To educational institutions interested in “Local Community x Design"
As in other areas, Hida City has about 2.5 million population being composed of 2 towns and 2 villages and has been facing issues of aging and depopulation. 90% of the land in Hida city is occupied by forest. The main industry is manufacturing and agriculture. "Hida" brand is often known for furniture with high-skilled woodworking, joinery technique, Hida beef and the world heritage site of Shirakawa-go. In Hida city, you can find the traditional houses built by craftmen known with its name "Takumi", farms, mountains where has recently been highlighted as the stage of the famous movie, "Your Name".
FabCafe Hida, established on the "Ninomachi" street that flourished through trading with Toyama in the past, is one of the FabCafe branches spread all over the world, and it is a creative hub run by Hidakuma aiming for creative forestry revitalization. Architects and designers who are active in the world coming for designer-in-residence or prototyping camp by seeking for its rich resources and technique. Any type of theme can be thought by making the Hida city as a base. According to the desired outputs, we will help you design program, arrange and implement.
What Hidakuma does
In Hida, 70% of forests are blessed with natural hardwood trees, but they are left without being cut down, even if they are cut down, they become only firewoods and railroad sleepers. Activities of Hidakuma along with the Hida City, are to create a sustainable system through the forestry by utilizing the abundant resource of hard wood. You can not be blessed with clear water nor food by the single species in the forest. The diversity makes the forest rich in mineral that brings good water for living creatures. Hidakuma challenges to accumulate data of knowledge through various experiments, starting from utilizing the unused hard wood and make into products by parallel using the traditional wood-working and the digital fabrication machines to overcome the limit, seeking for the best ways to treat hard-wood for product development, database making of the forest to be visible and suppliable for anytime of usage, making the traditional joinery skill into 3D open data for accessible to anyone in a bid to update the tradition, making the forest as a playground for human to feel closer for co-existent, and more.
Hidakuma provides program in any theme according to your desired outcome by utilizing the abundant resource available in Hida such as forest, technique, wisdom and the creative hub of FabCafe Hida. The sample theme can be like:
【Topics for raising theme】
Aging society
Nature
Traditional Skill, Wisdom
Agriculture
Forestry
【Possible themes】
“Traditional technology x Advanced technology”
“Use technology to enhance co-existence with nature”
“Making the forest as a playground”
“Designing aging society”
“Agriculture x Tech.”
“Creating a sustainable mechanism”
“Up-cycle and Re-purpose”
“Future of CRAFT from the perspective of the Japanese craftsman spirit”
““activation of small town without depending on tourism but on sustainable cycle”
What is in Hida?
【Asset】
Timber (for architecture, furniture, wooden products）, chips, firewood, pulp, sawdust
Forest byproduct (wild herb and grass (for developing food and drink , dyeing material) 、mushroom
Metals
Lacquer
Neutrino science laboratory “Kamiokande” run by Tokyo university
White Storehouse, Seto River and Old town that featured on TV
Itakura village
【Asset that is unique to Hida】
Nutrino laboratory “super Kamiokande” run by the Tokyo university
White wall storehouse, River, Old town
Rice terraces “Tanada” , Itakura village and rural scenery
Rich nature
Sake brewery using clean water
The national Intangible Folk Cultural Property, Hida Furukawa festival
【Main Industry】
Agriculture
Forestry
Manufacture
Dairy industry
Stock raising
Medical
【Craft】
Wood working
Joinery (Kumiki)
Japanese paper
Lacquerware
Glass making
Pottery, Ceramic
Grass Dyeing
Japanese lantern
Tatami
Plaster
Sake brewery
Tree house making
Star dome making
Ayu (river fish) fisher
【Field work visiting places】
Forest
Wood felling
Wood Sawmill
Furniture maker factory, Showroom
Carpenter workshop
Village (World heritage site of Shirakawa-go, Village full of Itakura houses)
Farmer’s houses
Sake brewery
Each craftman’s workshop
【Format】
Visit
Research
Skill training
Workshop
Hackathon
Idea-thon
Prototyping
Sample program for 6 nights 7 days camp
Quotation example
-
- Number of people
- 15 people
- Days
- 6 nights 7 days
- Amount of money
- 98,000 yen / person ~ (tax excluded)
- (With breakfast and dinner included)
- * Includes planning and arrangement cost, accommodation fee, attendant fee, workshop design / implementation fee.
* Travel fee is excluded.
Visiting schools in the past
Parsons Art University (USA) · University of Toronto (Canada) · Hong Kong University (Hong Kong) · Shih Chien University (Taiwan) · Kingston University (UK) · Kobe Design University (Kobe) · National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) · State University of New York Buffalo ·Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS) · Kingston University (UK) · Hida Takayama High School · Nagoya International School · Lemon Life Design School
Why, Hida?
Hida is the field in rich with materials and top-notch technique
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- 1Learn from the master craft men
- Not only learning the top-notch technique known as "Hida no Takumi" but also getting inspired by the craft man's soul by seeing their attitude towards work
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- 2Inspired by the fundamental way of living in the countryside of Japan
- Touch and Feel the fundamental value from the people who live close to the nature being engaged in the agriculture and forestry
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- 3FabCafe Hida is here to advance your creativity
- You can create / fabricate your own things by utilizing the wood-working machines and digital fabrication at FabCafe Hida where the architects and designers around the world get together for creation
REFERENCE
Smart Craft Studio 2016
https://hidakuma.com/en/blog/scs2016-recap-of-the-1st-week/
https://hidakuma.com/en/blog/smart-craft-studio-hida-2016-team-3-report/
https://hidakuma.com/en/blog/smart-craft-studio-hida-2016-interview-with-a-team/
Smart Craft Studio 2017
http://amt.parsons.edu/blog/parsons-bfa-dt-smart-craft-studio-2017-hida-japan/
https://hidakuma.com/en/blog/smart-craft-studio-in-hida-2017_1st-week-immersive-learning-experience-wood-working-iot-ai/
Timber camp with Kingston University 2016
https://hidakuma.com/blog/kingstonunicampreportday1and2/
https://hidakuma.com/blog/kingstonunicampreportday3and4/
https://hidakuma.com/blog/kingstonunicampday5/