FIELDTRIP to JAPAN FIELDTRIP to JAPAN 20122012

Excursions on designs

Product Design | Jewellery Design | Transportation Design

3D Design Department

Students and lecturer Mr Hector Salazar from the 3D Department of Raffles Design Institute Singapore recently made a field trip to Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto in Japan from October 27th to November 3rd.

Japan is a country with a lot of traditions and also a technological leader. This field trip gave our design students good exposure to the realms of Japanese designs and allowed them to get inspirations from another culture.

•The main objectives of this field trip were: •Attend the Tokyo Designers Week 2012.•Attend the Design Tide Tokyo 2012.•Visit the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology.•Study of Japanese Culture and Design - Old and New.•Study of Japanese Technology and their solutions.•Study and analysis of public / urban space design.

An Introduction to JAPAN

Top – Outside of the Tokyo Designers Week 2012.

Left – At the entrance of the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology.

Nihon-koku or commonly known as Japan is the third largest national economy in the world, after the United States and China.

She has a large industrial capacity, and is home to some of the largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronics, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemical substances, textiles, and processed foods.

Here’s a brief of our itinerary:

>> Departure on 26.11.2012

•Singapore – Tokyo by airplane •Tokyo – Nagoya by bullet train “Shinkansen” •Nagoya – Osaka – Nagoya by bullet train “Shinkansen” •Nagoya – Kyoto – Tokyo by bullet train “Shinkansen” •Tokyo – Singapore by airplane

During our stay in Japan, all of us utilised a JR pass to commute via the local Metro and Railway lines.

The trip to JAPAN

Centrally located on the main island of Japan, the city of Nagoya is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is the third largest metropolitan region in Japan.

Nagoya was founded around the early 1600’s when the Nagoya Castle and Atsuta Shrine were established to become the capital of the province that is now part of the Aichi Prefecture. The Castle and Shrine exists in the same location today but are mostly late 1950’s reconstructions due to the heavy damage Nagoya suffered during World War II.

The most popular attractions in Nagoya include the Nagoya Castle, Atsuta Shrine, Nagoya TV Tower and the Toyota factory and Museums. Many of these attractions are fairly easy to get to via the subway around central Nagoya.

Of the Toyota Attractions, the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology and their display at Midland Square are the easiest to get to - with the former being located next to the Noritake factory museum and the latter being opposite the huge JR Central Towers.

The Toyota Automobile Museum is located a bit out of the city but accessible via subway and the maglev Linimo train near the Expo Memorial Park, while the Toyota Kaikan Museum and plant tour is located in Toyota City to the east of Nagoya.

about NAGOYA

The Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology is a museum in central Nagoya tracing the history of the Toyota Company and its innovations.

With 4,000 pieces of exhibits, the museum has dynamic displays of original equipment, actual demonstrations by operators, instructive videos, and more. The exhibition provides an easy-to-understand introduction to the concept of “making things”.

Our students had the opportunity to see for themselves the process of manufacturing with fabric and steel.

inside the TOYOTA MUSEUM

left topNagoya under the

rain

right topAttending thedemonstration ofmetal stamping

left bottom See the video of theexhibition

right bottomAttending thedemonstration of

howmade fabric

Situated on the Honshu Island in the region known as Kansai, Osaka lies on mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay a inlet off the Pacific Ocean.

Osaka has been a leading commercial and industrialized centre with a huge amount of interesting and exciting attractions, sights and activities for the visitor.

Surrounded by the historical Japanese cities of Kyoto to the east and Kobe to the west, Osaka has a history which dates back over 1400 years.

The whole area is home to over 17 million people while the Osaka area is home to just over 2.6 million. This makes Osaka the third largest city after Tokyo and Yokohama to the north and the second largest metropolitan region if you include Kyoto and Kobe.

The cities of Kyoto, Kobe and Nara are all less than an hour away by bullet train and are all worthy a visit even for a day while visiting Osaka.

About OSAKA

left topPlaying in Osaka

right topOutside a templein Kyoto

left bottom Rooftop view and

playing with kids on the floating garden Osaka

right bottomFeeling inside of

the egg.

Kyoto is a city in the central part of the island of Honshu. The original city was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng-shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an.

There are literally thousands of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Kyoto. Enryaku-ji Temple and To-ji Temple are two of the most prominent examples of the esoteric Buddhist tradition.

While the five great Zen Buddhism temples of Kyoto include Nanzen-ji Temple, Shokoku-ji Temple, Tenryu-ji Temple, and the Golden and Silver Pavilions (Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji).

Like Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines are places of worship. In Shinto, millions of gods which can be found everywhere are worshipped. The most important Shinto shrines in Kyoto include Kamigamo-jinja and Shimogamo-jinja, which enshrine water gods, and Yasaka-jinja, where the god of prosperity and good health is worshipped.

