Monozukuri
with Ana Arriola-KanadaOffsite Japan
What does monozukuri, the spirit of making, mean in an age of global interconnection and accelerated change?
ものづくり、Contemporary Perspective invites students to step outside the familiar and examine Japan’s culture of creation through an immigrant’s and long-term resident’s lens.
Co-taught by Ian Spalter, and Ana Arriola-Kanada, this course explores how innovation manifests across contemporary Japan, from traditional crafts to cutting-edge robotics, from minimalist aesthetics to hyper-contextual design systems. Students will examine how Japan’s cultural rhythms, social infrastructures, and aesthetic philosophies shape its approach to problem-solving, creativity, and design ethics.
Through studio projects, field observation, and discussions with industry practitioners, students will be challenged to develop a project that interprets Japanese innovation from an outside-in perspective: a design, product, service, or system grounded in local insight yet globally resonant.
ものづくり、Contemporary Perspective invites students to step outside the familiar and examine Japan’s culture of creation through an immigrant’s and long-term resident’s lens.
Co-taught by Ian Spalter, and Ana Arriola-Kanada, this course explores how innovation manifests across contemporary Japan, from traditional crafts to cutting-edge robotics, from minimalist aesthetics to hyper-contextual design systems. Students will examine how Japan’s cultural rhythms, social infrastructures, and aesthetic philosophies shape its approach to problem-solving, creativity, and design ethics.
Through studio projects, field observation, and discussions with industry practitioners, students will be challenged to develop a project that interprets Japanese innovation from an outside-in perspective: a design, product, service, or system grounded in local insight yet globally resonant.
Over ten weeks, students will learn to identify emerging market opportunities, articulate their unique creative voice within the Japanese context, and produce outcomes that demonstrate how cultural intelligence can drive meaningful innovation.
Ultimately, ものづくり、Contemporary Perspective is a meditation on empathy and translation, on how we design with cultures, not just for them.
Ultimately, ものづくり、Contemporary Perspective is a meditation on empathy and translation, on how we design with cultures, not just for them.
Learning Outcomes
- Cultural Intelligence and Observation
- Develop a nuanced understanding of contemporary Japanese innovation ecosystems through observation, ethnography, and reflection on monozukuri as a philosophy of making.
- Market Awareness and Design Research
- Identify cultural, social, and market-based needs in Japan’s evolving creative industries and translate these insights into actionable design opportunities.
- Cross-Cultural Design Practice
- Learn to balance global design frameworks with local sensibilities, crafting projects that bridge cultural and technological contexts.
- Conceptual and Systems Thinking
- Apply systems-level analysis to understand how design, technology, and society interact within Japan’s innovation landscape.
- Prototype and Artifact Creation
- Design and produce a project—object, product, service, or media intervention, that embodies an outside-in interpretation of Japanese innovation.
- Collaborative Studio Methodology
- Engage in iterative critique and co-creation across disciplines, synthesizing feedback from instructors, peers, and guest practitioners.
- Reflective Practice and Long-Term Perspective
- Cultivate an awareness of how time, adaptation, and immersion inform creative identity, developing the ability to think like a resident rather than a visitor.
Schedule
Lecture 10:00 AM - 12:30 JST
Crit 10:00 AM - 12:30 JST
Crit 10:00 AM - 12:30 JST
Ana Arriola-Kanada
Designer, Maker, Cultural Orchestrator
Ana Arriola-Kanada works across Horizon 2 and 3 innovation, guiding strategic partnerships and investments that shape the next evolution of industry, from AI and Neuromorphic Computing to Robotics, Mixed Reality, Silicon, Autonomous Systems, Digital Twins, the Industrial Metaverse, and Open Web technologies.
A results-driven executive and creative leader, she has built products and global teams at Microsoft, Apple, Meta, OrionsWave, PlayStation, Sony, Adobe, Samsung, Theranos, and IDEO, bridging design, engineering, and human culture.
Recipient of numerous international design honors, including G-Mark/GOOD, iF, EISA, Red Dot, Cool Hunting, and Tokyo Type Directors Club, Ana holds 38 global patents spanning hardware performance, interface systems, materials design, and AI applications.
A results-driven executive and creative leader, she has built products and global teams at Microsoft, Apple, Meta, OrionsWave, PlayStation, Sony, Adobe, Samsung, Theranos, and IDEO, bridging design, engineering, and human culture.
Recipient of numerous international design honors, including G-Mark/GOOD, iF, EISA, Red Dot, Cool Hunting, and Tokyo Type Directors Club, Ana holds 38 global patents spanning hardware performance, interface systems, materials design, and AI applications.
As a queer Latine investor and cultural organizer, she leads the Semi Permanent global community and co-founded “a space, in between”, a Tokyo-based atelier redefining inclusivity and body diversity through contemporary apparel design. Her work explores how intelligence, design, and humanity evolve together, and how lived experience as a long-term resident of Japan can reveal deeper truths about innovation, belonging, and the creative act of translation.
