MADNESS started in September 2015 as a brand to shape carbon materials into actual products. Shintaro Katayama, the current president of the company, was requested to process some carbon parts around 10 years ago. Since then, he has been fascinated with carbon materials, and launched the brand with the purpose of introducing its excellence to a wider audience. The main feature of carbon is, in a nutshell, its lightness and durability. Compared to metal, it is one quarter in weight, 10 times more durable and seven times more elastic. With this cutting-edge material, the company first strived to utilize its technique in molding carbon fibers into complex shapes. To this end, the idea sprung to create two good luck figures that have been beloved since ancient times in Japan: the daruma and maneki-neko lucky cat.
Carbon Daruma is painted in traditional Japanese urushi lacquer by certified traditional craftsman Kazuo Atano in Hida Shuneki laquer, and decorated with scroll painting by Shoka Kuze. The lacquered body increases its shine and transparency with time, and the aging effect brings out the beautiful patterns of coal-black carbon. The black Carbon Daruma makes a perfect gift for anyone making a business-related wish, as the daruma traditionally stands for good luck in business prosperity and the black color evokes strength, vigor and enthusiasm, and invites black figures and stable economic fortune.
The Maneki-neko Lucky Cat is a collaborative creation with Kumi, a female artist specializing in onigawara, which are roof tiles shaped like ogres (oni) used in temples and shrines to ward off evil and bad fortune. The carbon lucky cat incorporates a taste of the onigawara as Iwatsuki Onigawara artist Kumi Iwatsuki designed the original form, and Shoka Kuze, a Hida Takayama scroll painter, painted the face. Both the onigawara and maneki-neko have been brought to Japan from continental Asia together with Buddhism some 1,400 years ago, with the former guarding the home on the roof and the latter protecting from inside the house. The Carbon Maneki-neko Lucky Cat is a wonderful item to wish for protection through the onigawara and invite in people with its raised left paw to lead business prosperity.