Currently, Prof.Obuchi has organized a series of lectures as part of Harvard Graduate School of Design Tokyo Program seminar titled Evolutionary Productions, which explores the history and technological developments of Japanese craft traditions and manufacturing systems. Japan offers a unique opportunity to investigate advanced modes of productions spanning from low-tech to high-tech, from hand-based and machine-based to information-based productions. The seminar additionally consists of various site visits to directly observe the range of Japanese crafts leading up to the final design project, which synthesizes explorations of production processes into a development of a device, titled Tokyo Tools.

FEB. 8 Wednesday / 14:00 - 16:00 / Room 15
Morinosuke Kawaguchi Geeky-Girly Innovation: A Japanese
Subculturist's Guide to Technology and Design

technology consultant, subculture-driven innovations expert, Arthur D. Little Inc.

Analyzing everything from super-toilets to cute character stationery goods, from bikes to robots, strategy expert and conceptor Morinosuke Kawaguchi supplies a road map for the future, leveraging the power of subcultures into developing top-tier products for the world market. His unique approach connects monozukuri (excellence in manufacturing and design) and emotional design to bring product development to a new level.

FEB. 14 Tuesday / 13:30 - 15:30 / Room 315
Jun Sato Behind the Scene of Contemporary Japanese Architecture

structural engineer, principal, Jun Sato Structural Engineers

Jun Sato makes all contemporary Japanese non-standard architecture possible. He
graduated from the Univ. of Tokyo and has worked with Toshihiko Kimura Structural
Engineers before establishing his own firm in 2000. He has worked on projects with
architects Sou Fujimoto, Riken Yamamoto, Junya Ishigami, Atelier Tekuto, CAt, etc., and has won numerous awards including Japan Structural Design Award in 2009.

FEB. 21 Tuesday / site visit
Blest Co., Ltd. Tools for Renewable Energy

plastic to oil conversion - company visit

Plastic doesn’t seem so fantastic these days - more an ecological nightmare that is
overflowing our garbage dumps, killing wildlife and disrupting the food chain. But Akinori Ito, the CEO Blest Corporation, sees waste plastic as a resource, especially here in oil-poor Japan, and has invented a machine that can transform a single kilo of plastic into one liter of oil and refined into gasoline, diesel or kerosene, for both industrial and home use.

FEB. 28 Tuesday / 14:00 - 16:00 / Room 15
Azby Brown Learning from the Edo Lifestyle

architect, artist, author

What is it like to live in a sustainable society? What can “traditional Japanese way of life”
teach us today? Azby Brown researches how people lived in Japan some two hundred years ago when traditional technology and culture were at the peak of development, just before the country opened itself to the West. Living in Japan since 1985, he directs the KIT Future Design Institute and has authored books including Just Enough (2009).