Maywa Denki English Biography

In 2010, the company newly developed the Voice Mechanics Series. The Otamatone series, in which the concept of the Voice Mechanics Series was put into commercial products, was a big hit at home and abroad, selling 120,000 units, receiving the 2010 Toys Grand Prix. In August 2011, all of the products of Maywa Denki were exhibited at the Transformer Exhibition held in France. In July 2013, the dance performance “ROBOTI” produced by Blanca Lee, a Spanish choreographer, will be held in France, in which musical instruments and costumes of Maywa Denki are used. This will help the company take a step toward its franchise business. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2013, It held the memorial concert at Akasaka Blitz and the retrospective exhibition at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Formally nominated as a cultural envoy for the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan in 2013, Maywa Denki is increasingly expanding its business activities.

April 1967, Born in Hyogo Prefecture
March 1992, The Department of Arts Study, Postgraduate Course, Tsukuba University, Awarded Master’s Degree
May 1993 – Mar. 2001, Vice President of Maywa Denki
April 2001 – present, President of Maywa Denki (succeeded on Masamichi Tosa’s retirement)

WEB

Official Website https://www.maywadenki.com
President’s Blog https://www.maywadenki.com/blog/
President’s Twitter @MaywaDenki

Awards

September 1993, Maywa Denki, Grand prix in “Art Artists Audition II” (sponsored by Sony Music Entertainment)
October 1995, Uo-no-me/Corn (NAKI-EX), licensed to the registration of a design
December 1995, Gumbass (MI-02), licensed to a new design for practical use
December 1996, Na-Cord/Fish Cord (NAKI-DX), licensed to the registration of a design
1996, Na-Cord-Fish Cord (NAKI-DX), awarded a Special Prize of Editors in “MONO MAGAZINE Super Goods　of The Year”
June 1997, Glass-Carp (NAKI-KX), licensed to the registration of a design
2000, Maywa Denki, awarded Excellence Prize of Interactive category of Digital Arts in “Agency of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival III”
2000, Maywa Denki, awarded Good Design Award of New Theme Category by Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization
2003 Maywa Denki, awarded Distinctions of Interactive Art category in “Ars Erectronica 2003”
2010, “Otamatone” received “the grand prize of Japan Toy Prize 2010- High target Toy”
2010, “Otamatone” received “Lisesing of the Year 2010 – Product license”
2015, “Awarded at the World OMOSIROI Award” 1st for an OMOSIROI Award.

Performance & Exhibition

1994

April-September 1994, a brand-new products exhibition “Next Weekend are Maywa’s Days”

1995

May 1995, “Skins of Arts”
May 1995, “Fukui International Video Biennial VI”
July 1995, “Curator’s Eyes ‘95” (on site production & sales of Sava-O/NAKI-SO)

1996

April 1996, “Tokyo Pop”
August 1996, “Tsukuba Exhibition” (visitors totaling of 26,000)
September-December 1997, “NAKI Exhibition” (visitors totaling of 25,000)

1999

1999, “Maywa Denki Exhibition” at Shinjuku Odakyu Department Store & Kobe Daimaru Department Store (visitors totaling of 30,000)

2000

May 2000, “NAKI Exhibition” at agnes b., Aoyama
August 2000, “EDELWEISS Exhibition” at agnes b., Aoyama

2001

March 2001, “Maywa Denki Exhibition” at Galerie Du Jour agnes b., in Paris
May 2001, “Maywa Denki Exhibition” invited for the event “Tokyo Life” at Selfridges in London

2002

September-December 2002, “Romance Engineering” at Shibuya PARCO and Nagoya PARCO (visitors totaling of 10,000)

2003

September 2003, Ars Electronica “Cyberarts 2003” at the O.K Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Linz, Austria (9.06-9.21).
November 2003, “HOMMES ET ROBOTS” at La maison de la culture du Japon, Paris, France (10.28-1.31).

2004

July-December 2004″NONSENSE MACHINES” at Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art,Hiroshima (7.31-10.11) and at NTT InterCommunication Center, Tokyo (11.03-12.26).

2005

December-October 2005, “Maywa Denki : Exhibit Nonsense Machines” at the JSMA , Oregon, America (10.21-11.20).

2006

July-September 2006, “NONSENSE MACHINES” at Kirishima Open-Air Museum, Kagoshima (7.21-9.3)
October 2006-January 2007, “Nonsense Machines: NAKI” at Agnes b.’s LIBRARIE GALERIE, H.K.(9.23-1.13).

