The red dot design award team submitted us the 2009 winning concepts from Japan.
Here are the three concepts:

Designer: Ben Ryuki Miyagi
Made by folding and gluing layers of industrial felt, Elephant Seating draws conceptual content from many elements of design history. The result is a sofa that is mysterious yet humorous, soft yet dense, and conceptual […]

Architect Kazuyo Sejima designed three art galleries for “Setouchi International Art Festival 2010″, where artist Yukinori Yanagi’s work are exhibited.

“Flower fields with an ‘eye’” designed by kazuyo Sejima

“The God of the mountain, the electric Hinomaru and the mirror gardens on both sides”
by Yukinori Yanagi

designed by Kazuyo Sejima
-About “Setouchi International Art Festival”
July 19th - October 31st, […]

Etsuhiro Suda’s solo exhibition started at gallery Koyanagi in Ginza, Tokyo. At a glance, the space looks totally empty. But if you look at it carefully, you will find 10 small wooden flowers. You can find some flowers easily, but the others are located in rather hidden places.
Gallery Koyanagi, 1-7-5, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo.
TEL: 03-3561-1896

Japanese mobile network provider KDDI has released “Light pool” by collaborating with product designer Hironao Tsuboi and visual artist Masakatsu Takagi.  The phone contains 22 super luminosity LEDs, and that makes it possible to have over 100 patterns of movements of the light.

“Acrylic” is an accessory brand which Masako Ban (wife of Japanese architect Shigeru Ban) started in 2003. The minimal design was chosen as the best design award by Wallpaper magazine in 2006, and internationally praised.
Here are some of her newer collection. All the products can be purchased at www.cataci.com

“Memory” is a chair that can change its form as you wish. The recycled  aluminum fabric makes it possible to have an unlimited number of shapes. The movie below shows the process of designing the chair.

Yohji Yamamoto released a new collection in Tokyo for the first time in 19 years. The models for the release show were not professional models - they were Japanese celebrities such as  actors, musicians, architects, writers, filmmakers, etc with different sizes in order to make the collection more personal and original.

via: excite.co.jp

Japanese designer Shin Azumi designed chairs and tables for Danish brand Fredericia, and the products were exhibited at Milan design week 2 weeks ago. “Nara” is the name of the Japanese city, and the city is well known for free-roaming deer.

Azumi’s works have been published and awarded worldwide and acquired for the permanent collections of […]

Tokujin Yoshioka’s exhibition “Tokujin Yoshioka_SPECTRUM” will start in Seoul, South Korea on May 1st. This table is the largest optical glass table in the world.

via: excite.co.jp

Italian furniture producer Kartell will release “The invisibles” designed by Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka. These are images of the shop installation “Snowflakes”, which promotes “The invisibles” chairs.