Japanese Design Festival
15., & 16. November 2025
At the Japanese Design Festival we present a range of lectures in the auditorium. The room has the capacity of 60 persons, and the lectures are free, so if you want to be sure to have a seat please show up in good time.
If you wish to attend a focused workshop, there can be a fee to the artist to cover materials.
PLEASE NOTICE: THE FULL PROGRAM IS NOT YET SET.
The overview will be continuously updated, so keep posted.
Flemming Rafn on Regenerative Tourism and the Ugakei Circles
TIME: Saturday 13.00
How can architecture help us travel more wisely and connect with nature? Join Danish architect Flemming Rafn, co-founder of Third Nature, as he explores the future of regenerative tourism through the lens of Ugakei Circles—a groundbreaking project nestled in the forested mountains of Inabe, Japan.
What was once a forgotten campsite has become a living model for low-impact travel and cross-cultural collaboration. Drawing from ancient Japanese and Danish design traditions, the project uses circular architecture to cultivate shared experience, respect for nature, and a new ethic of place-based tourism.
In this talk, Rafn will unpack how regenerative design can move tourism beyond sustainability, and into restoration, connection, and local empowerment. Ugakei Circles isn’t just a destination—it’s a prototype for how we might travel in a world that urgently needs to heal.
Design and designcollaborative between Japan and Denmark
TIME: Sunday 13.00
Danish Architect and designer driven by the desire to make a difference and to create products that last in form, function and quality.
Specialising in creative development, interdisciplinary collaborations and design of high-quality furniture, lighting and interior products, he works at the intersection of traditional craftsmanship and modern Nordic aesthetics.
With studios in Denmark and Japan, he collaborates closely with skilled craftsmen and manufacturers to bring timeless, sustainable designs to life.
The Shokunin Spirit
TIME: Saturday and Sunday 12.00
Ethan is the founder of JapanBridge – Culture and Communication; providing teaching and counseling for the business and private sector.
Ethan is also an Aikido instructor and practitioner since 1976. Runs “Copenhagen Aiki Shuren Dojo”. Teaches Aikido in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Russia, Canada, USA and Japan. Translator for Japanese Aikido master instructors in Europe and Japan.
The legendary art of Japanese
knife sharpening
TIME: Saturday 15.00 and Sunday 14.00
Former Geranium Chef Steffen Bach speaks about functional design in Japanese kitchen knives, where they come from historically and how we have arrived at the knives we have today.
Steffen Bach was an apprentice for 4 years under master Keiichi Fujii and Tower Knives Osaka, and is only one out of three foreigners outside of Japan, who has learned to master the legendary art of Japanese knife sharpening.
An introduction to modern Japanese printmakers in the 20th century
TIME: Saturday 14.00
MALENE WAGNER is a Danish art historian, based in Paris, and author of Modern Japanese Printmakers: New Waves and Eruptions (published 11 November 2025 with Prestel Publishing). She specialises in Japanese art and has run Tiger Tanuki since 2014, organising exhibitions as well as working with museums such as Aarhus Kunsthal (Denmark), MUDEC (Milan) and Statens Museum for Kunst (Copenhagen). She has contributed to several publications such as Waraku Magazine, Stillness (Gestalten), Journal of Japonisme, Kinfolk, Ark Journal, Apollo Magazine and Japanomania in the Nordic Countries (Yale University Press).
Stitches
TIME: 12.00 - 14.00 (Price 325 incl. ticket and materials)
Sashiko means "little stitches". Each stitch becomes a small witness to time, care, and free creative energy.
In Sashiko, function meets poetry. The technique has its roots in the farming families of the Edo period, yet lives on today in a modern aesthetic that embraces sustainability and slowness.
In this workshop, you’ll receive a gentle and mindful introduction to Sashiko – set within the unique atmosphere of the Japanese Design Festival.
Japanese Botanical Scents,
Listening to Scents - Japanese Fragrance Culture
TIME: Saturday 16.00 - 17.00
Introduction to Scenting Design
MEGUMI FUKATSU, Scenting Designer and Aroma Plants Hunter shares the behind each story of scents.
The Japan has a unique approach to fragrance, 香道 -Kōdō-. Get inspired from our art of scenting a space and listening to fragrance with your mind.
Small lecture and Testing about Japanese Scent,
Listen to the authentic SUGI WOOD, HINOKI, YUZU and 10 essential oils.
Have a self-minded time
Enjoy creating a signature room fragrance and take home a 20ml spray made entirely from natural Japanese ingredients.