2007

July-August 2007, “NONSENSE MACHINES” at OKAYAMA DIGITAL MUSEUM, OKAYAMA (7.13-8.19)
October-November 2007, “Noncense Machines: NAKI” a multimedia exhibition by Maywa Denki at Eslite Sinyi store(1F Robby, 2F agnes b. [sport b]), Taipei, Taiwan. (10.11-11.10)

2008

January 2008, “The World of Knock Music”, Gallery MITATE+ Gallery le Bain, Nishi-Azabu, Tokyo (1.8-1.21)
January 2008, “The World of Knock Music”, Oriental Hotel Gallery, Hiroshima. (2.29-4.30)
November 2008, “Article 08”, Norway

2009

Spring-May 2009, “NONSENSE MACHINES” at The Museum of Art – Kochi, Kochi (4.11-5.10)
May-August 2009, “Exhibition 5 ‘bones’ Directed by Shunji Yamanaka”, 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, Tokyo (5.29-8.30)

2010

February 2010, “Cyber Arts Japan- Ars Electronica 30 years for Art and Media Technology”, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo(MOT), Tokyo (2.2-3.22)
May – June, 2010 : “Maywa Denki Voice Project declarative exhibition” Seibu Department Shibuya, Tokyo
June – October 2010 : “Knock! music -Four evolution theories, from percussion to computer” National Museum of Emerging science and innovation, Tokyo
August – October 2010 “Japan Media Arts Festival in Istanbul 2010” Pera Museum, Istanbul
September – October 2010 : Exhibition at COMME des GARCONS　TRADING MUSEUM, Tokyo
November-2010 : Exhibition at COMME des GARCONS DOVER STREET MARKET, London

2011

January-April 2011：Exhibition “Agnes b.’s 　Musique Plastique” at Pari France (1.28-4.02).
June -July 2011: : Exhibition “TRANSFORMER” at Bethune　France (6.14-7.31).
September2011 : Exhibition “Ars Erectronica Campas 2011: Seriously Playful / Playfully Serious – University of Tsukuba” at Linz, Austria (9.01-9.06).

2012

March – May 2012 : Exhibition” OTAMATONE” ELTTOB TEP ISSEY MIYAKE , (GINZA , SEMBA)

2013

Maywadenki 20th Live in AKASAKA BLITZ (Tokyo)
Jan-Feb 2013, Nonsense-Machines Exhibition at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa , Ishikawa
Jun 2013, Maywa Denki 20th Anniversary exhibiton: Eslite x Maywa Denki
July 2013, “Japan EXPO” (France)

2014

Apr-Jun 2014, EDELWEISS Exhibition at the Yoshizawa Garden Gallery of Ichikawa city (Chiba)
June 2014, “Voice Mechanics at the Esplanade” (Singapore)
November 2014, “SUPER GIRLS EXPO in Taipei” (Taiwan)

2015

Dec 2014 – Jan 2015 “Shenzhen NewMedia Art Festival” (Shenzhen)
Jun 2015, “Shenzen Maker Fair” (Shenzhen)

2016

2013 – 2016 “ROBOT!”(France)
Jul 2016, “Taobao Maker Festival” (Shanghai)

2017

Jul 2017, “Maker Faire Xi’an” Qujiang International Exhibition Center（China）
Jul 2017, “FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL 2017” Naeba Ski Resort （Niigata）
Jun-Aug 2017, “Compared-MUJI and Maywa Denki :Experiments in Nonsense Measurements” ATELIER MUJI at MUJI Yurakucho. (Tokyo)
Sep-Nov 2017, “Rokko Meets Art 2017” Rokko Cable sanjo (Hyogo)
Oct-Nov 2017, “Morio Shinoda × Meiwa Denki Exhibition FLOATING INDUSTRY~Flying Factory~” AWAJI Cafe & Gallery (Tokyo)
Nov-Jan 2017, “Taro Okamoto and Media Art” TARO OKAMOTO MUSEUM OF ART, KAWASAKI(Kawasaki)
Nov 2017-Jan 2018, “It’s a COPY” common room & co. （Hong Kong）
Jul 2017, “Maker Faire Xi’an” Qujiang International Exhibition Center（Shenzen）

