The development of this font incorporates the Japanese renmen style (connected writing). While previous fonts utilized ligatures to achieve this connected style, this font does not rely on ligatures. The first step was to digitally reproduce typefaces used in metal type. Based on the sense of discomfort encountered during this process, improvements were made using OpenType and variable font technologies. Metal type often resulted in a monotonous finish, but by applying variable font technology with weight axes, more natural nuances and modulations were achieved. Some parts of the characters appeared unnatural, so connection patterns were reviewed and improved. Based on the prototypes, a font capable of expressing renmen was created.

Sign language is a visual language as a mother tongue by approximately 80,000 Japanese. Currently, a sign language law is being enacted to raise awareness among non-hearing-disabled people of the importance of sign language.
However, learning sign language through books or sign language circles is a hurdle non-hearing-disabled people for who have no opportunity to learn sign language. The origin of many sign language movements is easy to understand for non-hearing-disabled people who use auditory language, and an easy interest characterizes them. Therefore, as a tool for familiarly learning sign language, a card game was created to match the sign language movement with the picture of its origin.

This collection of works explores the possibilities of computer graphics (CG) visual expression using ultra high definition 8K resolution technology. Specifically, it examines how to achieve highly refined visual expression by integrating visual tricks such as optical illusions and generative elements, culminating in the production of media art pieces. Our laboratory has created works like “L∞P” which utilizes the Pulfrich effect and vection, and “Ten, Tenten” which employs generative programming. These works fully leverage the characteristics of 8K technology to provide a visually impactful and novel viewing experience. This study also analyzes the effectiveness of CG expression in 8K ultra-high-definition video through presentation experiments using these works, demonstrating the potential for future video production. Notably, these works have been submitted to media art competitions and have received awards.

Up until now, Sapporo TRAM has not developed wrapping advertising products for new vehicles due to their sophisticated design. However, as the soundness of the company's management became an issue, consideration began in January 2023, and sales of a new vehicle wrapping advertising product began in March 2024. This paper mainly records the process of commercialization, including clarifying the implementation policy through prior research, considering examination criteria, and creating a draft design guideline through a survey of residents through trial runs of prototype vehicles. A feature of this trial is that it demonstrated the potential of the guideline evaluation method.

To promote “Phase Free”, a new concept related to disaster prevention that makes the “always” and the “what ifs” free, we developed various communication designs for fonts, websites, award posters, certificates, trophies, etc., and implemented branding and promotion related to “Phase Free”. Using the Action Partner Mark created earlier as a prototype, the font was designed by extending from “P” and “F” to all the letters of the alphabet, giving the company name, brand name, and various projects a visual communication function with a unified image. This work is a distinctive example of using typography to facilitate visual communication of a concept that has not yet taken hold. This paper summarizes a series of communication designs and processes that have been essential to the understanding and dissemination of “Phase Free” over the past decade.

This product is a mouthpiece-type oral irrigator that utilizes fine bubble technology for people requiring nursing care (Fig.1). By simply placing the mouthpiece in the mouth, fine bubbles spread throughout the oral cavity to clean it.
First, 10 elderly people were asked to perform a grasp pressure distribution analysis and provide a subjective evaluation of the ease of holding 8 different prototypes. Next, the selected three different working models were evaluated by 20 elderly people in need of care to determine the shape that is easy to hold.
The mouthpiece was also evaluated for usability and the presence of adverse events such as aspiration under the guidance of a physician, and the final shape was determined.

In Japan, many people still sit on the floor on a daily basis. The advantage of floor seating is that the line of sight is low, making the space feel larger and more relaxing. The Enots Floor Chair has a gently curved surface for comfort and was designed to fit in with modern interiors. The slightly higher seat surface makes standing up and sitting down easier, and the weight shift allows the user to lean forward and work comfortably at the table. Manufactured using resin blow molding, the cushion is painless compared to urethane seating chairs and can be used cleanly for a long time. The hollow, lightweight interior can be carried with one hand and used outdoors. Seating tests have shown that the chair is better than existing chairs for sitting on the floor and working at a table.

The purpose of this study is to construct a new design method that can be utilized in the development of new products by Yamaha Motor through the joint research between Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. and Nagoya City University School of Design and Architecture.
In the design work, the participating students had extraordinary experiences, and these experiences were made into unified format journey maps. Next, from the journey maps, the students searched the requirements for bringing emotion. Finally, they created concept designs for new mobility. The outputs received a great response from the staff of Yamaha Motor, and we achieved the purpose of the study.

