The year 2025 marks two important anniversaries: the 100th anniversary of the Hague Agreement—an international registration system of industrial designs—and the 10th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the Agreement. To commemorate this milestone year, we held the Globally Recognized Japanese Design Exhibition, featuring works selected by a committee of five world-renowned designers. The exhibition offered an opportunity to rediscover the refined aesthetics and creativity embodied in Japan’s beautifully crafted products.
Over the past century, the Hague System has continued to evolve, while Japan has contributed its own decade of progress since joining. This exhibition looked back at the timeless aesthetics and creativity inherent in Japanese design, reflecting on their universal value and potential for the future. Through the journey of Japanese design supported by the country’s intellectual property system, we aim to share expectations for its continued development in the years ahead.
Message from the Organizer
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the Hague Agreement, an international registration system of industrial designs. Yet, compared with patents, Japan has been relatively cautious in securing global design rights. In a survey* of 25,000 Japanese manufacturing companies on the factors contributing to successful entry into the U.S. market, many cited “high quality and high functionality” (63.6%) or “technical capabilities” (50.0%), but none selected “design” (0.0%). This reveals a certain lack of confidence in design as a competitive strength.
We believe that the high regard for Japanese creativity worldwide should naturally extend to design. Guided by this conviction, we invited world-class designers who advised us during the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japan Patent Office’s “Design-Driven Management” (2018) and the revision of the Design Law (2019) to once again come together to select “Globally Recognized Japanese Designs.” We hope this will be an opportunity to reaffirm the refined aesthetics and exceptional creativity found in Japan’s products and designs.
Tomoki Sawai
Director, WIPO Japan Office
* Source: “Survey Report on the Sources of Competitiveness in Japan’s Manufacturing Industry” (2011, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
Globally Recognized Japanese Design Exhibition
The exhibition, held on April 23, 2025, at Iino Hall in Tokyo, during the World Intellectual Property Day commemorative event.
List of exhibited works
- Official Poster of the 18th Tokyo Olympic Games (1964) by Yūsaku Kamekura
- National Flag of Japan (date unknown)
- Nigiri Sushi (Late Edo Period)
- Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: Under the Wave off Kanagawa (c.1830) by Katsushika Hokusai
- Isshōbin Sake Bottle (c.1900)
- Butterfly Stool (1956) by Sori Yanagi
- Soy Sauce Tabletop Dispenser (1961) by Kenji Ekuan
- 0 Series Shinkansen (1964)
- Yoyogi National Gymnasium, First Gymnasium (1964) by Kenzo Tange
- 2000 GT (1967)
- Tactile Paving (1967) by Seiichi Miyake
- 180Black (1970) by Yoshio Okada
- Walkman® TPS-L2 (1979)
- Washlet (1980)
- BLITZ (1981) by Motomi Kawakami
- Synthesizer DX7 (1983)
- Profeel Pro KX-21HV1 (1986)
- Fujicolor Utsurundesu (1986)
- G-SHOCK AW-500 (1989)
- Handycam® CCD-TR55 (1989)
- Eunos Roadster (1st) (1989) by Shunji Tanaka
- PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE (1993) by Issey Miyake
- QR Code (1994)
- St. Andrew's Cathedral (1996) by Hisao Kohyama
- Wall Mounted CD Player CPR-4 (2000)
- TMAX (2000)
- AQUOS C1 (2001) by Toshiyuki Kita *
- VMAX Second Generation (2008)
- HIROSHIMA Armchair (2008) by Naoto Fukasawa
- E259 Narita Express (2009)
- D.T. Suzuki Museum (2011) by Yoshio Taniguchi
- Help Mark (2012) Graphic Design by Kazufumi Nagai, Product Design by Fumie Shibata
- RX-VISION (2015)
- Roadster (4th) (2015)
- Neorest NX (2017) by Yuji Yoshioka, Hirotaka Nakabayashi, Minoru Tani
- aibo® ERS-1000 (2018)
- N700S Series Shinkansen (2000) by Tetsuo Fukuda, Ichiro Fukuda, Kazuo Kimura, Takashi Hasumi, Masahiro Inoue
- EOS R3 (2021) by Sadaharu Matuo
- Ishikawa Prefectural Library (2022) by Mitsuru Senda
- Portable Theater System HT-AX7 (2023)
- Prius (2023)
* Subsequently nominated by the committee.
Discover the exhibition panels displayed at the venue [PDF] .
Selection Committee Members
Mitsuru Senda
Environmental Architect and Chairman of the Environmental Design Institute
Kazuo Tanaka
President and CEO of GK Design Group Inc.
Kazufumi Nagai
President of HAKUHODO DESIGN Inc.
Yutaka Hasegawa
Founder of MY-THOUGHTS and Design Advisor
Ikuo Maeda
Executive Fellow at Mazda Motor Corporation, overseeing Design and Brand Style
Organizer
WIPO Japan Office (World Intellectual Property Organization)
About WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the United Nations agency that serves the world’s innovators and creators, ensuring that their ideas travel safely to the market and improve lives everywhere.
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