If you happened to be in the Aoyama, Shibuya or Daikanyama districts of Tokyo over the last week you may have noticed a brightly patterned bus zooming around. It was transporting whoever was interested in going to the many spots in this area that were exhibiting the work of Japanese and international designers. In its third year, Tokyo Designers Week is beginning to draw a great international pool of renowned designers and significant organizations that support new design, and consequently it is also becoming an important showcase for otherwise unseen Japanese design.
Tokyo Designers Block (an extension of the British Designers Block founded by Piers Roberts and Rory Dodd) was also participating, sponsored by design companies Idee and E&Y. The week was tightly packed with events and exhibitions in galleries and shops, and international designers flocked to Japan to discover for themselves just what is going on here and make themselves known to a potentially lucrative market.
While Japan has had a relatively small product design market compared to other major centers in the world, over the last few years this has begun to change significantly as consumers catch the design bug and want to "image-up," not only with clothes and accessories but also with furniture and products that are not only functional but also express a conceptual edge.