KUKANZAI
Elements of Atmosphere
KUKANZAI LABORATORY
CRAFTSMAN
Masaaki Okoshi
(Isekatagami merchant)
Representative Director, Okoshi Katagami Shoten Co.
A long-established manufacturer of Ise-katagami, established 100 years ago in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture.
The company's main business is designing, creating, and selling Ise-katagami patterns, which are designated by the Japanese government.
The company is developing its business not only in kimono, but also in architecture and interior design.
Exhibitions at International Trade Fairs
2010 Maison & Objet
2011 Premiere Vision Andigo
2012 Premiere Vision Andrigo
Yuga Arisawa
（Handmade washi craftsman,Origami artist)
Born in 1997 in Sapporo. Origami artist and paper-maker.
He has been absorbed in origami since his childhood, and began creating paper in earnest around the time he entered junior high school.
After graduating from high school, he joined Corsoyard, a Mino handmade washi studio. As an origami artist who makes paper by hand, he has been featured on TV and in many other media.
He is the author of "Origami Prince no Kawaii! but too difficult origami" (KADOKAWA, 2019) and others.
Toshihiko Tate
(Kumiko craftsman)
Works at Tate Wood Works. Born in Nagiso, Nagano Prefecture.
He is the third generation of a 75-year-old woodworking company in the mountains near Tsumago Inn.
He produces custom-made furniture, fittings, and braiding using traditional techniques, making the most of the grain and aroma of Kiso Hinoki wood.
Takanori Senda
（Handmade washi craftsman)
Born in 1983 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. After living with Andean people in the Amazon and the Andes in Peru, she was inspired by the idea of living in harmony with nature.
In 2011, he started studying under Tatsuo Ichihara, and inherited the 1300 year old Mino washi making technique, and became independent.
Representative of Warabi Paper Company. He cultivates raw materials for washi and makes traditional washi.
It establishes the expression that exceeds the stereotype of the washi made by the base, and the production of the creative washi with the hotel, the store, the designer, and the brand, etc. is performed.
Designers
Masaaki Oka
Studied spatial design at SONY Design. He was in charge of design projects for the company's headquarters building and overseas brand stores. Currently, he works as a freelance coach for branding and product development.
Kukanzai is a product in which a piece of traditional craftsmanship creates a Japanese atmosphere in the space where it is placed.
Akira Shibuya
Since the 1980s, he has been involved as an architect in realizing projects of foreign architects and interior designers such as Philippe Starck, André Putman, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, etc. Since 1994, he has been a member of a brand consulting firm and has worked for Nike, Uniqlo, Ueshima Coffee Shop, Aoyama Flower Market, and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, etc. Since 2015, he has been the brand manager of B&B Italia.
Masayuki Katsukawa
Director of Kukanzai Laboratory. He has long been engaged in the design and manufacturing of Japanese-style lighting for major lighting fixture manufacturers such as Panasonic. He has been especially devoted to reproducing the "sukiya (tea ceremony house) light" created by traditional tea ceremony house construction in lighting fixtures.
He launched this project with the hope of "contributing to making craftsmen's lives worth living by using Kukanzai.
Production cooperation