This work describes the process, the content of the proposal and the evaluation of the proposal by the author and co-authors living in Japan, who made a design proposal for a hypothetical project to design rolling stock for the Mumbai Suburban Railway in India. For the exterior design, based on the concept words ‘Energetic & Systematic’, the proposal included a ‘frontal shape’ to express the energetic mood of Mumbai and an ‘exterior graphic design’ as a information sign to treat the transport infrastructure as a network. For the interior design, based on the concept words ‘Smooth & Smart’, the proposal included an ‘interior layout’ to ensure smooth movement in the crowded Mumbai Suburban Railway trains and an ‘Interior graphic design’ as a smart information sign following the concept of exterior graphic design. These concept proposals were highly appreciated by the rolling stock planners of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.

This house was built in the suburbs of Fukui City. In response to the site situations and to meet the client’s demand not to require the specifications of a standard house, this house departs from the typical house planning approach so-called nLDK, being without windows on the ground floor and with a large light basin named ‘ether’ on the second floor. The ground floor is closed to the outside, but the interior is a series of transparent spaces that allow the eye to pass through. The louvered and glazed lightwell on the second floor, which reflects light diffusely onto the wooden grid-frame, provides a spiritual base for the life of the family that unfolds beneath it. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the work and to discuss reflections on the design process, with the focus on the expressive methods of ‘transparency’ in residential architecture.

A house is not only a shelter for living, but also a “comfortable space” for human life. Based on a survey of daily life records, we considered the space where the client feels comfortable. As a result, it is clear that people tend to spend most of their time in “corners,” “edges,” spaces with no purpose such as edges and steps, and “boundaries” between different functions. Based on the hypothesis that humans have a habit of unknowingly preferring “boundaries (creases),” we planned a house focusing on the “boundaries (creases)” of the house.
The clients are a firefighter husband who works the night shift, a childcare worker wife who works the early and late shifts, and one child. By creating “places” where each person’s place and activities overlap, the design allows families with different life rhythms to live comfortably.

One of the popular exhibits in Tobu Zoo, “Monkey Mountain” is a home to approximately 50 rhesus monkeys. It was renovated for the first time after about 40 years allowing us to observe their behaviors throughout four seasons. Viewing spot was also constructed for closer observation of the monkeys.
This paper discusses and reflects on the process and design concepts of signs, information panels and street furnitures, I designed for “Akage 365”. I would also attempt to propose and present considerations in designing informational materials for other zoos.

This paper aims to reflect on the Patient and Family Consultation Support Center at Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, by organizing the issues before its renovation, design intent, and usage of the space. This work is a consultation space designed for people who have problems that they find difficult to talk about. the Therefore, in this work, we focused on designing a space that serves as the “face of the hospital” to welcome people, a space that is easy to talk to and maintains psychological safety, and a space that enhances accessibility to information. As a result, it was confirmed that the space contributes to consultation support from the perspective of users, and usage promoting of leaflets and booklets, and making a communication place among staff.

Public libraries are evolving from spaces just for reading and studying into open cultural hubs that foster discovery, lifestyle exploration, and idea exchange. The Ishikawa Prefectural Library embodies this transformation, with Ishikawa Prefecture conducting thorough research and selecting the Environment Design Institute, led by Mitsuru Senda, as the architectural designer through a 2017 public proposal. Our team later joined as furniture and fixture designers.
The Library aspires to attract diverse visitors, offering a space where people of all ages find value and return often. Furniture plays a key role, supporting readers’ actions—resting, placing belongings, and reading—and enriching their experience with books.
This article highlights the design process from the user’s perspective, focusing on creating a harmonious environment and enhancing the Library’s core activities: “enjoying books, seeking knowledge, and thinking with books.”

Paper crafts are expected to be used effectively as “teaching materials” in zoo workshops to draw participants’ interest and encourage independent and active behavior. Paper crafts are teaching materials that allow participants to learn about the morphological characteristics of animals in a hands-on way by crafting them. However, the accumulation and utilization of design know-how has been an issue. A workshop was held for lower elementary school students to assemble paper crafts that imitate Hokkaido animals. The paper crafts typified animal bodies in simple shapes and divided the characteristic parts into parts. Based on questionnaires and observations, typifying the body into simple shapes made it easier to visualize how to assemble them.
In addition, by categorizing each distinctive part into different parts, it became clear that par-ticipants were aware of the characteristics of each part.

