太刀川英輔

A designer who bridges natural science and design in pursuit of harmony and re-adaptation between human society and nature. Working across product, graphic, and spatial design, he is driven by a passion for design that addresses social challenges—climate change, disaster preparedness, resource circulation, and regional revitalization—creating cases for a more hopeful future. He is the world’s first recipient of the DFA Design for Asia Designer of the Year and has received over 150 international design awards, including the DFA Grand Award, Good Design Award Gold, Golden Pin Design Award Grand Prix, German Design Award Gold, and Global Design Award Gold. He has also served as jury chair for the ACC Awards Design Category and as juror for the Good Design Award, DFA Awards (Design for Asia Awards), and WAF (World Architecture Festival), maintaining a deep engagement with the global creative scene. He founded ADAPTMENT, a framework for urban adaptation to climate change and ecosystems, and OLIVE, a platform for sharing open-source design for disaster relief, and led the creation of Tokyo Bousai, the world’s largest disaster preparedness initiative. His work embodies the conviction that design is not only a pursuit of beauty, but a force that protects lives and propels society forward. He advocates "Evolutionary Thinking," a methodology that draws on biological adaptation and evolution to unlock the essence of creativity. As Project Professor at Keio University and Honorary Visiting Professor at Kanazawa College of Art, he has nurtured change-makers across industry, academia, and government, contributing to innovation at over 60 organizations. His book Evolutionary Thinking received the Yamamoto Shichihei Prize—the first time a work on methodology has won this prestigious humanities award in Japan. He also received the GANESA WIDYA JASA ADIUTAMA Award, the highest academic honor from the Bandung Institute of Technology, in recognition of outstanding contributions to knowledge and education. He serves as chair of the Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute’s "Council on the Future of Higher Education," among other roles, advancing the spread of creative education. In 2015, he served as Concept Director (Chair) of the Cabinet Secretariat’s Cool Japan Movement Promotion Council. From 2021 to 2025, he served as the youngest-ever president of JIDA (Japan Industrial Design Association), Asia’s oldest design body, where he led the first World Design Congress in Japan in 34 years and the rebranding of the Japan Design Organization Council (formerly D8) as DOO. Since 2023, he has served as a board member of WDO (World Design Organization), a UN special consultative organization, and as Master Plan Creator for the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, continuing his pursuit of the social implementation of design and innovation.