DESIGN MUSEUM JAPAN

Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture

What does design mean to you?

Design is identifying something's essence and making it clear.

Truly useful design is seamless. Pure as water. And it's all around us.

Hara visits Tamashima, in Kurashiki.

It's like excavating a mammoth skeleton.

It's even more impressive than I'd imagined!

Incredible!

I'm glad I've seen this.

This is Japan's top maker of propellers.

Around 400 are produced annually. That's 30% of the global market.

The shape dates from the Industrial Revolution. Power and speed were key.

It's not about visual appeal. Simply, this converts motion into propulsion.

It's totally rational and well thought out.

There is no room for improvement, which is quite inspiring.

Screw propellers move gigantic vessels through water.

Propulsion and vibration are affected by bubbles that form during use.

To limit their appearance, the resistance of a blade is calculated.

A propeller is first cast in a mold.

It's shaped with machinery, then polished.

After that process, it looks like this.

- It appears to be covered in ridges.
- Yes, it does.

But in fact, it isn't.

The marks are simply an effect of the polishing process.

The secret to this smoothness lies in the hands of the workers.

They make adjustments as small as a hundredth of a millimeter.

Amazing.

It took me by surprise.

I didn't expect such a huge product to be finished off by hand.

By revealing something's essence, design attains universality.

Propellers are about finding the perfect shape, with no compromise.

No frills. It's simply about finding the essence of its form.

If you refine something to its core, you perfect it.

Design needs to find that potential and connect it to the future.