HOW DOES IT WORK?
WELCOME: Join a live session to jumpstart our fieldwork together.
RESEARCH: Dive into the Case Study subject to leverage heritage material toward its practical use case today.
EXPLORE: Access learning resources that include,
self-paced video lessons posted weekly with farmers, researchers, craftspeople, and other professionals key to this Case Study
workbook guides and brainstorming prompts toward monthly assignments
three live online sessions with Kyoto Research Institute
one in-person Fieldwork Day in Kyoto
EXPERIMENT: Share personal insights and nurture creative experimentation based on ancestral learnings, with the mission to design something we will love and use today.
DESIGN: Co-design a physical product that can be used, worn, savored in-real-life that leverages heritage material and traditional knowledge, respects culture and environment, and reflects contemporary needs and aesthetics.
FINALE: Visit us in Kyoto to join an in-person Fieldwork Day to meet one another, and to explore and reflect together.
WHAT ARE THE CASE STUDIES?
Case Studies are on a six month cycle, exploring two subjects per year.
Case studies cover a wide range of topics within 衣食住 i-shoku-jyu, clothing-food-home which are the three sectors of Japanese living. From textile crafts, restoration techniques, architectural and garden design, and food and drink. We hope you will enjoy exploring the breadth and depth of Japan through these Case Studies.
The inaugural Case Study #001 is “Traditional Japanese Workwear for Today”. The curriculum is detailed below.
Who Can Join?
We welcome participants from diverse fields including designers, researchers, makers, educators, and anyone curious about material culture. The only requirement is a passion for exploring how Japanese heritage materials and techniques can inspire sustainable, practical, and aesthetic solutions worldwide.
Why Join?
DISCOVER ancestral knowledge of heritage Japanese materials and techniques
UNLOCK the very rare opportunity to learn directly from farmers, researchers, craftspeople, and other professionals who carry generational wisdoms
CONTRIBUTE to the research and design of a new product that can be used, worn, savored in-real-life today
APPLY learnings to professional practices and more sustainable living solutions wherever you call home
BECOME A MEMBER OF Fieldwork Club
Research, experiment, and design with Japanese heritage materials.
What is Fieldwork Club?
An immersive online initiative exploring Japanese heritage materials and techniques. Research, experiment, to co-design sustainable, functional, and aesthetic products rooted in traditional knowledge.
traditional Japanese material AND techniques, accessible from anywhere in the world.
Fieldwork Club unlocks the very special opportunity to connect with the people, processes, and places behind Japan’s heritage materials and techniques including textiles, architecture, and culinary practices.
Members leverage what they have learnt and explored, transforming their newly acquired knowledge into co-designing functional, aesthetic, sustainable physical products that have valuable impact today.
MEMBERSHIP PLANS
【PERENNIAL SUPPORTER】 I would like to join Fieldwork Club and am keenly interested in the work of Kyoto Research Institute, but would like to participate more passively while simultaneously showcasing my ongoing support.
Registration opens 2025 September 1
【PERENNIAL MEMBER】 I would like to join Fieldwork Club to cultivate a rich understanding of heritage Japanese materials and techniques, their practical use cases today, and nurture meaningful relationships with likeminded researchers in Japan and beyond.
【SINGLE CASE STUDY】 I would like to join Fieldwork Club's upcoming Case Study for six months only, for a fully immersive experience to research, learn, explore, and design heritage materials into a final product.
CASE STUDY #001
Traditional Japanese Workwear for Today
2025 October 1 - 2026 March 31
SUBJECT
Sustainable Fashion: Traditional Japanese Workwear for Today
The inaugural Case Study subject explores traditional Japanese workwear: its fabrics, forms, and functions as understood through the lens of artisans, farmers, and textile makers.
GOAL
Members will participate in the co-designing of original workwear, designed in collaboration with traditional artisans, farmers, textile makers, and Kyoto Research Institute researchers. Something that you will be able to purchase and wear in-real-life.
CURRICULUM
-
LIVE SESSION
The historical and cultural context of Japanese workwear -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
The traditional Japanese raw materials that make up our textiles -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Japanese aesthetic sensibilities and environmental precautions around functional wear -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
The historical, environmental, and cultural context of Japanese cotton -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
From raw natural resource to thread to fabric -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Japanese traditional wears and its historical and cultural connotations vol. 1 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 1 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 2 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 3 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 4 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 5 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Design strategy based on interviews with professionals in traditional occupations -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Japanese traditional wears and its historical and cultural connotations vol. 2 -
WINTER BREAK
New Years Holiday
(no new video) -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 6 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 7 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 8 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 9 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Interview of traditional Japanese craft professional vol. 10 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Japanese traditional wears and its historical and cultural connotations vol. 3 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Design approach given everything studied in the field -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Japanese traditional wears and its historical and cultural connotations vol. 4 -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
From seed, plant, fiber, thread, fabric, clothes, earth, and back to seed, the cycle of our sustainable wears -
SELF-PACED VIDEO
Japanese traditional wears and its historical and cultural connotations vol. 5 -
LIVE SESSION
Final Japanese workwear design as researched and designed together
PRE-SALE
First access to order the workwear that members have personally contributed to create -
FINAL WEEK
In person Fieldwork Day on 2026 March 25 for those who can gather in-real-life in Kyoto
(no new video)