In April 2025, traditional Japanese craftsmanship met European design sensibility in the heart of Milan.
Over five days, more than 4,290 visitors explored a curated cultural experience at TENOHA MILANO—an exhibition that went beyond craft to create conversation, curiosity, and commercial possibility.
Kool Kage helped to craft the strategic mind of organiser’s of this ambitious exposition.
It was a multi-sensory, story-rich experience designed to open doors between Japan’s regional makers and the international design world.
First of all, our customer “Kitamaebune Development and Cooperation Association”, a Japanese organization helping regional development.
Kitamaebune refers to a historical shipping route and network from the Edo to Meiji periods (17th–19th centuries) in Japan. Indeed, this organization was inspired from old time merchants who played an important role in developing regional economies and connecting local industries across Japan.
Today, Kitamaebune is seen as a symbol of regional trade, creativity, and collaboration. It inspires modern efforts to connect and revitalize local economies through smart logistics, storytelling, and cultural branding.
Kool Kage worked with multiple Japanese stake holders of Kitamaebune’s association.
We valued communication and strategy, to balance effectiveness with stakeholder’s emotions.
Our role was :
1. Stakeholder alignment across Japanese artisans, local governments, and European creatives.
2. On-site communication strategy, setting the purpose of the exhibit with plans for networking.
3. Contact with key influencers ( such as designers, buyers, and other creative key partners ) for improving knowledge and system.
4. Art direction advisory, ensuring the exhibit concept with ideal outcomes. We gave advices based on our knowledge & experience of marketing, design, and reality of Japanese traditional art crafts trends in Europe.
The aim was becoming an opportunity for international collaboration.
The exhibition drew a professionally relevant and creatively curious audience.
Designers, researchers, media professionals, gallery/retail buyers, diverse profile from the cultural & creative sectors has come to this exhibition.
This event blended traditional craftsmanship with modern presentation, allowing visitors to observe and actively participate.
Our primary responsibility was designing touch points that would transform casual interest into a profound cultural connection. We managed the project, drawing from user interviews and local culture research to ensure our efforts effectively conveyed the exhibition’s impact to marketing events.
We also played a pivotal role in collecting and analyzing insights during the project.
Further than the exhibition itself, we tried to build a common a knowledge data base from the while process of exhibition of Milan.
This was also conducting a hearing visitors through inquiries, but via interviewing professionals for knowing more how is going the current markets in Europe.
These valuable data not only aided our customers in objectively reviewing the exhibition, but also contributed to shaping the process for future endeavors.
