Directors: Shigeno Araki, Fumi Sasada
Committee members: Kozo Okada, Chinami Nishimoto, Shinpei Masuyama

Duration: November 23 – 26, 2008
Venue: Xue Xue Institute, Taipei and others
Number of participants: 30 (24 members, 6 non-members)
(Ms. Fan, a Taiwanese student at the Shizuoka University of Art and Culture, joined the event in Taipei)

30 people headed to Taipei for the 11th edition of the APD held last November. Arriving at the airport, we proceeded to the exhibition venue, Xue Xue Institute, to view the works on display, and then had lunch at a restaurant in the city, deepening friendships and ties between JPDA members.

On the second day, head director Fumi Sasada and myself selected what we deemed to be the top three works from outside Japan, all of which beautifully expressed the unique characteristics of their country’s culture from a fresh perspective. At the exhibition venue, participants showed slides and presented individual area reports. Ms. Nishimoto from Morix gave a two-part presentation on the design market entitled “Japan’s Traditional Industries and Their Future,” and “Special Supplement Foods, Zero Calorie Design.” In the evening, a social networking event was held at the restaurant within the venue, with much animated conversation in English, the common language among the participants. After dinner, trophies were presented to selected works, and guests were treated to a program of folk dances. They also got to try their hand at drawing Chinese zodiac animals on small objects.

On the third day, participants visited two design firms, Proad Identity and Up Creative. Both firms impressed with the high quality of their work as well as their warm hospitality. We hope to be able to bring the same level of originality in programming and generosity to guests for the next APD to be held in Japan.

(co-director Shigeno Araki)