Gift-giving has always been an essential part of Japanese culture. Hanging animal heads on walls? Not so much. But these two traditions are now colliding with the launch of gu-pa, a new and playful way of gift giving. The current line-up includes heads of 5 different animals – a bear, elephant, rabbit, deer and hippo – that come flat-packed. Simple creases (read: no tools necessary) enable you to easily assemble the minimal structures, which then function as a gift box but also as an interior accessory for your wall.
The project is a joint collaboration between paper company Fukunaga Print and paper craft artist Yasuyuki Wada. Playing off the idea off something flat folding out to become a structure, Tomohiro Okazaki designed the logo and visuals that package the animals. Even the name comes with a creative punch: gu-pa is likely a reference to the variation on rock paper scissors in which participants throw out either rock (structural) or paper (flat) to choose sides.
There’s some information (in Japanese) here about shops that carry the items. You can also email them directly to purchase.