2018

May-2018 “Maywa Denki NONSENSE MACHINES Musical instrument exhibition“ （Hokkaido）
May-2018”Maywa Denki The Making of a Toy Exhibition – From Nonsense Ideas to Manufacturing”（Hokkaido）
Jul-Oct 2018,“Maywa Denki NONSENSE MACHINES in Oita” Oita Art Museum (Oita)
Oct 2018, “Saudi Arabia creativity season” the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture（Saudi Arabia）
Oct-Nov 2018,“Maywa Denki NONSENSE MACHINES in Nagasaki”Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum (Nagasaki)
Dec 2018 “Maywa Denki live in Panasonic Center”（Osaka）

2019

Jan 2019 Maywa Denki Live in exporatorium（USA）
Feb 2019 “Dr. Hige and the Nonsense Machine in Kita-ku”（Tokyo）
Apr July 2019 Where Have All The Flowers Gone (Taiwan)
Apr 2019 “Jigyō hōkoku-show 2022 “ Maywa Denki Live”（Tokyo）
Jun July2019 ”Maywa Denk Live in Shanghai and Hangzhou”（Shanghai and Hangzhou）
Sep 2019 “GOOD PARK! 2019”（Tokyo）
Oct 2019“MOSCOW PUPPET THEATRE”（Russia）
Oct 2019”Al Hosn Festival”(Abu Dhabi)
Oct 2019 “In Memoriam: Yamaguchi Katsuhiro: Our Yamakatsu Sensei Exhibition” (Ibaraki)
Dec 2019 ~ Jan 2020 Passage to the Future (Aichi)
Dec 2019 ”SOUND DESIGN FACTORY in Hamamatsu 2019”（Shizuoka）

2020

Jul 2020 ”Metropolis2020”(tokyo)
Apr 2020 “Jigyō hōkoku-show 2022” “Dr. Hige and the Nonsense Machine” in（Tokyo）
Sep 2020”ARTBAY TOKYO presents Maywa Denki Nonsense Factory”(tokyo)
Oct 2020 “Mawa Denki Live ＆ Dr. Hige and the Nonsense Machine in Kouchi”（Kouchi）
Dec 2019 ~ Jan 2020 Passage to the Future (Aichi)

2021

Jan 2021 “Mawa Denki Live in Sapporo Hitaru”（Hokkaido）
Jul 2021 “Dr. Weird’s! Too much freedom in the lab”(tokyo)
Sep ~ Nov 2021 Rokko Meets Art: Art Walk 2021 (Hyogo)
Oct 2021 Maywa Denki NONSENSE MACHINES in Aichi (Aichi)
Oct – Feb 2021 Maywa Denki NONSENSE FACTORY in Beijing (Beijing)
Nov 2021 Sound & Art Exhibition (tokyo)

Concert Tours

November 1994-March 1995, “SWITCHED ON KAPPA” products demonstration
July-November 1995, “SWITCHED ON KAPPA ‘95” products demonstration
January-March 1995, “Commemorative Demonstration of Maywa Denki New Products” (in 6 large cities, 8 stages)
May-June 1998, “Drived-Live: Maywa Denki Japan Tour II” (in 6 large cities, 8 stages)
1999, “Maywa Denki Live: Hall in Love ‘99” (in Tokyo and Osaka, 5 stages)
May-June 2000, “Maywa Denki Live 2000: For Beautiful Human Live” (in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, 5 stages)
November 2003, “Maywa Denki Live in Paris : Mechatronica” (in Paris, 4 stages)
July 2004, “Maywa Denki Live 2004: Mechatronica” (in 3 large cities, 5 stages)
July-September 2005, “SWITCHED ON KAPPA” Live (in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka,Taiwan and Paris)
June 2006, Maywa Denki Live at Belluard Bollwerk International, Fribourg, Swiss
July 2006, “maywadenki – performance der japanischen kult-kunstfactory” Live, Zurich, Swiss
November 2006, “Maywa Denki Hong Kong Live 2006 : Mechatronica” (in Hong Kong, 2 stage)
February 2007, “Maywa Denki Live 2007 : Roppongi Mechatronica “, Nimes, FRANCE
April 2007, “Maywa Denki concert : Mechatronica 2007”, Nimes, FRANCE
June 2007, “Mechatronica: in conjunction with Singapore Arts Festival 2007” Live, Singapore
October 2007, “Maywa Denki Live, Mechatronica in Matsumoto”, Matsumoto, Nagano
November 2007, “Maywa Denki Live, MECHATRONICA” at Seongnam Art Center, KOREA
February 2008, “Maywa Denki Live”, Washington D.C., USA
February 2008, “MECHATRONICA ~ Maywa Denki Live in HIROSHIMA~ “, Hiroshima
June 2008, Maywa Denki Live, Enghien les Bains, FRANCE
November 2008, Maywa Denki Live, Fat Festival 08, THAILAND
July 2010 : Maywa Denki Live – GREC Festival de Barcelona, Barcelona
December 2010 : “VOICE MECHANICS” concert, Tokyo
April 2011: “VOICE MECHANICS ~ Maywa Denki Live in hongkong~” hongkong
May-June 2011: ” Maywa Denki Live – digital　brainstorming” zurichi, Switzerland
October 2011: “VOICE MECHANICS ~ Maywa Denki Live in Taipei ~” (Taiwan)
October- November 2011, “Maywa Denki Live tour 2011: VOICE MECHANICS” in Tokyo, Osaka ,Kouchi, Shimane, Fukukuoka,Okayama

