That is why we planned this exhibition to make maximum use of actual objects. One purpose of a tour of a city, whether conscious or not, is to look at the design of the products in use in everyday life, including furniture, clothing, tableware, and electrical appliances, so the experience of looking at this exhibition is similar to the experience of touring. The design of the objects on display here, a summary of life in present-day Japan, gives a substantial insight into Japanese urban culture today.

Looking at the history of modern design in Japan, it is clear that a great deal of modern design was absorbed from the West during the period of modernization. Today, however, there is a greater interaction between modernist design, new trends, and a traditional Japanese sense of form, leading to the possibility of greater diversity in the field of design. From a historical perspective, there are many features of present-day that can be considered unique to Japan, such as skilled, precision craftsmanship and a natural proclivity for making things smaller, lighter, and thinner. These Japanese characteristics can be expected to emerge even more clearly when digital design is aligned with digital production to a greater extend.

When seen as whole, the objects featured in this exhibition are not just good examples of excellent product design but a collection of living reference material that reveals the form of contemporary Japanese life.

The theme of this exhibition is Japanese Design Today 100, but it includes about ten examples of objects designed a half century earlier, in the period just after World War II. Some of these design tendencies have continued into the present while others remain only as nostalgic memories.