Eisuke Tachikawa

Research Interests

1. Implementing social context--To create a beautiful future with social design.
2. Structuring design knowledge-- To clarify different ways of thinking and increase the number of innovators who will lead the evolution of society.

Biography

To realize these two goals, Eisuke Tachikawa promotes "Evolution Thinking", a method that helps generate ideas and inventions by comparing innovation with the evolution of living things. He is an innovative educator who teaches at universities and companies; and also the creative director of NOSIGNER, a design studio that advocates design in social contexts.

NOSIGNER is a multidisciplinary studio that has been bestowed with over 100 design awards worldwide. Led by Tachikawa, the studio seeks for the highest quality in each design field such as architecture, product, and graphic design.
(Good Design Prize (Gold), Asian Design Award (Grand Prize / Hong Kong), PENTAWARDS (Platinum Award for Food Package World's Top Rank / Belgium), SDA (Best Award), and DSA (Space design Outstanding performance award) He also holds positions at a number of different international awards as a committee member such as the Good Design Award, the DIA Award (China Design Tomo Oozaki), and the WAF (World Architecture Forum).

NOSIGNER is familiar with various social issues represented by SDGs. By collaborating with enterprises and administration in different fields such as future energy, regional activities, traditional industry, and scientific communication, it continues to evolve society with design.

Disaster prevention

"OLIVE" is a wiki-like platform sharing useful designs in the event of a disaster. It was launched only 40 hours after the Great East Japan Earthquake that enlighted the movement of disaster prevention design after the great earthquake. The outcome developed further through Tokyo Disaster Prevention (in cooperation with Dentsu), which is the most extensive disaster prevention plan in Japan's administrative history. Tokyo Metropolitan Government issued more than 8.3 million copies and distributed to all households within Tokyo.

Revitalizing traditional industries

Works with established industries are diverse, where he began designing Tokushima's woodwork production projects as a student. He directed design projects for traditional Japanese brand "aeru" (a brand specially made for 0-6-year-old children) receiving the APEC BEST AWARD as a social enterprise. Also, Kanpyou Udon in Oyama City of Tochigi Prefecture was awarded internationally in the best food packaging category at the 2009 PENTAWARDS. He has worked on branding the largest lacquer production area in Japan "Echizen Lacquerware", integrating pictograms that best expressed the authenticity of lacquer. He is also continuing to develop the blackest lacquer in the history of 1200 years of lacquer tradition with CNT technology, together with Japan's largest ink company, Toyo Ink.

Tohoku reconstruction support

• Award for Distinguished Contributions 2016, The Dynamics, Measurement and Control Division, JSME
• Award for International Activity 2014, The Dynamics, Measurement and Control Division, JSME
• IBM Faculty Award on "Model-Driven Systems Development for Collaborative and Distributed Product Engineering" in 2008/06
• Award for Pioneering Achievement 2004, The Dynamics, Measurement and Control Division, JSME

Published Books or Articles

Since OLIVE, he has continued to work on various projects to support the reconstruction of Tohoku in Japan. Projects consistently continue to take on challenges to connect the community and markets of affected areas. These projects include "THE SECOND AID"--creating a disaster prevention industry, "Oyatsu TIMES"--creating a new market by introducing Eastern Japan's sweets in collaboration with JR East Japan, accessory brand "OCICA"--creating a community in the Oshika Peninsula of Ishinomaki, to designing products for "EAST JAPAN PROJECT" of master Kengo Kuma.

Regaining civic pride

He is the branding director for 文化芸術創造拠点形成事業 (a cultural and artistic creation based business) in Shizuoka city. In collaboration with Mayor Nobuhiro Tanabe and Director Satoshi Miyagi, the policy "the Theatre" expanded. Projects such as "ON STAGE SHIZUOKA" and "World Theatre Festival Shizuoka" were created, aiming for Shizuoka city to become a sacred place for performing arts. In his hometown of Yokohama, he worked on branding the baseball team Baystars, on projects such as THE BAYS, + B and their manhole covers surrounding their stadium. Also, in collaboration with ACY Baystars, he works on connecting Yokohama's innovators through a new community called WE BRAND YOKOHAMA.

Cool Japan

The Cabinet Secretariat of "Cool Japan Movement Promotion Council" appointed Tachikawa as the Concept Director in 2014 (March-August). He accepted this position as a volunteer and brought together the "Cool Japan Proposal." Cool Japan's mission was declared along with the Prime Minister as "Japan to solve world problems creatively" due to its contribution towards creativity. Tachikawa also designed this strategy ahead of the SDGs, though it became a visionary proposal due to the cabinet reshuffle. He continues to admire shrines and Buddhist temples. He has presented at TEDxTokyo on projects for improvements on signs for temples and shrines. He aims to preserve tradition. The WAREW cosmetics brand produced with the theme of "Shiromuku", meaning "a pure white of innocence" in Japanese, was awarded as the best packaging design in the cosmetics field of PENTAWARDS in 2013.

Science communication

From 2007 to 2009, from assisting the design direction for the PR of the University of Tokyo Advanced Science and Technology Research Centre, he began his position as a graphic designer, where he realized his passion for science communication since its foundation. He supports "Sora Tourism" by branding the project, handled by the National Astronomical Observatory Director of Suspension Public Relations and astronaut Naoko Yamazaki. For Milano Salone, in collaboration with AGC, we created the world's largest glass molecular structure model with glass material samples, and introduced by FRAME Magazine (Amsterdam) under "BEST OF MILAN DESIGN WEEK".

Renewable energy

In 2018, the "Proposal for Design Strategy for Radioactive Waste Final Disposal Site" was proposed to the METI (Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry) to neutralize the final waste disposal site from nuclear power policy, and integrate it with renewable energy policy. He outlined a strategy for the disposal site for a more hopeful future for energy policies