Furniture based on pickup sticks game
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Taking a cue from a European game with a Japanese sounding name, a London designer who grew up in Japan has developed furniture inspired by the game.

Originally developed in Hungary in the 20th century and given a Japanese-sounding name for marketing, the pickup stick game Mikado involves trying to extract colorful sticks from a pile without disturbing the other sticks. London designer Rio Kobayashi was inspired to create an east-west design statement using the look of the game for furniture.

The furniture features turned ash wood spindles hand-painted in the colorful designs that decorate the sticks in the game. "I was very passionate about colors as a child," said Kobayashi. "This furniture series also reminds me of childhood memories."

With ends turned to points, the spindles reflect the shape of the pickup sticks and form the major structure of the chair and stool that Kobayashi designed. The furniture debuted at the London Design Festival.

Kobayashi grew up in Japan, but moved to Europe when he was 18, exploring furniture design and cabinet making in Berlin, Milan, Innsbruck, and Paris. In 2017, he moved to London to set up his own studio.

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William Sampson

William Sampson is a lifelong woodworker, and he has been an advocate for small-scale entrepreneurs and lean manufacturing since the 1980s. He was the editor of Fine Woodworking magazine in the early 1990s and founded WoodshopBusiness magazine, which he eventually sold and merged with CabinetMaker magazine. He helped found the Cabinet Makers Association in 1998 and was its first executive director. Today, as editorial director of Woodworking Network and FDMC magazine he has more than 20 years experience covering the professional woodworking industry. His popular "In the Shop" tool reviews and videos appear monthly in FDMC.