Eisuke Tachikawa, Yuri Naruse, Takako Kansai, Tadahiko Sakamaki, Ayana Tsukahara. Image courtesy of The Japan Foundation, New York.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014, 7–8:30pm

New Museum Theater
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002

The Japan Foundation presents “Design Matters! – Innovative Minds from Japan” on Tuesday, April 29 at 7pm at New Museum Theater. Five emerging Japanese designers from various fields—web design, product design, and architectural design—will share their design philosophies and approaches to how design can address societal challenges and provide innovative solutions.

The internationally acclaimed designers aim to achieve Japan’s social innovation through a wide variety of designs, such as community design for disaster-stricken areas and smartphone application development. 

Please click here for more information. The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. Please register from here. 

This program is part of the “KAKEHASHI Project – The Bridge for Tomorrow” within the Youth Exchange Program with North America promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA). 

For further information
Kanako Shirasaki: [email protected] / T 212 489 0299 x129
Tomomi Tanikawa: [email protected] / T 212 489 0299 x153.
For The Japan Foundation KAKEHASHI Project website please click here. 

Speakers
Eisuke Tachikawa 
Mr. Eisuke Tachikawa, who has a Master of Architecture from Keio University’s Department of Science and Technology, is the founder of NOSIGNER, a design firm aimed at “social design innovation,” which he established while still in school in 2006. Specializing in a multi-disciplinary approach that traverses two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and spatial design, NOSIGNER’s conceptual planning, innovative product development and branding has been recognized through global awards like Design for Asia Award, NY ADC Young Guns 7, PENTAWARDS PLATINUM, Good Design Awards, and many others. His activities extend beyond commercial work to encompass science and technology, education, local industries, and support for developing nations. 

Yuri Naruse 
Ms. Yuri Naruse completed her Doctorate course work at the graduate school of Tokyo University in 2007, and she co-founded Naruse Inokuma Architects. She became a special-appointed assistant professor of the graduate school of Tokyo University in 2009 and assistant professor in 2010. Naruse’s main works include FabCafe Tokyo, THE SCAPE(R), LT Josai, and Kashiwa-no-ha Open Innovation Lab (KOIL).

Takako Kansai
Ms. Takako Kansai ventured into the Web business at 25 years old and seriously began development at 29. While in charge of planning and developing tools for Web access, she also handled many individual development services. In 2012, Kansai released the online personal finance application Zaim, which she had developed in her free time. Since its release, Zaim has consistently ranked among the top applications in the free finance category, and in 2013 attracted over a million users. The award-winning Zaim supports in 30 different currencies and be downloaded from 131 countries around the world.

Tadahiko Sakamaki 
Mr. Tadahiko Sakamaki graduated from the design division of Chiba University Graduate School of Science and Technology in 2004, and joined KORG as a product designer. Sakamaki was transferred to the product planning division in 2005, where he is now in charge of planning novel products. The major products designed by Sakamaki are Arp Odyssey reissue, littleBits x KORG Synth Kit, “DS-DAC” series, “volca” series, MS-20 mini, “monotron” series, “kaossilator” series, “nano” series, microKORG XL.

Ayana Tsukahara 
Ms. Ayana Tsukahara graduated from the Faculty of Intercultural Studies at Gakushuin Women’s University and joined Intelligence Ltd. Tsukahara joined Bracket in 2012 and is now the Director, involved in almost all projects, such as planning and developing services and managing operations, planning and proposing new ideas to partners, and managing teams within the company.

The Japan Foundation

The Japan Foundation is Japan’s public institution dedicated to sharing Japanese culture and language with people throughout the world. By presenting diverse aspects of Japanese culture, we create platforms of communication and understanding between the peoples of the world and Japan.

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