In January 2008, Shibuya Channel’s People | Close-Up series profiled wire artist Hiroshi Muto (武藤裕志) — a house-building craftsman who carved free hours into wire sculpture.
Soft wire breakthrough
Early stainless wire blistered his hands and limited forms. Meeting 日本化線’s soft color wire 自遊自在。 widened the palette — clay-soft enough for kids, sponsor-backed enough for Tokyu Hands and Big Sight demos, workshops, and product R&D. No blueprints: pieces started in the hand; struggle mid-form was where the real work began.
Shibuya as material hunt
Older habits meant shopping and drinking in Shibuya; Tokyu Hands stayed the idea quarry for new materials. By interview time he was also showing and demoing there. The Close-Up visit caught a Hands workshop where kids (and the reporter) built alien character GUEL — each one idiosyncratic, each finish a small achievement. December Hands weekend workshops were already on the calendar.
The same Hands–Center-Gai belt still feeds scramble density on the Shibuya Crossing live camera. Archive craft culture meets today’s feeds in how to watch Japan live.
