Description
The toymaker who devoted fifty years to the humble spinning top. In this charming 2013 memoir, Hannah K tells the story of Masaaki Hiroi, a fourth-generation Japanese toymaker whose life’s work was the Edo koma — the traditional hand-turned top of Japan.
Over five decades Hiroi created more than 3,000 designs, each carved, balanced, and tested in his small Tokyo workshop. His ingenious tops — including the physics behind the famous Tippe top that flips itself as it spins — drew the curiosity of world-renowned physicists. Through Hannah’s close friendship with her subject, readers watch a craftsman cross the invisible line into art, his playful creations ending up in collections and exhibitions far beyond Japan.
At just 72 pages, a book you can read in a single sitting — but Hiroi’s philosophy lingers: patience, humor, and total attention to one small thing can add up to a life of wonder.
In this charming 2013 memoir, Hannah K tells the story of Masaaki Hiroi, a fourth-generation Japanese toymaker whose life’s work was the humble spinning top. Hiroi devoted himself to the Edo koma — the traditional hand-turned top of Japan — and over five decades he created more than 3,000 designs, each carved, balanced, and tested in his small Tokyo workshop.
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nWhat began as a family trade became something larger. Hiroi’s ingenious tops, including the physics behind the famous Tippe top that flips itself as it spins, drew the curiosity of world-renowned physicists. Through Hannah’s close friendship with her subject, readers watch a craftsman cross the invisible line into art — his playful, precise creations ending up in collections and exhibitions far beyond Japan.
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nAt just 72 pages, this is a book you can read in a single sitting, but Hiroi’s philosophy lingers: that patience, humor, and total attention to one small thing can add up to a life of wonder. His famous wish — to keep working until he was two hundred years old — says everything about the man.
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nWarm, accessible, and quietly moving, Wonder Man is a delight for readers who love Japanese craft, biography, and stories of lifelong devotion.
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