THE TRADITION AND THE INNOVATION IN KYO-KARAKAMI “KARACHO”

- CREATING THE ULTIMATE SHITURAI AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES -

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the long-standing company providing such products that hold some sort of customer experiences. The long-standing company has continuously adjusted its main products to the changes of customers' lives by harmonizing tradition and innovation. The KYO-KARAKAMI is handmade Japanese paper representing the“Karacho” pattern, used for covering walls, ceilings and FUSUMA (a thick papered sliding door for partitioning rooms in a Japanese house). Based on a case of KYO-KARAKAMI “Karacho”, this study analyzes how the KYO-KARAKAMI designs the SHITURAI (furnishing with hospitality) and every-day's living environment and how the design of living environment made by KYO-KARAKAMI has been linked with creation of customer experiences.