Traditional theatre such as performances of Maiko and Noh dramas originated from Kyoto. You can also learn about Kabuki, a traditional Japanese stage drama, and Nihon Buyo, a traditional form of Japanese dance.

About KYOTO

Modern Japan is best seen in the fashion suburb of Ginza or in the trendy youth suburbs around Shibuya and Shinjuku, while old Japan can be found right next door in and around the shrines and parks in Shibuya, Roppongi and Asakusa.

Japan’s culture - old and new, merges together in Tokyo to create a great travel experience. A perfect example of this is the collection of huts serving yakitori skewers in Shinjuku. Officially known as Shomben Yokocho, the area is known for some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Shinjuku is home to Tokyo’s skyscraper district, but these huts that look like they are made out of junk fit right in next to the skyscrapers.

Night time is when Tokyo comes alive with the famous neon lit streets, there are hundreds of thousands of bars and restaurants, and you may not find your favourite at ground level.

Entertainment venues can extend up several floors of the cities buildings; this kind of explains the need for the huge amount of neon advertising. To get a good feel of Tokyo’s vibrant night life try a visit to Ginza, Shibya, Roppongi and the Kabukicho area in Shinjuku. Some of these suburbs at night were said to be the inspiration to many of the futuristic scenes of the movie blade runner.

About TOKYO

TOKYO DESIGNERS WEEK 2012 was held for 10 days at the Meiji-Jingu Gaien and it is platform for companies, artists and designers to showcase their works with emphasis on Creativity & Technology.

This year’s theme was “HOUSE” and “PLAY”.

The exhibits are expanded to include the Professional Exhibition by industry leading artists of each discipline. In addition, there are other contents such as the Container Exhibition- now into its 10th year using recycled Cargo Containers, Student Exhibitions, 30m diameter multipurpose dome “TDW Dome” and modern art exhibition “TDW Art”, “Young Creators Exhibition”, music performances and workshops.

About TOKYO DESIGNERS WEEK 2012

At the core of DESIGN TIDE TOKYO, the exhibition showcases designers' new works and ideas in a highly refined manner. This is where domestic and international designers, manufacturers, buyers and journalists trade and interact.

"Trading Design, Trading Ideas“

In this exhibition, visitors can see designs for everything in our everyday life. Interior designs, products, architecture, graphic design, textiles, fashion... regardless of its genre, design practices are all found here to improve our daily living.

By presenting the ideas that generate designs, we present a stream of new thoughts and forms.

aboutDESIGNTIDE TOKYO

left topJewellery made by

3Dprinting

right topSome project made

byfabric and paper

left bottom Installation of

design

right bottomInstallation of

designby student

Experiences in JAPAN

During the field trip, every student has the liberty and was free to spend their time in order to maximise their experiences. We spent most days mainly in bigger groups visiting the various places of interests in cities we were in.

The day starts with everyone meeting in the hotel lobby and having our breakfast together, then proceeding to the various sites in the city or exhibition hall.

Inside the exhibitions, students had many opportunities to interact with designers, pose questions and receive pointers on several areas dealing with designs, as this was important for them to have a clear perspective of design processes.

In the Museum of Toyota, students saw and greatly appreciated the manufacturing process in making fabrics and automobiles (the manipulation of steel in the different steps) and the evolution of its machinery. It was an eye opener for our students and enhanced their learning.

experiencing in JAPAN

Our students experienced travelling in the ‘Shinkansen’ at 250 km/hour.

The food culture left a big impression among us. Takeaway food came with beautiful packaging. An amusing experience was ordering our meals from a vending machine dispensing tickets, and exchanging it for our food order.

This field trip to Japan gave our students a great opportunity to experience and be exposed to design concepts in a foreign cultural and technological background. 

left topFelicia , Amy and Theresa enjoying their Sushi

right topBhavna, Nadya, Valentia and Thesa eating Sushi

left bottom Bhavna, Amy and Valentia ready to get the breakfast at 250 km/h

right bottomThesa and Alitta trying to order food in Japanese.  

left topEveryone enjoying ramen

right topEveryone in their own ‘Box’ (Hector, Alitta and Valentia)

left bottom Amy eating ramen

right bottomNadya, Thasa, Felicia and Amy 

students in JAPAN

Felicia Gomedi

Kim Jung Eun, Amy

Margareth Tesalonika            

Lin Jian Lian Jonathan

Nadya Octaviani Hermanto

Theresa Tio

Bhavna Gupta Alitta Daria Luigiparana

Valentia Ratih Sutandar

JAPANThe Field Trip was supported by Raffles Design Institute Singapore.

Field Trip organization and initiative- Hector Salazar

Idea and Concept - Hector Salazar

Graphics and overall Layout - Hector Salazar

For more information on 3D Department of Raffles Design Institute Singapore visit:

http://www.raffles-design-institute.edu.sg/