Japan Style on IFFT

Regular exhibitor Asahikawa Furniture Industry Co presided over the Asahikawa2 brand showcase, a collection of high quality furniture from Japan’s most renowned furniture-making region. As part of the feature, Conde House, a long-time exhibitor at imm cologne, delivered an array of award-winning chair designs.  ekonglong furniture

As befits its cool, mountainous environment, Asahikawa, Hokkaido’s furniture tends towards Scandinavian curves and simplicity – so the nearby Nordic Lifestyle feature and dedicated Finland Pavilion felt very much at home here. Its participants included Artek, and the Japanese divisions of Design House Stockholm and Carl Hansen & Son – reflecting Japan’s reach within the global design community

Japan Style, a project that was initiated at Germany’s Ambiente fair in 2004, came home once again to highlight the traditional Japanese handicrafts and materials adapted for the demands of modern lifestyles. Following varied traditional and modern Japanese influences – from cultural ceremonies to Manga art – Japanese ceramic, steel and wood crafts are brought together in Japan Style and skewed to meet modern tastes.

A good example of Japan Style’s  participants is Time & Style, a Hokkaido-based company that utilises Japanese ash (tamo), oak (nara) and North American walnut to develop clean, compact ranges for the high-end Japanese and Chinese markets.

Led by a committee of design experts dubbed Creative Direction, the special features are a strong element of the fair’s steady recovery. They certainly help draw attention towards the thematic trends of the fair, including the dominance of pale, curved wood – again, distinctly Scandinavian in feel – compact shapes derived from Zen Buddhism, and an underlying focus on lasting quality and comfort.

In a world in which every emerging furniture-producing economy is clamouring to establish a unique identity, Japan’s design aesthetic emerges as attractive, self-assured, and in keeping with contemporary UK tastes. Thanks to these qualities, the fair continues to fulfil a modest yet vital international demand.
Next year’s IFFT/ Interior Lifestyle Living will be held from 6-8th November, again at Tokyo Big Sight’s East Hall. Its sister fair, Interior Lifestyle Tokyo, will take place between 5-7th June 2013, in the venue’s West Hall