new design and historical art
In JapanCraft x Tech connects contemporary designers and artists from around the world to collaborate with local artisans. Historic merger vessel with experiments in aesthetics and form, the team has invited established creatives such as Bethan Laura Wood, Sabine Marcelis and Eugene Kangawa to rethink what is possible using techniques that have shaped the country’s history. In conversation with designboom, Craft x Tech founder and creative director Hideki Yoshimoto and curatorial director Maria Cristina Didero talk about their journey bringing international designers to Japan.
Lanzavecchia + Wai at Mino Washi during the Craft x Tech Tokai 2025 project site visit | photo by Noritoshi Kuroki
group photo of the Craft x Tech Tokai Project exhibition at Kudan House | photo by Noritoshi Kuroki
Yoshimoto, who studied and worked in London for many years before returning to Tokyo, recounts the beginning of his Craft x Tech: “I came into design from the engineering side of the world: it was always a fusion of engineering or technology with design… I wasn’t particularly interested in traditional Japanese art.” Yoshimoto then described a chance encounter he had during his last year living abroad in London: an invitation to meet a traditional lacquer craftsman (urushi) in Akita the next time he was in Japan. “I went and it was my first time to enter the workshop of these craftsmen. That was crazy to me!”
miso soup bowl as sculpture
He referred to growing up with miso soup bowls, which are traditionally created by applying several thin layers of lacquer to hand-carved wood, noting how he took for granted all the technical details that went into creating this everyday object. “I had never imagined someone creating this plate or bowl as if it were a sculpture. We always think of the sculptor as someone who makes the work of art. But when it comes to a soup bowl, we don’t imagine someone sculpting that soup bowl.’ Yoshimoto went on to describe the sense of awe he gained from watching the precision, mastery and process play out in front of him.
In its first year, the organization brought designers to the Tohoku (northeast) region of Japan. “Especially with the first version, the craftsmen were quite skeptical,” observes Yoshimoto when he first met artisans, who were usually deeply rooted in their local contexts and expressed skepticism about the modern approach he proposed. “We called! Meeting, drinking together, hanging out. Then (artisans) realized that this is real and that they were participating in something that could create something new. Gradually, we formed a feeling of trust between us, the designers and the craftsmen.’
Kawatsura Shikki and Sabine Marcelis during a visit to the Craft x Tech Tohoku 2023 project site | Jun Sugawara’s photo
the universal language of design
In the first edition, Sabine Marcelis, Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves (Studio SWINE), Ini Archibong, Yoichi Ochiai, Hideki Yoshimoto and Michael Young came together to engage in Craft x Tech collaborations, creating a space of rich cultural diversity. Between English, Japanese and other native languages, a language barrier naturally arose. Diderot notes that it was “a great human experience” to see how the common design language was able to reconcile this. “It was really the passion for their work and the technique that the craftsman was trying to pass on to the designer. Then the designer was trying to understand from the craftsman. They created a kind of story without words. It was building memories through the product, building a great human experience.”
Bethan Laura Wood in Arimatsu Narumi Shibori during the Craft x Tech Tokai 2025 Project Site Visit | photo by Noritoshi Kuroki
Bethan Laura Wood in Arimatsu Narumi Shibori during the Craft x Tech Tokai 2025 Project Site Visit | photo by Noritoshi Kuroki
Design is about people, not chairs
When asked how she approached the project, Didero shared one of her mantras: “Design is about people, not chairs.” She clarified by saying, “My approach tries to understand what comes before the object and why the object is finalized in a certain way. It’s more about the people and the process and the context: how it was born and came about.’
The Milan-based writer and curator went on to express how excited she was to be a part of the project, not only because of her love of Japan (she has visited over a dozen times), but also because it draws on her fundamental interest in the values of Italy’s Radical Design movement.. “While they were producing objects, they were talking about the historical and political context from which it came and was created. I think this is also very important now for contemporary design. The design reflects a person, but also gives an idea of what’s going on at that moment.”
