Fujiwo Ishimoto | Born in 1941 in Tobe, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. He moved to Finland in 1970 and began his 32-year career as a textile designer at Marimekko, Finland’s leading design house. From 1989 to 2020, he also worked in the art department at Arabia, a renowned Finnish ceramics manufacturer, engaging in ceramic art. He received major honors including the Kaj Franck Design Prize (1994), the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland (2010), and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (2011). In 2013, he held his first solo exhibition in his home prefecture of Ehime, titled “Playing with Fabric, Playing with Clay”. In 2014, as part of the Dogo Onsenart project, a special guest room featuring his works was created at a local hotel. Between 2018 and 2019, his retrospective exhibition “From Marimekko Flowers to Ceramic Fruits” toured Japan, with stops in Ehime, Tobe, Kyoto, and Tokyo. After returning to Ehime in 2020, he donated approximately 150 works to the Ehime Prefectural Museum of Art. He has since presented solo exhibitions at Mustakivi, including “Buds” and “Blossoming” (2022), “Flowers and Fruits” and “Magnolia” (2024), and “Peach” and “Poppy” (2025).

Toyo Ito | Born in 1941 and raised in Nagano Prefecture. Graduated from the University of Tokyo’s Department of Architecture in 1965. His representative projects include Sendai Mediatheque, ‘Minna no Mori’ Gifu Media Cosmos, and the National Taichung Theater (Taiwan). His accolades include the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize, the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, and the Pritzker Architecture Prize. He also founded Ito Juku, an educational initiative for exploring future urban and architectural forms. In Ōmishima, Imabari City, Ehime—where the Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari is located—he continues to engage in community development activities together with his former students and local residents.
Photo: © Kai Nakamura

Yoshiaki Irobe | Born in 1974 in Chiba Prefecture. A graphic designer who earned his master’s degree from Tokyo University of the Arts, Irobe heads the Irobe Design Institute at Nippon Design Center and works across a broad spectrum—from graphic and spatial design to exhibitions and signage. His notable projects include visual identity design for Osaka Metro and Japan’s National Parks, signage planning for museums such as the Ichihara Lakeside Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and visual direction for the Sony Park Exhibition. For the 2025 Osaka–Kansai Expo, he is overseeing art direction for the Japanese Government Pavilion. Major awards include the Yusaku Kamekura Award, ADC Award, and the Good Design Gold Award from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.