PLAT Japanese Design Archive Survey

From the site: “What is the ‘Japanese Design Archive Survey’?”:

As you all know, Japan is one of the world's leading economic powers. Even though it is being overtaken by emerging countries such as China, there is still a great deal of trust in Japanese products on a global scale. So too is the appreciation of Japanese design (architecture, products, graphics, fashion, content). However, the preservation and research of ideas and processes (works, sketches, drawings, models, etc.), the source of that "JAPANESE DESIGN", lags far behind the West. In Japan, there is no design museum or research institute that conducts research on design archives.
However, time is not waiting for us. With the death and ageing of the first generation who contributed to the development of Japanese design, their valuable design heritage is in danger of being lost or destroyed. In fact, the custody of many of their works and materials is the responsibility of the designers themselves and their families, but this is not a task that can be met by individuals. If this situation continues, Japan's precious cultural and industrial heritage will be lost and a void will be left in the history of culture and design. This desire is the motivation for this project.
The "Survey of Japanese Design Archives" is a survey of the people who entrust design works and materials (designers themselves, their families, staff) and the people who build archives (museums, universities, researchers), from the viewpoint of "preservation and maintenance of design archives".
But is a design archive just about "objects" such as works and sketches?　We decided to include the footsteps and design ideas of one designer, because we believe that the ideas and practices that can only be passed on from one person to another are also an important part of the archive, and can be left out of the "objects".
We hope that by publishing these records on the web and sharing information and knowledge with a wide range of people, we will be able to build a design archive and design museum in Japan. —Director Yasuko Seki