Produce Event

November 2007, “BACAROBO 2007”, Shinjuku, Tokyo
December 2008, “BACAROBO 2008”, Shinjyuku ( Tokyo)
October 2009, “Maywa Denki’s Nonsense Business Seminar”( Shibuya, Tokyo)
July 2011 “STRANGE VOICE”, Shinagawa, Tokyo
May 2015, “Mise Mono GO! Yeahhh!!!”, SEIBU SHIBUYA (Tokyo)
June 2015, “Robocon” Aoyama CAY (Tokyo)

Discography

< Single CD >

July 1997, “Edelweiss” (Sony Music Entertainment)
October 1997, “Ore wa Uchu no Fantasy” (Sony Music Entertainment)

< Album >

January 1996, “Teikyo” (Sony Music Entertainment)
August 1996, “Ochugen” (Sony Music Entertainment)
August 1997, “Sakigage” (Sony Music Entertainment)
May 1998, “Michi” (Sony Music Entertainment)
July 2000, “SAVAO” (Tokuma Japan Communications)
August 2001, “Savao de Samba!” (Tokuma Japan Communications)
June 2002, “Chikyu no Present” (Tokuma Japan Communications)
September 2005,”GOLDEN☆BEST Maywa Denki” (Sony Music Entertainment)
October 2007, “SAVA0” (URUSAI Entertainment, in TAIWAN)
Dec 2013 Maywadenki’s yaquween 20th anniversary song 2013R C (Maywadenki)
Sep 2016 Dr.HIGE & Toybox The theme song of live for children “Dr.HIGE and Nonsense★Machine”(Maywadenki)
Jun 2020 SUSHI GO (Maywadenki)
Now 2021 Microscopic Sun(Maywadenki)

< Video >

January 1996, “Maywa Denki Gaho1” (Sony Music Entertainment)
August 1996, “Maywa Denki Gaho2” (Sony Music Entertainment)
August 1997, “Maywa Denki Gaho3” (Sony Music Entertainment)
May 1998, “NAKI: 26 nonsense machines” (Sony Music Entertainment)

< DVD >

July 2004 “Mechatronica” (Sony Music Direct)
July 2004 “NAKI: 26 nonsense machines” (Sony Music Direct)
Aug 2005 ” Nonsense musical instruments of Maywa Denki”(R and C)
Dec 2014 Maywadenki 20th anniversary Live in AKASAKA BLITZ 2014 Rand C (Maywadenki)
Sep 2021 Maywadenki BEHIND THE MASK (Maywadenki)
Sep 2021 Dr. Hige and Nonsense ★ Machine (Maywadenki)

< Book >

September 1997, “NAKI Encyclopedia” (NTT Publishing)
April 1998, “Maywa Denki Company Profile” (Aspect)
June 2000, “Maywa Denki Short Story” (Shinko Music)
2000, “Knock Man” (Yoshimoto Kogyo)
November 2004, “Maywa Denki Nonsense Machines” (NTT Publishing)
November 2004, “Edelweiss Program” (Yoshimoto Kogyo)
August 2005,”Otaku Gyotaku”(Yoshimoto Kogyo)
October 2006, “Maywa Denki’s Advertising design” (NTT Publishing)
October 2007, “Maywa Denki Nonsense Machines” (URUSAI Entertainment, in TAIWAN)
April 2012, “Nonsense Brain and sketch (Beta version) “