Something extraordinary recently took place on the premises of Naef Spiele AG in Zofingen: A Japanese television crew stopped by to shoot footage for a documentary titled, “The world is full of beautiful things”. The film stars were mainly Naef toys and design objects, which have been in great demand in Japan for years and even have cult status.
We have been cooperating with Japan for more than 50 years. Our long-time partner and customer Ryo Nishikawa – business manager of Niki Tiki-, who sells high-quality wooden toys from Europe in Japan, was asked by the TV company to make a documentary film. The script involves accompanying this same customer on his approximately ten-day business trip to Europe, including Zofingen.
70 years of history
Naef’s showroom and museum were the filming location for one day. The extremely professional television team, consisting of an editor/director, cameraman, sound technician/audio engineer and an interpreter, spared no effort: they installed a rail system for the cameras, put the objects in the right light, repeated shots several times, always with the aim of getting the best possible picture quality. The television crew was particularly fascinated by the museum and its impressive collection documenting the almost 70-year history of Naef.
It didn’t stop at shots of toys; the TV crew also wanted to film how they were played with. So they visited the family of Managing Director Patrick Engeler at his home in Lostorf and, the following day, the “Nature and Movement” kindergarten in Zofingen. The kindergarteners were delighted with the exciting visit and playfully demonstrated their skills with Ligno, Angular and Naef bricks in front of the camera.
This documentary series enjoys great popularity in Japan and is regularly watched by around 20 million viewers. The Naef team is honored to be able to present the company and its products in such a format.
Boradcast date 18th of august / 22:00 – 22:45 (Japanese time)
on NHK General
https://www.nhk.jp/p/sekahoshi/ts/XXVKVK94GZ/
https://www.instagram.com/nhk_sekahoshi/
Press release: