Takeshi Nii dedicated his life to tireless efforts to devise, design, and create the ultimate foldable chair. His attention to creating a simple and functional, yet comfortable and beautiful items is what allowed Nychair X to be used and cherished around the world for over 50 years now.
Nychair X was first released in 1970 by a company named Niifurniture. In 2013, the production by Nyfurniture came to an end, and since 2014, the production and sales have continued by Fujiei Corporation.
The below calendar shows Nychair X development milestones.
Nychair X through years
1956
1970
1972
1980
2005
2013
2014
2017
2019
2020
2022
Takeshi Nii makes a prototype of a “foldable wooden chair, which can be used on a tatami mat”
Nyfurniture releases Nychair X
Nyfurniture releases Nychair X Rocking and Nychair X Ottoman
Nyfurniture releases Nychair X 80
Fujiei Corporation releases a licensed Nychair F model
Nyfurniture discontinues production of Nychair X
Fujiei Corporation receives the rights to manufacture Nychair X
Fujiei releases Nychair X, Nychair X Rocking, and Nychair X Ottoman
Nychair X Shikiri is released
The limited Nychair X 50th Anniversary Model is released
Nychair X celebrates 50th anniversary
Nychair X Brand Book is published
Nychair X 80 is reintroduced
Nychair X repair service starts in Japan
The Nychair X Oil Finish model is released
PREFACE
1956–1970
Before Nychair X
Takeshi Nii's family business was the manufacture and sale of judo and kendo equipment. However, after the war, judo and kendo were banned under the direction of General Headquarters of Supreme Commander for Allied Powers. In 1947, he attended a woodworking course at a vocational guidance center in Tokushima Prefecture, where he learned the skills of a furniture craftsman.
After finishing the course, Nii started manufacturing and selling furniture in 1952. His first chair was the “small wooden folding chair” announced in 1956. He won the Promotion Award at the 9th SME Export Promotion Exhibition held in Mitsukoshi.
In 1960, he met Makoto Shimazaki, at a time a research fellow at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark, who also attended woodworking course during his time in Europe. Shimazaki was impressed by Nii's folding chair designs, and it was a starting point for their lifelong professional relationship. Shimazaki suggested the name of Nii's next project: “Nychair” as a compound of “chair” and “ny”, which means “new” in Danish and sounds similar to the surname of Nii.
Since his first creation, Nii firmly believed that the chairs should be easy to sit on, durable and inexpensive. In particular, he was concerned with transportation costs and how they affect the final price of the product. Packing a standard chair in a box felt to him like “shipping a bulky box of air”, so working on folding chairs to reduce the size of the packaging was a recurring theme in his work. As a result of continuing to pursue the ideal form through trial and error, in 1970 the Nychair X was born.
chapter 1
1970–2005
Nychair X and Fujiei Corporation
Founded in 1945, Fujiei Corporation is a company that manufactures, wholesales and retails a wide selection of lifestyle, interior and furniture goods. It has carried Nychair X in its portfolio since the chair's launch in 1970. At first, the chair was manufactured by Takeshi Nii's own company, Nyfurniture.
In the beginning, the unusual and simple design of Nychair X was considered an oddity, and stores were hesitant to include it in their lineup. However, over time, the general public recognized the value of this design.
In the 1990s, the economic recession in Japan caused by the bursting of the bubble economy caused a major change in the furniture business. Department stores were downsizing their furniture sales floors, and furniture stores were closing down, leaving no space to sell products. It was necessary to change the mindset about points of sale, and there was a shift from specialty shops to large general stores with various lifestyle goods.
The cooperation between Nyfurniture and Fujiei Corporation became even closer, when officially licensed Nychair F was released in 2005. The chair was developed in cooperation with Makoto Shimazaki, Professor Emeritus of Musashino Art University and the godfather and director of Nychair X. While the shape of the chair remained the same, the color variations and new sales channels were changed to approach a different customer segment than before.
chapter 2
2013–2017
Succession to ensure continued manufacturing of Nychair X
In September 2013, members of Fujiei Corporation were shaken by a sudden notice from Nyfurniture that they are discontinuing the chair production. The shock reinforced the sense of responsibility in Fujiei Corporation, as the company has evolved alongside Nychair X over the past 40 years. So they decided: “We cannot let this pride of Japan, a chair cherished around the world, go extinct”.
