Dispatching Tokyo Creativity from Milan to the World
Design Association Tokyo ( Chairman: Kenji Kawasaki ) and Tokyo Design Week ( TDW ) presented their second consecutive participation of “Tokyo Design Week in Milan” as part of the Salone
This was done as an extension to promote the expansion of the Network of “World Design Weeks” now in its second year.
Last year’s exhibition gathered a record number of over 90,000 visitors by presenting Tokyo Creativity in Design, Art, Fashion, Music, Technology and Food, and this year they expect to have 115,000.
This year we added the Cool & Kawaii, the Edo Tokyo & in order to attract different target of visitors and to affirm this creativity in preparation for the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo
This year TDW Milan welcomed visitors with kansei (sensibility) contents beyond cultural eras and generations
Kenji Kawasaki (l) and Yusaku Inamura ( World Design Week )
A reflection on current Japanese muddling of old and young, the exhibition Tokyo Design Week 2015 (TDW) discloses this year’s theme: Edo x Harajuku.
The selected goings-on join old Tokyo (Edo) and contemporary Tokyo (Harajuku) with today’s Kawaii trend that focuses on the quality of cuteness in Japanese culture, creativity and technology.
More than 10 main events celebrating traditional and contemporary Japanese design, art, fashion, music and food enlivened up the venue Padiglione Visconti in Tortona District.
TDW presented more than 10 main sections including
“Tokyo Girls Room” by Chintai art Installation produced by Kawaii culture proponent, Sebastian Masuda;
“Sakenomy” (Japanese Sake Bar) by Hidetoshi Nakata; ( representative of the Japanese national football team )
“Homage to Ukiyoe” by Seibu Sogo with world top creators;
“Hokusai Manga inspired Exhibition” by Seibu Sogo with the participation of renown artists Nicholas Gwenael and Katsumi Asaba;
Japanese cutting-edge media-art technology
Creative Directors Projects
Tokyo interior and product design companies such as ELD Interior Products, Gaku Takasu Design, and Hikaru Yamaguchi Design Lab; creative and interactive design and media art by several Japanese artists, companies and schools.
Asia Design and Student Awards
And of course plenty of Japanese Sake and Japanese Food was on hand at the reception party, held on April 13th
Behind the Scenes look at TDW milan 2015
Tokyo Girls Room by Sebastian Masuda
Certain events at Milan 2015, center on Harajuku, an area of Tokyo which represents Japanese youth culture and fashion.
Harajuku Kawaii advocate Sebastian Masuda brings Tokyo Girls Room by Chintai, a single-room space exhibition.
He’ll use this to present Colorful Rebellion – Seventh Nightmare bedroom installation.
Masuda exagerates the experience of Kawaii (literally what is tender and cute) that brings millions of girls wearing pink wigs, pleated skirts and knee socks into Tokyo each weekend.
Masuda reconstructs a colorful bedroom whose surfaces are overrun by stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes.
Zipper x Harajuku Fashion
Harajuku Street Fashion Magazine Zipper,which has been issued since 1993, introduced 4 typical styles that represent Harajuku.
Works made by 3 fashion vocational school students will also be showcased. Harajuku KAWAII fashion can be grasped at a glance
The Harajuku street fashion magazine Zipper will present 4 typical Harajuku styles.
Tokyo Monsters by Asami Kiyokawa
Japanese born, contemporary female artist Asami Kiyokawa will present Tokyo Monster; an avant-garde homage to the Harajuku fashion subculture born in the 90’s.
Harajuku Theatre
The Harajuku Theater filled eager ears with Japanese pop culture and Harajuku power through music, with the group M-Flo (Verbal and Taku Takahashi), as well as videos and live show recordings of new Japanese artists.
Sakenomy
Hidetoshi Nakata at Sakenomy salone milan 2015
Homage to Ukiyoe by Seibu Sogo
Seibu Sogo organized two exhibitions:
Homage to Ukiyo-e with participating world-renowned designers such as Ross Lovegrove, and the Hokusai Manga Inspired Exhibition with distinguished artists Nicholas Gwenael and Katsumi Asaba ( see below ).
football superstar hidetoshi nakata (l) with artist alan chan (r)
Hokusai Manga
TDW 2014 launched the Hokusai Manga Inspired Exhibition at The Grand Palais in Paris with over 50 creators, 20 of which have been chosen to present their work in Milan 2015.
The exhibition on the second floor of the Visconti Pavilion, is dedicated to the master of the Edo period, celebrating his bicentennial.
His iconic designs are reinterpreted in a manga format by artists, designers and contemporary painters.
Yukimi-Shunga
Past unacceptables see the light of day with Japanese art director and film maker Seiichi Hishikawa.
He presented the world’s first animated ukiyo-e, inspired by Katsushika Hokusai’s former taboo art form, Shunga. This art form could not be present to the public until recently as it was scorned in Japanese social and cultural history.
Shunga means erotic art and is translated into English as the picture of spring, with spring being a euphemism for sex in Japanese culture.
Hishikawa’s work will have spectators peeking at the Shunga through shoji ( Japanese sliding screens made of washi ). The artist believes that this is the most charming aspect of his piece
Tokyo Creatives
Asia Awards
Tokyo Students Asia Awards
Student Awards
About Tokyo Design Week, Japan
TOKYO DESIGN WEEK, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, has developed into an international design event that gathers excellent architecture, interior, product design, graphic design and art from all over the world.
Since 2005, the event has been taking place at Meiji Jingu Gaien Mae, Tokyo attracting more than 100,000 visitors every year.
This year,TOKYO DESIGN WEEK 2015 is held under 4 main genres — Design, Art, Fashion, Music — and offers brands, companies, creators, schools the possibility to present their creative projects
TDW Milan 2015 – Event Team
Creative Director : Kenji KAWASAKI
Chief Producer : Akihiro TSUE
Art Director : Sebastian MASUDA
Designer : Narumi HAYASHI
Photographer : Leslie KEE
Make-up : Noboru TOMIZAWA
Stylist : Ryoko KISHIMOTO
Model : Saya ICHIKAWA
Show Designer : Kimi HASEGAWA (+VELVETA DESIGN OFFICE TOKYO)
Entrance Design : Tama Art University Department of Environmental Design (Satoshi TABUCHI / Kei MAENO / Gaku YOSHIDA / Shiori KANNO / Kou TAKAMURA / Kazuto NAKAMURA / Kanami FUKUSHIMA / Momoko WATANABE / Yui KATO / Kento KAMATANI / Dao Tran Ai Nhi Mitsuho MURAKAMI / Aya ISOBE)
Entrance Design Corporation : KAJIMA CORPORATION / MATSUI CONSTRUCTION CO., LTD. / SPACE CO., LTD. / STRAW Lab. by CHUBI CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, LTD.
Venue Set-up : Jun YANAZAKI (CLARITAS MARKETING)
Public Relations : AGENZIA COPYRIGHT SRL (Cristina GALLUPPI)
TV : Yutaka AKIYAMA / Nozomu YOSHIDA / Kumiko NAKAYAMA / Kengo KIZAWA
Organizer : TOKYO DESIGN WEEK / DESIGN ASSOCIATION NPO / Shigeki OCHI / Hidetoshi KAWASAKI / Luana MATEI / Miou TAKEI / Yuka SHIRAI / Kei YOSHINO / Tomomi TAKAHASHI / Gen HIRANO / Rion ANDO / Lisa IWATSUKI / Kenta SUMII (designer)
