Kyoto University of the Arts and Dentsu Group Launch "YAOKONTON" to Support Small Factories

Dentsu Inc. and Ad Dentsu Osaka Inc . have partnered with Kyoto University of the Arts to launch the "YAOKONTON" project, supporting small factories in Yao City, Osaka Prefecture, with their own product and brand development. The project commenced with a kickoff event held on August 23, 2022, at the co-creation space " Miseba Yao" in Yao City.

From daily necessities like toothbrushes, soap, and frying pans to automotive and home appliance parts. Yao City, long prosperous through manufacturing, is home to numerous small factories with high manufacturing expertise. While many primarily focus on subcontracting work for large corporations, such as OEM product manufacturing, an increasing number of these factories are now actively pursuing the development of their own products and brands as a new avenue for growth.

"YAOKONTON" is a project accelerating and expanding this trend. Mentors include Shigeyuki Kazama from Kyoto University of the Arts, who oversaw platform design for PlayStation®4 and other systems; Michio Akita, designer of numerous products including LED traffic signals; Koichi Shiraishi, artist and co-founder of Fab Lab Kitakagaya; and Daisaku Yoshida, who promotes industry-academia collaboration projects. Students from the Product Design Department and the Cross-Tech Design Course in the Information Design Department also participate. Other mentors from diverse fields, including toy creator Shinpei Takahashi and fashion designer Toshifumi Yamane, will support the selected small factories from product planning through development support to sales.

<Project Overview>
・Implementation Period: August 2022 to March 2023
・Organizer: Yao City
・Website: https://yaokonton.jp

＜Participating Companies＞
・STG　https://www.stgroup.jp/
・Osaka Sugar Confectionery https://www.osaka-toka.co.jp/
・Kaneemu Kogyo http://www.kanem.com/
・Kikusui Tape　https://kikusuitape.co.jp/
・Kimura Soap Industry https://www.kimurasoap.co.jp/
・Kinjo Rubber http://www.kinjogomu.jp/
・CHROMES　http://chromes-2016.com/
・Daiki Manufacturing http://brass-daiki.co.jp/
・Tanimoto Fusuma Koushoku https://t-f-kosyoku.com/
・Fujita Metal http://www.fujita-kinzoku.jp/
・Minamida https://minamida.co.jp/

The kickoff event was attended by the 11 selected town factories and their mentors.
Shigeyuki Kazama and Daisaku Yoshida introduced social implementation cases undertaken by Kyoto University of the Arts. Particularly, the success story of " HANAO SHOES®️" – a product utilizing traditional craft materials and techniques, from prototyping to development and sales – heightened expectations for collaboration with Kyoto University of the Arts students.

Additionally, a talk session was held featuring Michio Akita, the product development team "Sen'ei Mufu" (active primarily on SNS), and Creative Director Shu Gotou ( NOTICE DESIGN COMPANY ), who launched the shoe brand "blueover". It provided an opportunity to encounter Akita's words, such as "The user is not the maker, but the maker is also the user" and "Observation surpasses design", along with diverse perspectives on ideation and approaches to manufacturing.


The day after the event, as part of the project activities, mentors including students from Kyoto University of the Arts visited the selected small factories. Work has already begun toward product development.

This "YAOKONTON" project is scheduled to run until March 2023.