1964-1974
| 1964 | Graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Majored in Industrial Design) |
| 1966 | Graduated from Master course of the same university Professional practice at Angello Mangiarotti Architect Office, Milan |
| 1967 | Monza Furniture Competition [ CONCORSO-MIA ] Bronze Award |
| 1968 | Participated in the 14th ( Milan Triennale / Milan ) Genoa Furniture Exhibition [ FIORENZA ] Gold Award (Genova, Italy ) Exhibition “Euro Domus Exhibition” [FIORENZA] ( Torino, Italy) |
| 1969 | Exhibition “WHITE CHAPEL GALLERY'S EXHIBITION Modern Chairs 1918-1970” (London, England) Visiting Professor at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (〜1974) |
| 1970 | Exhibition “Good Design Exhibition -Global Eye-” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo) |
| 1971 | Exhibition “Good Design Exhibition - My Seat” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo) Kawakami Design Room established in Jingumae |
| 1972 | Tokyo International Lighting Design Competition, Silver Award |
| 1973 | Exhibition “Design forum '73” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) |
| 1974 | EExhibition “Seibu Abitare” ( SEIBU IKEBUKURO / Tokyo ) |
1975-1979
| 1975 | Established Kawakami Design Room Ltd. |
| 1976 | Japan Interior Designers' Association Award. |
| 1977 | The Open International Chair Design Competition, 1st Prize ( American Insititute of Architects / U.S.A. ) Solo exhibition “Designers and Companies Series 3 Motomi Kawakami + ALFREX HOUTOKU” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Exhibition “ONE DAY ONE SHOW” ( Tokyo Designers Space / Tokyo ) |
| 1978 | Exhibition “The Form of a Chair - Form Design to Art” ( The National Muesum of Art / Osaka ) Participated in the Japan Design Committee |
| 1979 | Exhibition “ONE WEEK ONE SHOW - Chairs and Tables” ( Tokyo Designers Space / Tokyo ) Exhibition and panel participation “International Design Conference Aspen -Japan and Japanese ; A Synthesis of Contradictions” ( Aspen, U.S.A. ) Exhibition “Seibu Abitare Exhibition -One-room apartment-” ( SEIBU Ikebukuro / Tokyo ) |
1980-1984
| 1980 | Exhibition “Lighting Exhibition” ( MIKIMOTO Hall / Tokyo ) Exhibition “Labyrinth of Creation Exhibition” ( Seibu Museum / Tokyo ) |
| 1981 | iF DESIGN AWARD ( Germany ) commissioned by the Japan Indutrial “Design Promotion Organization” ( SHINJUKU NS HALL / Tokyo ) Exhibition “Metal sculpture exhibition by 28 designers” ( MIKIMOTO HALL / Tokyo ) Exhibition “Glass fixtures and spaces” ( AGC Glass Plaza / Tokyo ) |
| 1982 | Exhibition “Joint Exhibition in five Galleries -Furniture-” ( Gallery LUFT / Tokyo ) BUSHY showroom ( AXIS / Tokyo ) SKIPPER SHOW ROOM ( Milano, Italy ) arflex SHOW ROOM ( Milano, Italy ) Design 19 ( 松屋銀座 / 東京 ) Exhibition "On The Table" ( MIKIMOTO gallery / Tokyo ) iF DESIGN AWARD ( Germany ) |
| 1983 | Exhibition “Designers and Corporate Clients Series 31: Motomi Kawakami + BUSHY, Lacquered Furniture” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Exhibition “Jewelry exhibition” ( MIKIMOTO gallery / Tokyo ) |
| 1984 | Annual Japan Interior Design Excellence Awards Exhibition organization and installation “Design in Japan -Tradition and the Present” ( Moscow, Soviet Union ) Panel perticipation at Internarional Design Camp at Matsumoto '84 |
1985-1989
| 1985 | Solo exhibition and designed the showroom “New Furniture” ( Showroom of CONDE HOUSE / Tokyo ) Japan Package Design Award [NEWS / Kirin-Seagram ] Grand Prize Solo exhibition “Yamaha New Furniture Exhibition” ( Tokyo Designers Space / Tokyo ) |
| 1986 | Exhibition “Yamaha Crafts Exhibition” ( KATSURAGI Hotel Kitanomaru / Shizuoka ) |
| 1987 | Japan Package Design [ BLENDY / Ajinomoto General Foods Inc. ] Award for Super Excellence Solo exhibition “Hybrid - Light and Shade -” ( Gallery MA / Tokyo ) Exhibition coordination and installation “Contemporary Scandinavian Craft D57s” ( Yurakucho Seibu Art Forum / Tokyo ) ( The National Museum of Modern Art / Kyoto ) Exhibition “Tokyo University of the Arts 100th Anniversary -Design and Architecture-” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) |
