Reports

Lecture

Design in Japan

October 7th, 2020- December 23th, 2020

“Design in Japan” is a course that started in 2020 where professors from diverse specialized fields would each introduce Japanese design from their respective points of view. Such fields included architecture, sound, art, and media. There are few opportunities like this for learning design from such a wide variety of fields.

 

The course’s aims were to impart a wide range of knowledge concerning Japanese design, deepen relations with international students, and boost English proficiency. It featured a variety of perspectives unique to the Kyushu University Faculty of Design. This included the universal design of Japanese public spaces, manga semiotics that fully utilize multimedia, and Japanese aesthetics that have remained unbroken since the Jomon period.

40 students joined in 2020 (46 including auditors), coming from the following 12 countries and regions: Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, Taiwan, Tanzania, Brazil, and France. 65% of the students were international, and 35% domestic. The entire course was done in English. The students enthusiastically conducted their group discussions and presentations in English.

 

Although many international students were scheduled to come to Japan, they were unable to do so due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, several students participated online from their home countries instead. The course was a hybrid between face-to-face and online classes, creating an environment where participants of both said methods could have group discussions and presentations by combining audio and video equipment.

 

In the middle of the program, the participants went on an excursion to Yame City and Kurume City in southern Fukuoka. They took a walk through the traditional streets of Yame-Fukushima and experienced a rare opportunity to observe the manufacturing processes done at the Kasuri Kurume textile workshop and the area’s sake brewery.

In the final presentation, the students presented their realizations concerning the lectures they were most interested in, including the ideas they got from those lessons, all in English. After the course, the students looked back on the event and expressed opinions such as it being “helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of Japanese designs and the things behind it” and a “thrilling experience due to being a rare opportunity to express oneself in English.”

The Faculty of Design will continue to promote internationalization, creating more opportunities for exchanges with international students and classes done in English such as this. This course was conducted as part of the “Program for Understanding Japan”.

 

[Program]
1st Introduction
Date: October 7th (Wednesday)
Instructor: Moe Shimomura

2nd Japanese Universal Design
Date: October 14th (Wednesday)
Instructor: Yanfang Zhang
Venue: Design Common 2F, Ohashi Campus, Kyushu University

3rd Post Human Centered Design in the Japanese Context
Date: October 21st (Wednesday) [Online]
Instructor: Tokushu Inamura

4th Japanese Architecture
Date: October 28th (Wednesday)
Instructor: Yuki Kato
Venue: Room 524, 2F of Building 5, Ohashi Campus, Kyushu University

5th Sound and Music in Japan
Date: November 4th (Wednesday)
Instructor: Daryl Jamieson
Venue: Room 524, 2F of Building 5, Ohashi Campus, Kyushu University

6th Product Design that Expresses Japanese Aesthetics
Date: November 11th (Wednesday)
Instructor: Yoshitaka Sugimoto
Venue: Room 524, 2F of Building 5, Ohashi Campus, Kyushu University

7th-10th Excursion “Japanese Traditional Crafts”
Visit Yame City and Kurume City in the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture, take a stroll through the traditional streets of Yame Fukushima, and observe traditional crafts such as woodworking and weaving. You can also visit the Kurume Kasuri workshop and the sake brewery, which you cannot usually see, and observe the manufacturing process.
Date: November 21st(Saturday) 9:00-18:30
Instructor: Minako Ikeda, Yoshitaka Sugimoto, Moe Shimomura

11th Japanese Life and Welfare
Date: November 25th (Wednesday)
Instructor: Loh Ping Yeap
Venue: Room 524, 2F of Building 5, Ohashi Campus, Kyushu University

12th Japanese Subculture and Media
Date: December 2nd (Wednesday) [Online]
Instructor: Miharu Fuyuno

13th Site-Specific Art
Date: December 9 (Wednesday) [Online]
Instructor: Hitoshi Kuriyama

14th Design Learning: Inside/Outside Japan
Date: December 16th (Wednesday) [Online]
Instructor: Loh Wei Leong, Leon

15th Presentation & Discussion
Date: December 23rd (Wednesday)
Instructor: Moe Shimomura
Venue: Room 524, 2F of Building 5, Ohashi Campus, Kyushu University

[Number of Credit]
2

[Participants]
Kyushu University international students, Kyushu University students (undergraduate/graduate)

Online/Face-to-Face Hybrid Lessons
A tour of the workshop of Kurume Kasuri, a precious national intangible asset

Date

October 7th, 2020- December 23th, 2020

Contact

International Office Faculty of Design, Kyushu University

intl-ofc(a)design.kyushu-u.ac.jp

Scrapbook

This is an archive of images, videos and documents recording our activities up until now.
You can download a file by selecting the thumbnail.

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Ohashi campus
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Design for LGBTs and an Inclusive Society
ハサミムシとプロトエリトロプテランのペーパークラフト
ハサミムシ扇子の作り方
Ohashi campus
Ohashi campus
Ohashi campus
Ohashi campus
Ohashi campus
Ohashi campus