Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten, knows that despite being in business for 300 years, you haven’t really made it until you own Boardwalk, Mayfair, or in this case Kyoto’s Nishijin Textile Center.
To celebrate their 300th anniversary, Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten, Japan’s first speciality store, is rolling out with limited Japanese Traditional Art & Crafts Edition Monopoly sets.
Now instead of buying property and railroads, fans of the classic board game and retro/traditional Japanese crafts alike can use their Monopoly money to buy spaces representing iconic toys, utensils, and accessories taken from the nation’s rich history of art.
Each set features Nakagawa Masashichi and Kaiyodo’s gacha gacha figurine set of traditional Japanese papier-mache toys from around the country as game pieces.
▼ Deer (Nara Prefecture), representing Nara’s large deer population
▼ Whale on wheels (Kochi Prefecture), a folk toy representing the Kochi Bay’s whale-watching tourism
▼ Beckoning cat (Aichi Prefecture), where the city of Tokoname, the largest producer of maneki neko (beckoning cats), is located
▼ Rabbit pounding rice cakes (Chiba Prefecture), representing Sawara city’s traditional papier-mache toy crafts going back to the late Meiji Era
This particular mochi-making rabbit one of the area’s most famous pieces, and was chosen as 1999’s Year-of-the-Rabbit New Year’s stamp.
▼ Horse will bells (Iwate Prefecture), representing the Chagu Chagu Umakko Festival in Morioka
▼ Daruma riding a boar (Hyogo Prefecture), representing a figure of Suma papier-mache, which was popular during Japan’s Taisho Period
Or, for those that prefer a more uniform set of game pieces, it also comes with six colorful deer.
Just 5,000 sets will be up for sale, so if you’re interested, it would be a good idea to act fast! Residents of Japan can purchase one here for 9,072 yen (US$89), which will be shipped sometime in mid-April.
Source: Nakagawa Masashichi via Design Taxi
Feature/Insert images: Nakagawa Masashichi
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