COLLECTIONS › LABS & WORKSHOPS
Collection
Test kitchens, 3D printers and prototype floors — the labs built inside Japanese offices.
Making things — monozukuri (ものづくり) — is a point of pride in Japan, and some companies keep the lab inside the office rather than in a distant factory. These offices put research, testing and prototyping where everyone can see it.
01 · Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato, Tokyo
The development lab
Which makes the third floor of this building worth noticing: a development lab and a test kitchen, ten floors below the desks, with stainless benches, extraction hoods and a cold room.
Read the MARUBENI FOODS office →
02 · Kawaramachi, Kyoto
The fifth floor: Students Lab
The fifth floor is Students Lab, described as a floor where students are the protagonists.
Read the THE KYOTO SHINKIN BANK office →
03 · Shinagawa, Tokyo
Konan Lab mk_3
The fifth is the odd one: Konan Lab mk_3, a studio and laboratory run by the company’s spatial-production team, where it researches and tests the craft of staging space with other companies and creators.
Read the TANSEISHA office →
04 · Tokyo
Mim Lab
The one room with a name instead of a colour, Mim Lab, is described as having the best view in the company.
Read the PLUS ALPHA CONSULTING office →
05 · Furukawa, Miyagi
The laboratory floor
The 3rd floor is for engineers doing experiments and prototype evaluation.
Read the ALPS ALPINE office →
06 · Tokushima
The quality analysis lab
Visitors can watch research and product development: the quality analysis lab where raw materials and ingredients are examined, and tests of the strength of leads that keep pets safe.
Read the EARTH PET office →
07 · Tokyo
The lab area
A lab area on the same floor, fitted with monitors and equipment, keeps the technical work in sight of the rest of the office.
Read the NTT DATA CUSTOMER SERVICE office →
Questions
WALL has picked 8: MARUBENI FOODS (Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato, Tokyo), THE KYOTO SHINKIN BANK (Kawaramachi, Kyoto), TANSEISHA (Shinagawa, Tokyo), PLUS ALPHA CONSULTING (Tokyo), ALPS ALPINE (Furukawa, Miyagi), EARTH PET (Tokushima), NTT DATA CUSTOMER SERVICE (Tokyo), NIHON SEKKEI (Toranomon, Tokyo).
They are spread across 4 places: Tokyo (5), Kyoto (1), Miyagi (1), Tokushima (1).
Most are private workplaces and not open to the public. WALL reports on them from the companies’ own published material; each office page links to its source.
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