Senior Advisor, Mercari Inc.
Senior Fellow, New York University (NYU) School of Law
Tsutsumi Asakichi Urushi Co.Ltd Managing Director/ Perspective Co-founder
Takuya works as the fourth generation of Urushi refiners at Tsutsumi Asakichi Urushi Store, which has refined Urushi since the Meiji Era (1868-1912).
Urushi refiners’ work lies between that of the urushikaki and the nushi/nurishi. Urushikaki are tradesmen who cultivate and gather Urushi, which is tree sap. Nushi/nurishi are craftsmen who use the Urushi to make lacquered products such as bowls and Buddhist ritual implements. As an Urushi refiner experiencing the drop-off in domestic Urushi production, Takuya decided to create “urushi-no-ippo,” (lit. Our first steps in Urushi) an initiative to get the next generation to take an interest in and use Urushi items.
Through innovative collaborations with other creators such as in “Urushi×Alaia,” “Urushi x BMX,” and “Urushi x skateboard,” Takuya has created new opportunities for people to connect with Urushi.In hopes of passing on Urushi, a sustainable natural ingredient that has been used in Japan for more than ten thousand years, to the coming generations, Takuya co-founded Perspective in June of 2019.
Japan Craft21 Grand Prize Ronnie Award in July of 2021.
Special Research Fellow at the Center for Innovation in Traditional Industries, Kyoto Seika University.
NGO Surfrider Foundation Japan Ambassador.
