
■ Location Maison Gekkoso (Eiju Building B1F, 8-7-2 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
[About shoemaker Noriyuki Misawa]
(Photo: Yuri Nanasaki)
<Major awards>
Winner of both the Gold Medal and the Honorable Mention at the 2010 International Efficiency Contest of Shoemakers.
In 2015, he received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award at the 33rd Japan Leather Crafts Exhibition.
Won "BEST OVERALL WINNER" at the GLOBAL FOOTWEAR AWARDS (USA) in 2021 and 2022.
<Solo Exhibition>
2017 "Rogue Space" Chelsea, New York
2018 Sway Gallery, London, UK
2020: Kengo Kuma's "Tokyo Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center"
2022 "Moerenuma Park Glass Pyramid" designed by Isamu Noguchi
2023: Singapore "THE ARTS HOUSE"
2024: Gallery Ecouffes, Marais, Paris
<Major activities>
Exhibition held at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in France
2018-2024 Delivered to the Imperial Household Agency (Ise Shrine "Imperial Audience Ceremony", etc.)
2020: Received the Imperial Family Crest Silver Button from Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress
2021: Provide shoes for the performance at the TOKYO 2020 Olympic Opening Ceremony
2023: NEXT ATOM for the future (supervised by Tezuka Productions)
<Major media appearances and appearances>
2017 Canal plus TV, Hungton Post (France), Los Angeles Times (USA)
2022: Featured in the Nikkei Shimbun special on world craftsmen, and appeared on NHK WORLD's "Direct Talk"
2023 Appearance in CNA TV documentary "Remarkable Living" (Singapore)
<Production Experience>
Spike Lee (film director), Park Chan-wook (film director), Adrien Brody (actor), Millicent Simmonds (actress), The Imperial Household Agency, etc.
Noriyuki Misawa (MISAWA SHOE DESIGN Co., Ltd.)
URL: http://www.noriyukimisawa.com
Location: 5-46-3 Arakawa, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo
Phone number: 03-6807-8839
Representative: Noriyuki Misawa Business: Manufacture and sale of art shoes and custom-made shoes, operation of shoe school
[MISAWA SHOE DESIGN Co., Ltd.] Press release