What should we do to share with other viewers the indescribable emotions that occur when viewing artworks? In order to express such emotions, we tried to design a workshop using various materials with tactile sensations.
In this workshop, viewers created “tactile impression objects” using a kit containing materials with diverse textures. While instructing how to touch it, we created a workshop in which viewers talked about their impressions and shared the viewing experience with others. The participating viewers were able to express what they saw and felt by combining materials and were able to convey this to the other participants.

This work is a primary programming educational material developed at the SIAF School, one of the projects of the Sapporo International Art Festival 2024, which is linked to art practice. The work consists of three parts: a programmable web application, an installation work displayed in the festival site, and a dedicated search terminal in the same site. The web application allows users to draw snowflake figures using simple text-type programming and post the drawn snowflake figures to a dedicated server. In the installation work, snowflake figures submitted via the web application are shown on a screen set up in the venue, with images of snowflakes continuously pouring down at intervals of several seconds. The user can make the specified image fall by using a special search terminal. As a result of conducting classes using this work at elementary and junior high schools, it was confirmed that it provided an opportunity to broaden interest and horizons in expressive methods and text-based programming.

In the Department of Architecture and Design at Kyoritsu Women’s University, we have been designing events and fashioning tools that might prove useful to regional revitalization.
To this end, we have organized a number of exercises in cooperation with local communities. “Jimbocho Colored Manhole” is one such project. It revolves around a stylish, colorful manhole cover we designed for a wide range of age groups in the community, inspired by the rich history and culture of Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo. This attractive art piece encourage locals and visitors to Jimbocho-hop, and, in the process, to create conversation and spur business.
In this article, we introduce details of the project, its path to realization, and some of its many results.

This work is an experiential media system that creates a connection between people and the city in a public space called “Connect Kanazawa 2”. Street piano was set up in the park, and projection mapping was generated by live piano performance. That is, music and images decorated the venue. To make the experience memorable for each participant, an augmented reality (AR) rabbit and a projected image can be caught at the venue, and was provided as NFT images. Designed to revitalize the community, the system allows participants to be involved in the live performance themselves, making the experience memorable. Demonstration experiment using this system were held in the light-up event, “Kanazawa Tsukimi Koro 2023”.

This product is a casing for an electronic circuit board. It comprises a lower case made by injection molding, with a mold that has a cavity, and a core, both made of laminating metals plate about 3-mm thick, and an upper cover made by cutting an acrylic plate.
The cavity and core of the mold for the lower casing are made by laminating metal plates, and casings of different sizes can be produced by varying the sizes of the plates. Hence, it is possible to build different sizes. It is also possible to vary the appearance partially. We also aim to reduce the cost of mold processing by applying a laser processing machine.

This work, ‘Charipic set’, is a tool for enjoying picnics with bicycles. ‘Charipic’ is an activity that combines Chari (bicycles) and picnics. Charipic is developed as a bicycle rental service in Miura City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Currently, it is sold as a Charipic tour through ‘Jaran’. While improving the original Charipic set L, a different size set of S and then M was created. The potential of this tool is that just the presence of these sets can turn an empty outdoor space into something special, allowing you to have a different experience than usual.During each process of development, observations are made for considerations of “the relationship between things and meanings”, how the awareness of Charipik guides, who are local residents, will change and how we can build a better relationship between them and the local environment.

This study presents a new approach to cultural memory transmission across generations and communities by archiving an old elementary school building, scheduled for reconstruction due to deterioration, as a VR space and developing a card game titled “Inokori Master” based on this archive. The game is designed with the concept of “a short gameplay session that encourages players to share memories of their elementary school years, particularly those associated with teachers and spaces.” It encourages participants from diverse backgrounds to reflect on and share their school memories, fostering value sharing and meaningful dialogue.

The “Mikan Komeko Dorayaki” (rice flour pancake with sweet tangerine jam) is a local product that was born from the “Odawara Mikan Farm Regenerative Project”, a collaborative educational initiative undertaken by Kanto Gakuin University (PJ). The author, serving as the representative and professor of the PJ, has been engaged in the overall management; namely, conceptualization of the product, establishment of production and sales systems, designing of leaflets and packages, and promotion activities since 2017. The product was introduced to support to Senior Network Odawara & Ashigara (SNOA), acting at the abandoned farmlands. Rice flour is procured from Rice Shop, working at abandoned rice paddies. By reflecting on the design process, this study revealed that, among the various values and multiple objectives of the diverse actors involved, the vantage point of “how they can coexist”, rather than attempting to unifying them, is the pivotal factor in establishing the pluralistic design practice and education. Thus, incorporating adaptive governance into design attitudes is expected to ensure sustainability.