KOKUYO Hosts Experiential Design Event "Curiosity Overflows Exhibition" to Unravel Its Creativity

KOKUYO Co., Ltd. (Headquartered in Osaka / President: Hidekuni Kuroda) will hold "Curiosity Overflows Exhibition," an experiential design event exploring KOKUYO's creativity, for five days from Monday, April 20 to Friday, April 24, 2026, at KOKUYO's Tokyo Shinagawa office "THE CAMPUS."

1. Purpose of the Event

KOKUYO, celebrating its 120th anniversary, has established the corporate message "Curiosity for Life." For 120 years, the company has practiced "empathy co-creation"—empathizing with small everyday discoveries and designing experiences around things and events together with many people—and has been present at the moments when people's curiosity is sparked.

The "KOKUYO Design Award," now in its 25th year, is an international product design competition aimed at supporting and co-creating with talented designers. It solicits works that bring new value to everyday tools for life and work based on themes reflecting the times, and award-winning works are considered for commercialization by the winners and KOKUYO's product developers. To date, 25 works have been brought to market as products, proposing new possibilities for work and life.

The "empathy co-creation" approach cultivated over 120 years and the KOKUYO Design Award initiative have mutually influenced each other, shaping KOKUYO's unique design identity. These initiatives, along with the individual curiosity of each designer, continue to generate new excitement.

This event aims to unravel KOKUYO's creativity and offer visitors a special opportunity to experience it firsthand through enriched content including exhibitions and talk sessions that spark curiosity.

2. Event Content

(1) Exhibition of Product Designs Embodying KOKUYO's "Empathy Co-Creation"

The exhibition will feature 22 products born from "empathy co-creation," including the flagship "Campus Note"; "Saxa" scissors that overturned conventional wisdom to achieve easy cutting "regardless of dominant hand"; the "ingCloud" office chair that intentionally introduces "swaying" through gravitational balance, defying the conventional emphasis on stability; and the IoT stationery "Shukudai Yaruki Pen" that fosters communication between children and parents. A touch-and-try booth will also be set up, allowing visitors to use their hands to experience the experiential design and ingenuity built into each product.

Examples of exhibited products

The "KOKUYO Design Award" corner will display finalist works including the Grand Prix winner of the "KOKUYO Design Award 2026," along with past award-winning works, posters, and trophies, looking back on the journey of co-creation with creators both inside and outside the company.