Born in Toyama Prefecture in 1948, Kenji Kawasaki is the founder and producer of Tokyo Designers Week (TDW), as well as chairman of Design Association, an NPO seeking to create a new culture of "innovation" in Japan. The Japan Times spoke to him about where the concept of design is headed.

Originally TDW was a trade fair. What led you to open the event up to the public?

I thought that exhibitions from the 21st century should be different to those from the 20th century; that's why I included consumers. I didn't think the trade show model — business to business — was viable anymore.