Interviewee profile
Hidetoshi Takahashi
Born in 1969, he worked for a construction company before joining Takahashi Kogei in 1992, run by his father, a woodturner. In 2007, he released Kami Glass, which became Takahashi Kogei's signature work. Currently, together with designers Masanori Oji and Rina Ono, he produces simple and functional wooden tableware such as the "Kami," "Cara," and "Kakudo" series, which make the most of the natural color and grain of high-quality Hokkaido wood. He succeeded his father in 2009 and is the second-generation representative of Takahashi Kogei.
Masanori Daiji
Born in 1974, he worked at graphic design offices and other places before founding msg. in 1999. In 2004, he changed the company name to Oji & Design. Since 2008, he has collaborated with Takahashi Kogei to design the Kami and Kakudo series. In 2012, he launched the Te Te Te Cooperative, which organizes the Te Te Te Trade Fair and Te Te Te Shopping Arcade, trade fairs for handicrafts, as well as designs and projects related to various Japanese handicrafts.
Rina Ono
After graduating from the Department of Product Design, Faculty of Design Engineering, Tohoku University of Art and Design in 1997, he worked at a design office before completing his studies at the Graduate School of Art and Engineering, Tohoku University of Art and Design in 2001. He received a Master's in Design Engineering and studied abroad at the University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Sweden in the same year. From 2002, he worked as an assistant in the Department of Product Design, Faculty of Design Engineering, Tohoku University of Art and Design, and founded "rinao design" in the fall of 2007. Since 2008, he has been working in collaboration with Takahashi Kogei to design the "Cara" and "Eni" series.
Makoto Sasaki
Born in Hokkaido in 1974. Founded 3KG in 2001. He has worked on the design of the Sapporo City Transportation Bureau's IC card SAPICA, the smile-themed branding for Sapporo City "SAPP‿RO," and the design of AIR DO's mascot "Beardo." In 2007, he opened the Hokkaido store, the first franchise store for D&DEPARTMENT PROJECT. For the NIPPON Design Products Exhibition held at Matsuya Ginza in 2008, he created a guide using the iPod touch.