Press Release
Yuki Ijichi Is Honored with the Golden A' Design Award for Redesign of Kurojyoka Drinkware in Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design
Yuki Ijichi honored for bakeware, tableware, drinkware and cookware design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 18, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ Redesign of Kurojyoka Drinkware by Yuki Ijichi, designed for MATHERuBA, has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Golden A' Design Award
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.
More About Redesign of Kurojyoka Drinkware
This is a redesign of the kurojyoka, a traditional Kagoshima shochu ceramic teapot, to fit modern lifestyles. The traditional Kurojyoka was formed based on the Japanese hearth heating system, and its shape has remained the same despite changing lifestyles. This project is a continuation of Kagoshima's shochu culture and traditional craftsmanship by modifying this aspect and updating the kurojyoka to fit modern lifestyles.
About Yuki Ijichi
Yuki Ijichi works on a variety of design projects under the trade name Zero Hours Design Studio. From space design and product design to branding, graphic design, and web design, he designs across mediums to meet the challenges of his clients. At Zero Hours Design Studio, he captures the unique characteristics of his clients and matches them with their social context and needs to propose designs that solve their problems. The studio also features designs that take into account cultural context in order to create more sustainable value.
Award Record
This recognition makes Yuki Ijichi a winner of 2 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted between the 2023 - 2024 and the 2024 - 2025 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design Award
The A' Kitchenware Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good kitchenware designs by best kitchenware brands and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to kitchenware designers, product designers, industrial design studios and kitchenware brands from all countries. Typical entries include pots, pans, cutlery, plates, bowls and glasses. The awarded kitchenware designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/kitchenware
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/164307
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/164307
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!164307
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/352414
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://0hoursdesignstudio.com/productandfurniture
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
###
Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Redesign of Kurojyoka Drinkware
- Function
- Drinkware
- Category
- Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home and Food & Hospitality
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Silver, Light Slate Gray, Light Gray and Dim Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- MATHERuBA
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Yuki Ijichi
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #164307
Credits
- Image Credits
- Photographer Masahiko Kukiyama
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- This is a redesign of the Kurojyoka, a traditional Kagoshima ceramic earthenware teapot for shochu, to fit modern lifestyles. The traditional Kurojyoka was shaped based on heating in a Japanese hearth, and the Satsuma ware craftsmen did not revise the Kurojyoka to fit their changing lifestyles, but this project is characterized by its sublimation into a modern Kurojyoka by revising this aspect of the project. The fact that the shape has been modified for the modern age.
- Inspiration
- The project began with a request from MATHERuBA, which operates a cafe and store in Kagoshima, to redesign the Kurojyoka, a traditional Kagoshima porcelain earthenware teapot for shochu, to suit modern lifestyles and create an original product. We therefore researched the origin of the shape of Kurojyoka for shochu traditionally used in Kagoshima, and found design inspiration in the abacus shape described in literature, which we redesigned into a shape that fits today's lifestyle.
- Challenge
- In redesigning the Kurojyoka, we tried to make it a mass production type for easy general use, but there was a difficulty in that Kagoshima does not have mass production technology. Therefore, we asked a Nagasaki potter with mass production technology to manufacture the product, but used Kagoshima materials for the glaze, thereby creating a Kurojyoka with elements of the production area.
- Realization and Technology
- The redesigned Kurojyoka has a mass produced design so that it can be used as a modern earthenware teapot for shochu and as an everyday household item for enjoying shochu. It is made using casting molding, a technique for mass producing ceramics, in which muddy ceramic clay is poured into a plaster mold. The material is porcelain, which is durable and can be used for commercial purposes. The glaze uses shirasu from the Shirasu Plateau, a characteristic of Kagoshima's soil, with the aim of it becoming an everyday household item made from local materials.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project began in Kagoshima in February 2018 and ended in November 2019 and has been sold.
- Specifications
- Kurojyoka, Width 120mm x Depth 146mm x Height 160mm Cup, Width 75mm x Depth 75mm x Height 45mm Warmer, Width 114mm x Depth 102mm x Height 63mm Pitcher for Maewari, Width 80mm x Depth 84mm x Height 205mm
- Keywords
- Product Design, Redesign, Tableware, Sakeware, Kurojoka, Kurojoka6442, Satsuma ware, Earthenware shochu teapot
