Our team consists of designers, crafts people, liaisons and interpreters.

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Sinclair Smith

Program Director

Sinclair is an industrial designer, a founding faculty member of SVA's MFA in Products of Design and Director of the SVA Visible Futures Lab. His studio, Sinclair Smith & Co., has provided product and interior design services for clients including Disney, This American Life, DKNY, Staple Design, Amex, BMW and Samsung. He holds a BFA in film production from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a masters of industrial design from Pratt Institute.

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Mizuho Kato

Program Liaison

Mizuho is a freelance publicist with experience in PR for professional sports associations, including Japan Professional Football League and major Japanese television stations such as TV Asahi. She currently specializes in promoting and reviving local craft traditions and economies and creating local movements that regain civic pride. Mizuho serves as a board member for an intellectual property law firm, allowing her to protect the IP of traditional craftspeople and expand their scope of business.

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Manako Tamura

Instructor

Having spent half of her life in Japan and the other in the US, Manako is a bilingual and bi-cultural designer. She brings her personal experience in multicultural upbringing and her background in anthropology to her design work. After receiving her BA in anthropology from Reed College, Manako worked in supply chain management for a major Japanese chemical company Toray Industries, and in marketing for an Italian furniture manufacturer Kartell. She holds an MFA in Products of Design from School of Visual Arts, and is currently based in New York City.

 
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Kenichi Konomi

Instructor

Kenichi runs Yabeya Konomi Honke, the oldest tea wholesaler in Kyushu, founded by Jinshiro Konomi in 1704. For centuries, the Konomi family has played a central role in Yame City and Kenichi carries the tradition of preserving the land along with the tea production. He continues to improve the quality of Yame tea blend and promote its cultural aspect for generations to come. The Japanese government certified Konomi Honke as an authentic brand in Japan and it is sold on Shinkansen (aka “the bullet train”).

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Yoshitaka Jogo

Instructor

Yoshitaka went through lacquer apprenticeship training after graduating from college in Kiso. In Yame, he works as a lacquer craftsman and serves as the vice chairman of Yame Fukushima Butsudan Union and the leader of a Union which consists of altar craftsmen in the Yame area. The altar style is called “Yame Fukushima Butsudan” and is designated by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry as a national traditional craft. Yoshitaka has developed and manufactured original speakers with contemporary and innovative designs, incorporating traditional lacquer and gold foil press techniques.

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Kaz Kinoshita

Instructor

Hailing from the Kinoshita family that runs Kitaya Sake Brewery, a two-hundred-year-old institiution in Yame, Kaz was born to be an ambassador for Japanese food culture. He has worked as a sake sommelier in one of Singapore’s most renowned Japanese restaurants and helped popularized sake in New York City’s dining scene. Leveraging his international experience, he now holds promotional events for hard-to-find craft sakes throughout Japan and internationally to educate the public on the art of sake.