Interior Lifestyle Tokyo concluded on 8 June, 2012 at Tokyo Big Sight with excellent results. The 2012 show set a best record with 652 exhibitors (Domestic: 480 Overseas: 172) from 38 countries/regions participating, and 26,485 visitors, a 10 percent increase in visitor participation from 2011. The result reveals the Interior Lifestyle Tokyo has fully recovered from the effect of the 2011 earthquake.1

This fair consists of Ambiente Japan, Heimtextil Japan, and Home Design Japan, and is the leading international trade fair to showcase high-end interior design products in Japan.2 The 22nd edition was redesigned for the first time in its history with the introduction of “Creative Direction”, a group of four directing members who produced the 2012 show. The transformation was highly praised as it added further quality to the fair. Interior Lifestyle Tokyo attracted considerable attention from overseas this year and Martha Stewart visited the fair as a special guest. She was impressed with the assortment of manufacturers and companies at the fair and met Nicolette Naumann, Vice President of Ambiente/Tendence, to discuss her impressions. On top of that, she attended the Ambiente Trends 2012 presentation by Annetta Palmisano of the bora.herke.palmisano style studio.

High exhibitor satisfaction reflects the success of the fair

First time exhibitor Takumi Nakayama from Tuttle-Mori Agency Inc. commented: “We came to Interior Lifestyle Tokyo this year because the proprietor of our licensed brand, Moomin, found it very beneficial joining Ambiente in Frankfurt. Many buyers from a variety of business fields visited us and our booth was full of people from the very first day. I think the strength of this fair can be seen through the quality of visitors that attend, which leads to solid opportunities for exhibitors.”

Regular exhibitor Yoshinori Kuno from Ambientec Corp. praised the fair’s ability to constantly increase his business. He said: “This year we joined to see the possibility of mass-producing our lighting product. Many buyers left feedback that was extremely beneficial. We are determined to gear up and participate again.”

Overseas exhibitors expressed their satisfaction of participating in Interior Lifestyle Tokyo as well. Alvida Kaulina from Ars Tela Ltd., a company from Latvia, said: “We have continued exhibiting at Interior Lifestyle Tokyo as this fair is well-recognized and our Japanese target visitors are guaranteed to come. It is also a great opportunity to promote Latvia in terms of design. We exhibited new products this year and received excellent responses. We would like to join next year again.”

The fair was highly praised for its clear-cut zoning and various new highlights brought with the change. The Atrium Highlight ‘FEEL GOOD STORE’ provided lifestyle inspiration to visitors through the exhibits and the unique store visual presentation. Many visitors also joined the seminar ‘Lifestyle Salon 2012’ to obtain learn about the latest trends and business ideas.

Another programme ‘Japan Style’3 has successfully debut at the fair showcasing products that reflected the evolving culture of Japan. Yasushi Yoshida from Prestige Japan Inc. who exhibited at ‘Japan Style’ commented: “We joined this fair to find new partners from around the country. We have three stores in Tokyo at the moment but have received many inquiries from people in other prefectures. Our booth was really busy from the first day onwards. We were also pleased to hear that many of the visitors found ‘Japan Style’ interesting. We will certainly keep on contributing to the development of this area.”

Design award winners praise the show’s exceptional quality

The annual award event, ‘Interior Lifestyle Award’ took place on the fair’s first day. There were five awards this year with new criteria developed where the appointed referees chose the exhibitors they deemed most qualified. The winner for Young Designer Award would be invited to ‘Talents’4 at Ambiente 2013 and is already receiving a lot of attention. Below is a list of winners and their comments for each award.

• Space Design Award

Referee: Reiko Kawakami, Executive Director, Japan Interior Designer’s Association

Winner: FORMLADY Co.,Ltd. Asahineko

Comment by: Yoshimi Takehara: “It is beyond words to receive the award when we are already pleased to have taken part at this fair to promote our products. There are truly many discerning buyers at this fair. We are glad to have many visitors at our booth and we are sure to exhibit again next year and expand our product line-ups.”

• Design Business Award

Referee: Ms. Teruko Mitarai, Director, Japan Design Consultants Association

Winner: NARUMI Corp.

Comment by: Yasuji Akamatsu: “We weren’t expecting to receive an award at all and all the staff was very delighted. We exhibited at the fair to introduce our new cutlery brand as we believed that this fair would enable us to meet our targeted visitors. Potential buyers ranged from retail shop owners, gift catalogue publishers to online stores both domestically and internationally.”

• Media Award

Referee: Ryuko Kida, Editor in Chief of ELLE DECOR Japon,

Hearst Fujingaho Co.,Ltd.

Winner: Ishinomaki Laboratory 5

Comment by: Keiji Ashizawa: “I am very happy to be awarded and would like to give this award to the artisans in Ishinomaki city that was deeply affected by the earthquake. We took part at this fair not only to sell our products but to stand in the same field with other high quality exhibitors. We met many discerning visitors as expected and we are extremely happy to have exhibited. It is difficult for a small company like us to promote and sell products on our own at a large scale but we believe Interior Lifestyle Toyko has made our business efforts possible.”

• Best Buy Award

Referee: Yohjiro Gotoh, Supervisor of THE CONRAN SHOP and Design Index Co.,Ltd.

Winner: WASARA Co.,Ltd.

Comment by: Shinako Shima: “As our products are consumer goods at the end of the day, we are really delighted to receive this award out of all the awards available. The awarded product is eco-friendly and beneficial to both manufacturers and users. We feel great that this point was understood. We wanted to promote our product to as many people as possible and chose this fair where many quality visitors attended. We gained excellent feedback and met many of our target customers.”

• Young Designer Award

Referee: Nicolette Naumann, Vice President of Ambiente/Tendence, Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH

Winner: Design Studio monochro

Comment by: Momoko Naito: “All the staff members and the artisans involved are excited to know that with this award, we are invited to take part in Ambiente in Germany. I find a lot of meaning in receiving this award especially for the artisans who stay in a small community and don’t recognize how skilful they are. By having the products exhibited overseas, I am expecting people to realize that small organizations can be specific about design and can make products that actually sell to a huge population. We were busy throughout with fruitful outcomes.”

The next Interior Lifestyle Tokyo will be held 5-7 June 2013 at Tokyo Big Sight West Hall. Its sister fair IFFT/ Interior Lifestyle Living will be held from 17-19 October 2012 at Tokyo Big Sight East Hall. This fair will be transformed as well offering a range of highlight events, further increasing its synergy with Interior Lifestyle Tokyo.

For detailed information visit: http://www.interior-lifestyle.com/en

For information on all Messe Frankfurt textile fairs worldwide, please visit: http://texpertise.messefrankfurt.com.

[1] Results of 2011: 521 Exhibitors (Domestic:452 Overseas:69) / 24,085 Visitors

[2] Ambiente: The world’s largest consumer goods‘ fair held in Frankfurt Germany

Heimtextil: The biggest international trade fair for home and contract textiles held in Frankfurt Germany

[3] Japan Style: Having been present for four years at Ambiente in Frankfurt, ‘Japan Style’ landed to Interior Lifestyle Tokyo for the first time and will be set at the sister fair IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living held in Tokyo, and Interior Lifestyle China held in Shanghai.

[4] Talents: a business platform supporting young talents under the age of 35 who can showcase prototype products.

[5] A laboratory set up by Keiji Ashizawa to support the quake-affected Ishinomaki city . It aims to create employment opportunity by selling hand-made design items.

Source: Messe Frankfurt