Welcome to the 53rd insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode we polish the hand crafted grooves that lie in the story of Goro’s, a Japanese spirit tied deep into the nuance of silverware and its heights of mass exclusivity.
Goro Takahshi, born 1939 to a family of six brothers, was a Japanese native born under the post-World War II democratised era. During an American deployment, Goro, a high-school student attending summer camp, befriended a soldier and was taught the early ways of leather working. Gifting the 16 year old a tool set upon his departure, the seed was planted in young Goro’s mind, coddling an obsession that would grow over the next five decades.
Eventually travelling to America in pursuit of further developing his craft, Goro spent a large majority of his time alongside Native groups like the Lakota Tribe. Learning, appreciating and studying their way of life, Goro became partially inducted into the trope, supposedly participating as the first non-Lakota person in the “Sun Dance” ritual. He was granted the title “Yellow Eagle” in symbolic memory of his Eastern origin, and the correlating colour on the medicinal wheel.
He would then journey back to his home in Japan and relocate to the fashion epicentre, Harijuku, housing notorious labels like Jun Takahashi and Nigo’s; NOWHERE shop. On the second floor of an orange building, void of any branding or advertising, lines form to a ridiculous extent, wrapping around the street corners as consumers wait for the opportunity to shop Goro’s selection.
Each piece crafted by Goro himself until his passing in 2013, the full silver and occasionally gold or leather accessories are carved the night before sale. Tentative design techniques produce emblems like eagles and feathers, clashing the lines of traditional Japanese work with Americana roots. Those waiting are subject to a raffle and 7 hour long wait if selected, to be provided the chance to purchase his items. However, anyone can be dismissed if staff feels the limited item isn’t fit for one’s persona, making these products highly lucrative.
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