Hiroaki Iwasa Architects Workshop

Since ancient times in Japan, there has been a portable shrine architecture called an OMIKOSHI.OMIKOSHI is a special architecture that is taken out of the treasure storehouse only on the day of the festival, purified, carries a divine spirit, and is carried around the community by the people.
The festival is an originated in the culture of rice farming, and has been handed down by the Japanese people as seasonal festivals such as praying for a good harvest during rice-planting in the spring and giving thanks for the harvest in the autumn.

I designed the "OMIKOSHI Paper Craft Kit for kids" that allows kids to experience the festival themselves.The parts and assembly are designed to be simple for young children, and finally an origami phoenix is ​​placed on the top.

The paper patterns were delivered to kids in Tokyo and New York via the Internet, and they assembled them by cutting out from cardboard that were easily available in each areas with the help of their fathers. Then, on the day of the festival, the children carried OMIKOSHI around the community and shouted, "Wasshoi, wasshoi!"

"Wa" in "Wasshoi", the shout used when carrying the OMIKOSHI, means cooperation, and "shoi" means carrying on the shoulders.
It is also an ancient teaching that "Harmony is respected." We hope that kid's shouts of "wasshoi, wasshoi" will be heard all over the world, and that it will serve as an opportunity to create a society of mutual understanding and cooperation.