Universal Design in Japan

In Japan, original universal design ideas and technologies emerged from around the mid-1990's, influenced by the birth of the initial universal design concept in the United States and functioning as a further extension of the "barrier-free" thinking that had existed in Japan up to that point. In Japan, a country characterized historically by the strong social custom for families to coexist over long periods of time in single residential environments, there is an increasingly pronounced trend to shun barrier-free products that, as a result of being utilized in daily life, serve to render self-evident disabilities, aging or other human conditions. In the place of such goods, the contemporary demand is for designs and products developed from advance considerations for the needs of children, women, the elderly, persons with disabilities and various other consumers, and which deliver a broad range of user friendliness.

Viewed differently, it may well be that we are witnessing the beginnings of new social value and assessment within Japanese society, based more strongly on the specific types of value that various different products and designs offer to individual users.

Takumi and Universal Design

"Takumi" is the term used from ancient times in Japan to describe "artisans" or "craftsmen" who fashion creations from wood. With the development of modern industrial systems, however, the livelihoods of woodworkers and others craftsmen who use their own hands to carve out and otherwise produce applied woodcrafts have undergone major changes. Nowadays, in fact, Japan is experiencing a steady decline in the number of artisans who are engaged in such traditional work practices. The lion's share of the essential work of such "Takumi" evolved through a long historical process supported by ongoing dialogues and exchanges with the actual users of the products. This spiritual culture characterized by meticulous devotion to user friendliness, together with the pursuit of aesthetic beauty right down to the smallest details of the individual creations, in fact share much in common with the concept of "Universal Design," which by definition is firmly committed to the particular needs of each envisioned user of a product. In that sense, the UCJ products presented in this catalogue provide clear evidence of the movement, now being nurtured among the "Takumi" of regional areas, to apply such traditional know-how techniques to the goal of supplying those of us who live in the contemporary world with new and more user-friendly creations for use in everyday life.

Universal Craft Japan

There are those who carve and shape objects with their hands. From long before the dawning of modern industrial society, Japan's traditional craft industries thrived on technology nurtured from deep insights and understanding of the particular needs of users. The posture projected by such craftsmanship was extremely human in quality, and overflowed with genuine love and care for the "consumers" of that era. Today, within the midst of Japan's highly developed industrial society, the population as a whole is rising in age. This gives rise to the need to define the true meaning of user-friendliness for the consumers who dwell in such an environment. In eras past, creators and users interacted at shops and other places of business, engaging in discussions of designs, craftsmanship and other timely topics of conversation. In this spirit, it is our desire to revive, in the current day and age, the distinctive Japanese culture inherent in such craftsmanship. The UCJ Exhibition is a project inaugurated as an apt expression of this concept, and of the goal to cultivate a new direction for Japanese industry and design. Yet another crucial objective of this project is for the creations selected by UCJ to function as instruments instilling greater user-friendliness and harmony in the daily lives of an increasing number of satisfied consumers.