KARIMOKU RESEARCH exists to survey, archive, and innovate the many different ways people live.
The project was launched in October 2024, accompanied by the grand opening of the KARIMOKU RESEARCH CENTER, a stand-alone facility located in central Tokyo.
Each year, KARIMOKU RESEARCH will undertake four Surveys, each one centered around a certain theme. Each theme is researched and explored via dialogues with creators, designers, manufacturers, creatives, and thought leaders from Japan and abroad. The results of each Survey will then be displayed via exhibitions, talk events, and workshops, held in the KARIMOKU RESEARCH CENTER.
What was the impetus for such a project, and how does it relate to furniture?
What opportunities and innovations do KARIMOKU RESEARCH wish to uncover and explore?
We sat down with Vice President of Karimoku Furniture, Hiroshi Kato, and Creative Director of KARIMOKU RESEARCH and DCA SYMPHONY, Brad Holdgrafer, to find out.
First of all, can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind KARIMOKU RESEARCH and its base of operations, the KARIMOKU RESEARCH CENTER?
Hiroshi: I've wanted to create a space like this for a long time. Even now, 30 years after I joined the company, the skills and knowledge of the craftsmen who work at Karimoku Furniture continue to surprise me. In the past, we’ve primarily used these skills and know-how to create our own products. However, our broader mission is to “create a happy life with wood”. In other words, our activities should not stop at just “making furniture”. To go beyond the boundaries of furniture making, we thought that we needed a space and platform where the various elements of Karimoku Furniture could encounter unseen talent and ideas.
Brad, how did you come to be involved in this project?
Brad: The first time I visited the Karimoku Furniture factory was in 2020, just before Japan was hit by the pandemic. I had known that Karimoku Furniture made great furniture, but seeing the assembly and painting processes in person made me realize that there were so many possibilities. After that, through the course of our meetings, I learned about Hiroshi-san’s idea of creating a laboratory-type space. Until now, Karimoku Furniture has incorporated ideas from outside the company to create new products such as Karimoku Case and Karimoku New Standard. So when I heard Hiroshi-san’s idea to create an initiative that would transmit something from within Karimoku Furniture to the outside world, I was excited to come on board.
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So your initial image was of a ‘lab’?
Brad: Yes, that's right. But as we continued to have conversations, the concept of ‘lab’ gradually changed to ‘research’. The word ‘lab’ has a fixed image of a single location, whereas the word ‘research’ has a feeling of going out to discover the unknown.
And how would you describe the concept of KARIMOKU RESEARCH today?
Brad: The goal of KARIMOKU RESEARCH is to survey, archive, and innovate the many different ways people live. It was about two years ago that Hiroshi-san showed me a 1960s catalog for Karimoku Furniture, and on the first page it said, “Karimoku is not only making furniture but creating new lifestyles”. I thought that was really cool.
If Karimoku Furniture is creating hundreds of thousands, even millions of different lifestyles around the world, I thought that by researching them, gaining new information, and understanding them deeply, we should be able to create something innovative. And I think that Karimoku Furniture has the technology and skill to make it happen.
Hiroshi: If I had to describe what we are trying to do with KARIMOKU RESEARCH in one word, it would be ‘adventure’. When Brad and I were talking about how we could get the other members of the company excited about this project, we used the metaphor of a forest.
If we imagine that Karimoku Furniture is a small village, then outside of it is a forest. That forest has long been rich, but eventually, it will run out of nutrients, and Karimoku Furniture will lose its ability to renew, to innovate.
So, with KARIMOKU RESEARCH we will go out into the forest and learn as much as we can, and then bring that back to the village and use it to nourish ourselves and in turn the forest. That's the image of the kind of activities we're going to be doing. It's truly an adventure, isn't it?
Brad: “Adventurous initiative” is exactly the right expression. There are times when there is so much that is unknown that it can be a little scary, but when that happens, I try to believe in the history of Karimoku Furniture and the power of the team.
Could you tell us a bit more about the types of activities or projects you plan to undertake?
Brad: At the core of the project is something called the 'Survey', in which we set four research themes a year, and then attempt to reconstruct these themes by adding our own interpretations, as well as those of artists and collaborators from Japan and overseas.
For example, the theme of the first Survey was WOOD. This first theme was chosen to reflect the origins of Karimoku Furniture. We shared the theme with Christian+Jade, and after a joint visit of the Karimoku factory and surrounding forest, “The Age of Wood” exhibition was born.
For the second Survey, under the theme of NEW TRADITION, we conducted research with two design studios, WAKA WAKA, and Lichen. Although the perspectives of the two studios are different, they share the same broad framework and mindset.
Can you tell us a bit more about the function of the KARIMOKU RESEARCH CENTER?
Hiroshi: On the first floor is THE ARCHIVE, a place where we will hold large-scale exhibitions every three months based on the content of each Survey. At the moment, we have invited Los Angeles-based design studio WAKA WAKA, to be our researcher, and we are presenting wonderful collaborative works under the theme of NEW TRADITION.
On the second floor is THE MATERIALS LAB, a place where we display samples of various materials and technologies. It’s a space for collaboration where you can get ideas for ‘this’ and ‘that’ as you physically flip through the sample materials on hand.
The multipurpose space THE STUDY is located in the basement and is fully equipped with a kitchen, audio equipment, and a huge LED screen. It can be used for a variety of things, such as business pitches, and events, or for just enjoying a meal and conversation.
Brad: If you think of Karimoku Commons Tokyo, which opened in 2021, as a space for showing “what Karimoku Furniture has made up until now”, then the KARIMOKU RESEARCH CENTER is a space for showing “what Karimoku Furniture might make in the future”.
And the interesting thing about this space is that it’s neither a showroom nor a museum, it’s something in-between.
In a museum, the main purpose is to view the works on display. But at the KARIMOKU RESEARCH CENTER, you can not only see the expression of the researcher but also experience the technology of Karimoku Furniture that supports the works. In other words, the KARIMOKU RESEARCH CENTER is in some ways a museum, but it also functions as a showroom as well.
I see. So the dual nature of being both a museum and a showroom is what gives this space its uniqueness.
Brad: That's right. Hiroshi-san’s team boldly decided to create a place where visitors could experience Karimoku Furniture in a way that was not just a ‘showroom’, but something innovative. That's why the word ‘adventure’ fits well. I think that new insights are always gained by venturing into the unknown.
