Our guest today is Ashizawa Keiji, an architect.

He's the founder of a furniture company called Ishinomaki Laboratory,

which creates simple designs with wood that exudes warmth.

It all started in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Ashizawa's concept was furniture for people in a disaster area:

they could make the pieces themselves with minimal tools and materials.

In the 13 years since the earthquake and tsunami, Ishinomaki Laboratory has grown into a global brand.

Leveraging the popularity of "DIY," they now make and sell furniture through workshops in various countries.

Ashizawa Keiji believes furniture has the power to make a difference,

and his brand of disaster-relief work has inspired the world.

Architecture involves building things and thinking about the surrounding space.

The work itself can have a big social impact.

I try to take my role very seriously.

The city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture.

All over town - from a seaside overlook to a rest area outside the supermarket -

you'll see the same style of wooden benches and stools.

They were designed by Ashizawa, just after the disaster.

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated Ishinomaki.

The toll of dead or missing stands at 3,970 people.

The city contained 128,000 buildings, of which more than half suffered damage.

For the local community, life had changed forever.

Immediately after the disaster, Ashizawa traveled from Tokyo to Ishinomaki to volunteer in the relief effort.

I went because a client's restaurant was washed away by the tsunami, and his home was in danger of collapsing.

He wanted me to come take a look.

The first things we did were get all the mud out, throw out the tatami mats, and make sure the doors locked up properly.

Many businesses had their entire ground floor flooded.

Although these buildings escaped total collapse,

carpenters and contractors couldn't handle them all, and businesses were unable to reopen.

But Ashizawa met one business owner who had repaired the ground floor of his property himself.

His izakaya was able to reopen quickly.

I kept hearing about this guy who had fixed up his place by himself.

Seeing a shop open on the ground floor was so powerful.

It lit up the whole city.

I realized this was the key.

Everyone "wanted" to do repairs, but they didn't know how.

If people had the skills, tools, and materials close at hand, then they'd be able to fix things up.

Ashizawa put out a call to architects, designers and artisans he knew in Tokyo,

and created the "Ishinomaki Laboratory," a workshop that would provide tools and materials to the Ishinomaki community.

People whose lives had been destroyed by the tsunami could rebuild it with their own hands:

a true "do-it-yourself" approach.

At the very least, I could use my expertise to do something to help.

If I could speed up the recovery even a little, that would be good.

Ishinomaki Laboratory wouldn't exist without local support.

One important member of the team is Chiba Takahiro.

He used to be a chef with his own sushi restaurant, but the tsunami took everything.

He agreed with Ashizawa's vision of a "DIY recovery," and signed on to work with the lab.

As Ashizawa often says, DIY is about survival.

Figure out how to use what you have at hand in order to survive.

If you have a DIY mindset, the ideas will come naturally.

In July 2011, as he was running Ishinomaki Laboratory,

Ashizawa asked kids studying construction at a local technical high school

if they would help him create benches for the city's summer festival.

These young people held Ishinomaki's future in their hands, and Ashizawa wanted to get them involved.

These were kids from the school's "construction club"

who were learning basic carpentry skills and things like that.

We started by making and designing a bench together.

Here's the bench that Ashizawa and the high schoolers came up with.

Using basic items found at any home improvement store,

they cut the material to size, and screwed everything together using a standard drill.

The benches are highly functional.

They can be used both indoors and outdoors, and feature a simple yet warm design.

The teacher in charge of the construction club at the time, Fusamae Yuri,

said the students' attitude left a deep impression on her.

We had almost forgotten what it meant to make something.

The students were deeply affected by the disaster.

We had nothing, but we could create something.

Something that would make people happy.

Mr. Ashizawa helped us rediscover that passion.

They seemed to really enjoy it.

And that was great.

We spend a day, a day and a half making them, and then everyone took them out together.

It was a great feeling to see something we made out on the street.

To see people using them just made us so happy.

Of course the disaster was just such a huge, significant event.

And I believe it made people realize they could take things into their own hands.

Making something, even a single bench, is a contribution to the community.

I think we all came to understand that.

Furniture has always been an important part of Ashizawa's architecture career.

When he designs a building, he makes sure he's also involved in the design of the furniture and lighting.

He never forgets the power that furniture has in a space.

