About
Making a case for heritage Japanese materials.
Kyoto Research Institute is dedicated to the study of Japan’s rich natural resources and traditional techniques that craft what we call "heritage materials."
The mission is to research, educate, and inspire practical utility of these materials in everyday living.
Our work is not about innovation. But rather about rediscovery and actionable application of heritage materials today.
Our approach to research and application begins in the field. Studying directly from hyper-local generational custodians of the land and traditional craftspeople, to not only learn of and document heritage materials, but also recording a comprehensive survey of the overall ecosystem from raw natural resources to the socio-political landscape around it. That holistic picture is taken into our lab where we archive materials, experiment with what we’ve gathered, and share with professionals who can leverage the knowledge we have cultivated through our fieldwork to transform heritage materials into new physical, experiential, and social possibilities.
MATERIALS
ARCHIVE
TEST
KITCHEN
THE TEAM
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Ikumi Haneta
Associate
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![Kyoto Research Institute 京都研究所 Sawane Kato]()
Sawane Kato
Assistant Associate
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![Kyoto Research Institute 京都研究所 Misa Murata]()
Misa Murata
Research Associate
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![Kyoto Research Institute 京都研究所 Momoko Nakamura]()
Momoko Nakamura
Founding Partner
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![Kyoto Research Institute 京都研究所 Toshiaki Nakano]()
Toshiaki Nakano
Partner
Kyoto Research Institute was founded under the direction of Momoko Nakamura. Her interest in fieldwork across the archipelago is rooted in over 20 years of research and communication of cookery culture and the food system. The Institute’s studies now extend beyond edible ingredients, exploring a wide spectrum of heritage Japanese materials to facilitate their practical utility today.
WHAT ARE HERITAGE MATERIALS?
At Kyoto Research Institute, we define heritage materials as raw natural resources like rice, seaweed, hemp, tea, and bamboo, that through the hands of traditional technique, to transform into the materials that create our everyday living. Examples of heritage materials include washi paper, koji-fermented grains, and earthen walls.
In Japan, we call “to live” or “to create living”, 衣食住 i-shoku-jyu. Quite literally clothing-food-home. These are the three fundamental sectors that constitute the Japanese art of living. Our approach to fieldwork of heritage materials, is tuning in to the archipelago’s raw natural resources and how they have historically been used across each of these sectors.
However, we don’t stop at research.
Our mission is to then go on to explore, experiment, and ultimately execute how these heritage materials have functional, sustainable, and aesthetic value in our lives today.
