Princess Tiara
Representative Work in Stage Decoration A tiara created for Princess Tenko, produced continuously from
1985 to 2015.
In 1985, Princess Tenko shared with me the concept for a new stage production she was directing— a story
of a princess from a magical kingdom in the cosmos.
It was the vision for the opening sequence, the costumes, the ornaments, the stage set, and the illusions.
While the costume ideas were already well developed, the crown—the tiara—was the one element that simply
could not be finalized.
Costumes and accessories are usually commissioned from professional costume houses, and Western-style
designs are often based on stages in Paris or Las Vegas. However, the crown Princess Tenko envisioned had
no existing references, and its creation proved extremely challenging.
One day, she said to me, “My image isn’t getting across. Sawamura-kun, do you understand what I
mean?” The keywords she gave me were: “Near-future Asia, Neo-Japan, or perhaps another planet
resembling Earth.” To that, I added the images of “princess” and “magic”. By
increasing the number of crystals and designing an upper structure that evoked a radiant halo, the tiara
that would become the present-day Princess Tiara was born.
The completed tiara matched perfectly with the worldbuilding and costumes of the new production, and it
became one of Princess Tenko’s favorites, used for many years.
This tiara became one of my early signature works, and based on this design, I went on to create various
versions—gold, silver, white, and star-adorned tiaras.