It sounds extreme, but furniture breathes life into a space.

It can change things completely, depending on how you place it.

Even a slightly depressing space can be made quite comfortable with the right furniture.

You just need to think carefully about the right size, the right design.

The benches that Ashizawa made with the high school students changed the landscape of the disaster-stricken city.

One realization affirmed that a single piece of furniture could make a space better.

It was like the benches turned places into parks.

Where there was once nothing, now people were gathering.

I realized that even one bench could bring so much joy to people.

That really is the origin story of Ishinomaki Laboratory.

Building on his initial success, Ashizawa began designing furniture for the temporary housing where disaster victims were staying.

Ishinomaki Laboratory held workshops for the local community,

spreading their concept of "DIY 'furniture.'"

Soon enough, people across Japan were asking if there was Ishinomaki Laboratory furniture they could buy.

In 2014, Ashizawa decided to incorporate the workshop, and build it up as a brand.

He thought that having an independent furniture maker based in a recovering region would be intensely meaningful.

I wanted Ishinomaki Laboratory to be sustainable "in" Ishinomaki.

Rather than being a group of volunteers, we would become an official company.

And this would be our way of saying that...

we want to put down roots in this region.

That was the motivation.

Chiba, who at that time was managing the laboratory's shop floor,

now faced the challenge of making furniture for commercial sale.

Back then, we were just making furniture for a disaster area.

So it was no big deal if it had scratches or something.

But the buyers wanted standard-quality furniture.

They didn't want excuses about how this was a disaster area.

We had to make things properly.

That was the first time pride was on the line.

To increase the strength of their brand,

Ashizawa recruited new designers, some from outside Japan.

He put the Ishinomaki Laboratory in their hands.

Honoring the studio's concept of using limited tools and materials,

they created wall-hanging desks, stackable stools, and more:

numerous pieces, all highly functional and masterfully designed.

Ishinomaki Laboratory furniture has appeared at trade shows around the world, earning significant acclaim.

This reaction from abroad only increased Ashizawa's confidence in his brand.

It seemed like people did really find our furniture interesting, and so they bought it.

And then we would tell them the story behind the brand,

they liked it, and they would buy even more.

Ishinomaki Laboratory didn't want to be a group of volunteers creating furniture that people bought as a charitable donation.

We wanted to be a company that offered something to our clients.

That's how we were able to expand, and I think that's still the case today.

Ishinomaki Laboratory now gets orders from within Japan and abroad.

It all started with a single bench for a disaster area.

Now they're taking on the world.

Their furniture production is entering a new phase.

They're partnering with makers around the world to spread Ishinomaki's DIY spirit and design style.

They're calling it the "Made in Local Project."

The concept is local production for local consumption.

Ishinomaki Laboratory products are manufactured in different places using local materials and local expertise.

Ishinomaki Laboratory provides only the blueprints.

A portion of sales goes to the main workshop in Japan and the designers,

but marketing and sales strategy are up to the local partner.

As of 2024, they have partnerships with workshops and design offices in 11 countries.

Some people have set up a company to work with this Made in Local project.

And in the course of doing that, they've developed their own furniture.

Making something locally, using local materials, and having local people buy it - we really love to see that.

Sheridan Coakley from the UK has been involved with the project since its inception in 2017.

He sees great promise in this approach.

I think economically it makes sense and sustainably it makes sense.

And, also the concept of small workshops around the world making furniture

is a very interesting idea of making the same designs.

This is the company's Ishinomaki Home Base, opened in 2022.

It features a cafe and guesthouse.

Ashizawa built it with an eye to the future;

he'll continue promoting this Ishinomaki-born furniture brand.

I believe that the longer we keep this brand going,

the longer we can serve as a reminder of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

If we can last for a hundred years, then a century from now,

Ishinomaki Laboratory's story may take on a new meaning to people who learn about it then.

"Do you have any words to live by?"

Honest design.

I would say that when you think about societal issues, or the environment,

having a certain type of honesty is the most appropriate mindset.

If you're worried about looking cool, or boosting sales, or trying to play to the media,

I believe that in the end, those feelings will corrupt your designs.

That does happen.

So for that reason, and in that sense, you need honesty.

And I do think that Ishinomaki Laboratory is an extension of this idea of honest design.