This pledge had already been shared by the sales team of Nychair X. Indeed, minutes of in-house meetings at Fujiei contain emotional remarks, such as “we must keep the fire going in any circumstances, and we cannot tarnish the name of Takeshi Nii”.
In 2014, Fujiei has officially received the rights carry on Nychair X history by continuing the production and sales of the chair. The operations are directed by Mr. Shimazaki, who has long accompanied the steps of Nychair X in place of late Nii.
Bringing technologies from different parts of Japan together to carry on the manufacturing spirit
No design drawings were left for Nychair X. The production process had to be developed from scratch by studying the chair. The levels of sitting comfort and elegance directly depend on the six types of parts that make up the simple structure. These parts leave no room for compromise, and they can only be manufactured by mobilizing advanced technological capabilities. Robust production capacity is vital to ensure reliable market supply. All such requirements were cleared by running entire manufacturing processes in Japan.Takeshi Nii remained faithful to his conviction that “true chairs should be affordable and useful as a tool without any compromise on comfort level”. Today, artisans carry on his spirit with us by developing and proposing new ways to further enhance quality.
The new Nychair X Shikiri series released for global users
Nychair X became more and more appreciated around the world as a masterpiece chair thanks to the increased availability, which was possible by a knock-down (at-home assembly) packaging and reduced shipping costs. In 2017, Fujiei released Nychair X Shikiri to offer new options for users around the world that would suit their modern lifestyles.
The concept behind the new series is shikiri partitions in traditional Japanese architecture. Ms. Rika Kawato designed it as an embodiment of Japanese dwelling heritage. She explored beauty of Japanese architecture that inspired designs in Denmark, the country of her another ancestry.
By using a gray base color for her textile design, she delicately expressed the respect for harmony among the interior, exterior, and the nature paid in both countries.
chapter 3
2019–2022
Two initiatives taken in commemoration of the 50th anniversary and in preparation for the next five decades
In 2019, Fujiei Corporation released a limited 50th anniversary edition of Nychair X, a year ahead of the anniversary. Two types of fabric - kinari (white) and kuro (black) – were used along with oil finished armrests that presented wider variety of wood grain or knot patterns, laying ground for introducing Oil Finish as a part of the collection in the following years. The texture of materials in their natural forms cannot be effectively expressed without reliable technological capabilities.
The model demonstrates Fujiei Corporation's commitment to carry on the history over the next 50 years in joint efforts with outstanding artisans. In 2020, Fujiei released a concept book that features images from manufacturing sites and daily life to reflect on the past 50 years. It also presents the “succession and development” roadmap, based on the concepts that emerged in the Nychair X succession process.
A revival edition of Nychair X 80, the most compact folding chair among all existing series
In 2020, Fujiei Corporation released Nychair X 80 as the lightest and the most compact model among all existing series. It was prompted by a repair requested by a longstanding user. The old Nychair X 80 delivered to us for repair retained elegance and sitting comfort, which drove us to the revival at any cost. Back then, however, without enough capacity built up for producing Nychair X in larger quantities or for consistently enhancing the quality, Fujiei could not embark on product development yet.
In the next several years, our society has radically changed, and lifestyles have diversified even further. With stable production in place, Fujiei decided to revive the model as a suitable tool for enjoying these new, emerging lifestyles.
Fujiei launches a repair service for users in Japan to enjoy stress-free life with their favorite chairs
In 2020, Fujiei launched a repair service for Nychair X in Japan in response to the overwhelmingly large interest in the preceding repair program, launched earlier that year.
Nychair X's simple structure allows for easy assembly and disassembly at home with commercially available tools. In most cases, this well-devised chair can be repaired simply through part replacement. Dedicated personnel at repair service points are ready to help any users who find it difficult to repair their chairs by themselves. Fujiei Corporation will continue to respond to user needs to use their favorite chairs for many years to come.
