"hide kasuga 1896" has launched "hide kasuga & PARTNERS," a Japan-based creative firm.
Product designers Kota Nezu and Keita Shimizu have joined the firm.
Architect Kengo Kuma has been appointed as Executive Advisor.
hide kasuga 1896 Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Hideyuki Kasuga; hereinafter “the Company”) will establish “hide kasuga & PARTNERS,” a Japan-based creative firm, on October 1, with the aim of creating “Reiwa Modernism,” the new lifestyle concept championed by the Company.
Product designers Kota Nezu and Keita Shimizu will join this firm as partner creators. Hideyuki Kasuga, our company’s representative, will serve as the representative of “hide kasuga & PARTNERS,” and architect Kengo Kuma, who also serves as our company’s advisor, will serve as executive advisor.
/ Message from the CEO /
The hide kasuga Group has established the creative firm "hide kasuga & PARTNERS" with the aim of creating "Reiwa Modernism."
"Reiwa Modernism" refers to a unique lifestyle that blends and synthesizes the advanced "technical capabilities" cultivated by Japan as a nation built on science and technology—with the Japanese people at its core—and the "sensibility" nurtured by its history and culture.
Since our establishment in 2012 as a “materials think tank,” we have been dedicated to bringing out the appeal of materials from an intuitive perspective.
We view the 2020s—a time when the world is facing significant challenges—as an opportunity to fundamentally transform the Japanese way of life.
We will collaborate with a diverse range of partners to create compelling products and a new “way of life.”
Representative Hideyuki Kasuga
Representative:
Hideyuki Kasuga
Producer
Born in Nagano in 1973.
Ph.D. in Engineering. Completed a master’s program at the Graduate School of Tokyo Institute of Technology.
After working as a researcher in Tokyo and Paris, he became the head of the family business in 2009, a company with roots in a hemp wholesaler founded in 1896.
He became independent in 2012 and founded "hide kasuga 1896 Co., Ltd.," a materials-focused think tank.
He operates two circular materials brands, "hide k 1896" and "BLANC BIJOU PARIS," as well as the research institute "hide kasuga LABO" (located within the International Center for Science and Innovation at Shinshu University) and the materials gallery "gallery de kasuga."
Consortium for Building a Circular Economy
Director of "Green Composite Hills by hide k 1896."
Partner Designer
Kota NEZU
Product Designer
Born in Tokyo in 1969.
Graduated from the Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Engineering, Chiba University.
Joined Toyota Motor Corporation, where he served as the concept development leader for the "i-unit" at the 2005 World Exposition (Aichi Expo).
Founded in 2005, znug design has handled the conceptual planning and design of numerous industrial products, contributing to the revitalization of creative activities at manufacturing companies.
He has exhibited his work at design events both in Japan and abroad, including the “Satellite” section of the Milan Salon del Mobile and Maison et Objet in Paris, as well as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s “JAPAN DESIGN +” initiative. He serves as a judge for the Good Design Award.
Good Design Gold Award 2020 (Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award) (LOVOT),
JAPAN WOODDESIGN AWARD 2016 Grand Prize (Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award) (Setsuna),
and many other awards.
/ Comments on Participation /
“If the materials don’t change, the product won’t change.” This is something I’ve believed ever since I was a student. Wanting to put this idea into practice in my own way, I created a flexible bicycle using thermoplastic FRP for my university graduation project.
Since then, I have been involved in the development of a wide range of products that challenge conventional wisdom by experimenting with different materials—including wooden lunch boxes, cars with wooden frames as well as exteriors, soft ultra-compact vehicles with exteriors made of fabric and polyurethane foam, and soft, warm robots designed to be held.
We are deeply honored and thrilled to have formed a comprehensive partnership with hide kasuga 1896 Co., Ltd., a company that is vigorously advancing highly innovative initiatives aimed at building a circular economy centered on flexible yet resilient thermoplastic FRP materials, and to be participating in this project to change the world starting with materials.Drawing on the diverse expertise we have cultivated over the years, we will unite the strengths of this one-of-a-kind team to bring about the societal implementation of new values through manufacturing.
Partner Designer
Keita SHIMIZ U
Product Designer
Born in Tokyo in 1974.
He spent his childhood in the United States, graduated from the Department of Design, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, and completed the Master’s program at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts.
After working in Milan, he founded Creative Norm.
Representative of Creative Norm,
; Part-time Lecturer at Tokyo University of the Arts,
; Part-time Lecturer at Joshibi University of Art and Design,
; Part-time Lecturer at Showa Women's University,
; Supporter of "more trees."
2006 Design Report Award,
Nominated as GIBA,
2008 Good Design Award (Prua / Tendo Mokko),
2008 Good Design Award (IGSA series / Soejima Isao Shoten),
2008 Fukuoka Industrial Design Award (IGSA series / Soejima Isao Shoten),
2012 Good Design Award (Alant / Itoki),
and many other awards.
/ Comments on Participation /
“Since the common people of Edo were already voluntarily undertaking many of the initiatives associated with the SDGs, now that the world is striving to achieve a circular economy, Japanese private companies should naturally take the lead in this effort.”
And in doing so, I believe we must not forget that Japanese culture is rich in examples of advanced technological development—such as “kintsugi”—that bring out the inherent beauty of materials, as well as the resulting upcycling initiatives.
While materials reflect the times, the underlying philosophy remains universal. Isn’t it precisely this philosophy that we should learn from our predecessors, adopting an attitude of “learning from the past to understand the present”?
I believe that the “Reiwa Modernism” advocated by Mr. Kasuga is more than just a style.
I understand it as a term that describes the movement itself—one in which the ideas, knowledge, and sensibilities cultivated by the Japanese people are fully harnessed to suit the current era and contribute to the world.
"As a product designer, my mission is to create new value and bring Reiwa Modernism to life."
Executive Advisor
Kengo KUMA
Architect
Born in 1954. Graduated from the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Tokyo.
Founded Kengo Kuma & Associates in 1990.
Professor at the University of Tokyo from 2009 to March 2020.
Special Professor at the University of Tokyo since April 2020.
Deeply impressed by Kenzo Tange’s Yoyogi National Gymnasium during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he aspired to become an architect from a young age.
In college, he studied under Hiroshi Hara and Shoya Uchida; during his graduate studies, he crossed the Sahara Desert in Africa to conduct research on local communities, where he became aware of the beauty and power of these settlements.
After serving as a visiting researcher at Columbia University, he established Kengo Kuma & Associates in 1990.
He has designed buildings in more than 20 countries and has received numerous awards both in Japan and abroad (including the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize, the International Wood Architecture Award from Finland, and the International Stone Architecture Award from Italy, among others).
We aim to create architecture that blends seamlessly with the local environment and culture, proposing gentle, soft designs on a human scale.
Furthermore, through the exploration of new materials to replace concrete and steel, he is investigating the future of architecture in a post-industrial society.
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For inquiries regarding this press release
pr@hk1896.com
