About Gekkoso
Since its founding in 1917, Gekkosou has strived to create a place where all kinds of people can interact freely through authentic craftsmanship and the excitement of color and sound, pursuing a creative way of life.
By maintaining our independence as a family-owned business for three generations, always selecting the best materials, and inheriting and developing the know-how of creating products full of originality through repeated trial and error, we will bring the aesthetic sense and culture of Made in Japan to the world. I will make suggestions. This is the mission that the Maison Gekkoso must fulfill throughout the ages.
From art supplies to clothing, tableware, and furniture, Gekkoso is steadily moving toward a new era while expanding the boundaries of creativity. Even as we respond to the changing world, Gekkosou never loses its identity, which started out as a purely domestic paint manufacturer.
Based on the philosophy that color and sound are life's treasures, Gekkoso's way of life respects the uniqueness of Japan's climate, culture, and language. We deliver unchanging, reliable values and moments that are in harmony with the ever-changing times.
Origin of store name
“From the moon in the sky comes the prince, and even the night that does not shine shines.”
The store's name, ``Gekkosou,'' was named by the poets Tetsukan and Akiko Yosano, who cherished the founder Hyozo Hashimoto. Everything is original, including the paints, paintbrushes, palettes, sketchbooks, and even the bags used to carry them.
The trademark ``horn that calls friends'' was created by a group of cultural figures at the time centered around the Yosano couple (Kaoru Koyamauchi, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Toson Shimazaki, Takeo Arishima, Ennosuke I, Ritsuko Mori, Takeji Fujishima, Saburosuke Okada, and 30 others). It was devised by several people together, with the hope that many friends would gather around the sound of the horn.
Delicious drinks, great music, and art. Best of all, my friends. This is the scenery of Gekkosou that has not changed since then.
Original development of paints
Paints that continued to be manufactured even during the war
As far back as 1940, the company discovered a manufacturing technique for cobalt blue, the world's standard color Luli blue, and succeeded in producing all raw materials, including pigments, in-house. We created the first purely domestically produced paint. Later, he invented a new color, Cobalt Violet Pink (Gekkoso Pink). This color won first place at the World Oil Paint Competition in 1971, and France's Le Monde newspaper called it a ``miracle born outside of France.''
Gekkoso Bespoke
We value communication with artists, and as we complete each homemade product one by one through dialogue, before we know it, all of the products we handle are original. What we have here is a simple desire to help our customers and the work of genuine craftsmen.
Starting with the development of the first domestically produced cobalt blue, which was a long-cherished wish of a painter after the war, there was a titanium white and brush washer made to order from Genichiro Inokuma, a table set with an original design, and a gasket commercialized at the request of Konosuke Matsushita. There are as many stories of ingenuity, failure, and joy as there are products, such as the dot sketchbook, and 26 types of patents have been obtained. Usuten's sketchbook and aluminum pallet have won the Good Design Long Life Award.
Its history is truly that of bespoke, where we receive orders directly from customers and respond to them with custom-made products. The word bespoke comes from the English word "be-spoken," which means "to discuss." Gekkosou is more than just an art supply store, and has continued to create products that cherish the essence of art, while holding discussions with craftsmen from a variety of genres, including furniture, stationery, clothing, and miscellaneous goods.
Gekkoso Bespoke will continue to evolve. That is the DNA of Gekkoso. Our true role is to create timeless, universal values, reliable manufacturing backed by proven results, and to always listen to the demands of the times and give shape to them.
Salon revival
In 2013, she opened Gekkoso Salon Tsuki no Hanare. You can enjoy live music every night and wall exhibitions by contemporary artists that are updated every two weeks.It is a space where even people who are not familiar with art materials can easily come into contact with art, and it has been frequently featured in the media. It is also attracting attention as a restaurant specializing in Creole cuisine, which is rare in Tokyo.
Go to the moon away homepage
Birth of Gekkoso Falbe
In June 2021, the Gekkoso Saitama Paint Factory will be renovated into an artist-in-residence where artists can live for a certain period of time and create works in the atelier attached to the factory. It has been reopened as a complex facility that combines a factory, atelier, accommodation, cafe bar, mini stage, etc.
Artists have already started creating in the atelier, and events are held regularly. People who live nearby also use it as a place where they can easily gather with their families.
We hope that this will create an exchange of people between artists, paint craftsmen, and local residents, as well as the local community of Ginza and Saitama, and that it will grow into a place like an art community center that transcends genres.
Gekkosou Falbe is open!