| 1988 | Solo exhibition “Hybrid - Light and Shade -” ( Gallery MA / Tokyo ) Symposium and lecture “DESIGNERS WEEK-END” ( Brussels, Belgium ) Exhibition “KAGU -Tokyo Designers Week '88 -Desire Exhibition-” ( Tokyo ) Lecture at Sapporo International Design Messe '88 Publication “GACHI -Motomi Kawakami's Furniture-” |
| 1989 | Exhibition “Japan Design Committee Members' New Works Exhibition” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Exhibition “KAGU -Tokyo Designers Week '98 in Osaka” ( Osaka ) |
1990-1994
| 1990 | Exhibition “KAGU -Tokyo Designers Week '98 in Osaka” ( Osaka ) Exhibition “KAGU -Tokyo Designers Week in Makuhari” ( Makuhari / Chiba ) Exhibition “MONDO Materials” ( Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum / N.Y. , U.S.A ) Exhibition “LAST DECADE 1990 -Design Sampling” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Moved the office to Oyamacho, Shibuya The first Asahikawa Furniture Competition begins |
| 1991 | Solo exhibition “Industrial Symphony” ( Quest Hall / Tokyo ) Participation “Tokyo Product Design '91” ( Seibu Shibuya Store B Forum / Tokyo ) Mainichi Design Prize |
| 1992 | Kitaro Kunii Industrial Design Award "SABIE -Zen" (Quest Hall, Tokyo ) Lecture at DESIGN TODAY SYMPOSIUM '92 ( Tobu Hall / Tokyo ) Exhibition “TOKYO DESIGN MARATHON -Small Chairs-” ( Tokyo Designers Space / Tokyo ) |
| 1993 | Construction of Haneda Airport hangar telescope-type giant maintenance crane ( Haneda Airport / Tokyo ) "SABIE -SO" (Quest Hall, Tokyo ) |
| 1994 | Lecture at SHISEIDO Design Forum ( Kuroki Juku ) Exhibition “Chairs of the 20th century -Design in everyday life-” ( Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design / Toyama ) Exhibition “Shizuoka Production Area Promotion Dynamics Project Announcement -NEO MIND GEAR mirror project-” ( AXIS Gallery / Tokyo ) Exhibition “JAPANESE DESIGN -A SURVEY SINCE 1950-” ( Philadelphia Museum of Art / U.S.A. ) |
1995-1999
| 1995 | Japan Society of Civil Engineers [ Tsurumi Tsubasa Bridge ] Tanaka Prize Exhibition “made in Japan 1950-1994 -Japanese design flourished around the world-” ( Suntory Museum / Osaka ) Exhibition “SEIKO AGS watch design” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Exhibition “Today's Japan-Design Sampling '95” ( HARBOURFRONT CENTRE / Toronto, Cacada ) |
| 1996 | Yokohama Civic Design Award Competition juror and lecture “WOOD OF FINLAND -INNOVATIVE INDUSTRIAL WOODEN PRODUCTS” ( Finland ) Exhibition and commissioner “Designer x Local Industry -From local to global-” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Selection committee member for Mainichi Design Prize (1996〜2000) |
| 1997 | Symposium and Lecture “DESIGN TODAY -New Sense of Beauty-” ( Tobu Hall / Tokyo ) Lecture “Japan Cultural Design Conference '97” ( Iwate ) Ministry of Trade and Industry “Good Design Award” Head of General Jury |
| 1998 | Good Design Award [ PLASMA TELEVISION PX-42 / NEC ] Gold Prize Wood Chairs in Living Exhibition Prize for Excellence Exhibition “JAPAN DESIGN 2000” ( The Art Institute of Chicago / U.S.A. ) |
| 1999 | iF DESIGN AWARD ( Germany ) Jury of the Osaka International Design Competition Supervision “New Perspectives on Industrial Design” ( The Museum of Modern Art / Toyama ) |
2000-2004
| 2000 | Exhibition “Masterpiece Chair of the 20th Century - 200 Chairs by 200 Designers” ( Kobe Fashion Museum / Hyogo ) Solo exhibition “Material Message” ( OZONE Gallery / Tokyo ) |
| 2001 | Exhibition “Design Spirit of Japan” ( The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music / Tokyo ) Publication “MOTOMI KAWAKAMI Design with Precision and Flexibility" Exhibitoin “decora design 2001” ( Tokyo Design Center / Tokyo ) |
| 2002 | Publication “MOTOMI KAWAKAMI -Design with Precision and Flexibility” ( amus arts press ) Solo exhibition “MOTOMI KAWAKAMI -Design with Precision and Flexibility” ( bookseller amus / Osaka ) |
| 2003 | Exhibition “Propose PD” ( Living Design Center OZONE / Tokyo ) Exhibition “Portable lighting” ( Living Design Center OZONE / Tokyo ) 600th Anniversary Exhibion “Design Concepts and Practice” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) |
| 2004 | Exhibition “CONSTRUCTION TOY played by 8 creators-” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Exhibition and lecture ”MOTOMI KAWAKAMI -Design that connects people and technology-” ( KITCHEN HOUSE / Tokyo ) |
2005-2009
| 2005 | Exhibition “Pioneers in the globalization of design” ( Musashino Art University Museum & Library / Tokyo ) Exhibition “ARITA-HOUEN” ( Spiral Hall / Tokyo ) Exhibition “ARITA-HOUEN -A new venture between designers and local industries-” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) |
| 2006 | Solo exhibition "Work of MOTOMI KAWAKAMI -World of Motomi Kawakami" ( INTIME NAGOYA GALLARY / Aichi ) Solo exhibition “MOTOMI KAWAKAMI Design with Precision and Flexbility” ( Paramount Bed Showroom, Aichi ) Exhibition “Japanese Cool 1 - Timeless & Contemporary -” ( Danish Design Center / Copenhagen, Denmark ) Exhibition “Japanese Cool 2 - Designers Chair & interior -” ( Bella Center / Copenhagen, Denmark ) Exhibition “DESIGN WITH RESPECT -A design exhibition that I truly respect-” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Good Design Award [ glass pot to savor the fragrant cold-water infused Kaga Stick Green Tea ] The Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Award |
| 2007 | "JAPAN STYLE 2007 -design meets craft" ( Maison & Obujet 2007 / Paris, France ) Exhibition “TOKYO DESIGN PREMIO” ( Super Studio Piú / Milano, Italy ) Exhibition “DESIGN TOUCH” ( TOKYO MIDTOWN HALL / Tokyo ) |
| 2008 | Exhibition “6 Designers make the - Furniture to use it for myself -” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Lecture “International Furniture Design Seminar 2008” Sponsoring of The Japan Foundation ( Hongik University, Seoul・Dong-A University / Pusan ) Exhibition “Foodesign Japan by Guzzini” ( Triennale di Milano / Milano, Italy ) Exhibition “GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2008” ( Chicago Arthenaeum / U.S.A. ) Exhibition “KANSEI - Japan Design Exhibition“ ( Musée des Arts Décoratifs / Paris, France ) Good Design Award [ MOKA / Kawashima Industries Ltd. ] The Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Award |
| 2009 | Exhibition “JAPAN DESIGN SELECTION 2009” ( Triennale di Milan, MilanTriennale di Milano / Milano, Italy ) Good Design Award [ arflex NT ] Long Life Design Award Tokyo Designers Week Award 2009, 100% Professional Award Exhibition “Six Designers with boisette” ( gallery le bain / Tokyo ) "DESIGN TOUCH" ( TOKYO MIDTOWN HALL / Tokyo ) Exhibition “101st Anniversary Works in Progress for Mihoya Glass” ( AXIS Gallery / Tokyo ) |
2010-2014
| 2010 | Exhibition “Hida Shunkei, a Set of Bowls - Lacquer Ware for Daily Use-” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Exhibition “Art & Design books I came across” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Good Design Award [ INTER LACE Meeting type / OKAMURA ] Long Life Design Prize Journal of the Science of Design [ Pulse / UCHIDA ] Excellent Design Award 2010 Exhibition “GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2010” ( Chicago Arthenaeum / U.S.A. ) |
| 2011 | Exhibition “MOTOMI KAWAKAMI CHRONICLE 1966- 2011” ( Living Design Center OZONE / Tokyo ) Exhibition “Tokyo Chair City 2011” ( Marunouchi Building / Tokyo ) |
| 2012 | Japanese Architects and Designers from Studio Mangiarotti - Tavola Rotonda - ( Aura Rogers del POLITECNICO DI MILANO / Milano, Italy ) ANGELO MANGIAROTTI La Fiolosofia del Maertro opere dell' Architetto Angelo Mangiatorri ell suo rapporto con gli allievi giapponesi ( Istitute Italiano di cultura di Tokyo / Tokyo ) Design in Wood Symposium 2012 + “Potential of the woods seeking from architectural” ( WAKITA MUSEUM OF ART / Nagano ) "Chairs as design, chairs as art" ( Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design / Toyama ) Exhibition “Life in the Future”, Supervised by JIDA ( OZONE / Tokyo ) Good Design Award [ SEOTO ] BEST 100 |
| 2013 | Exhibition “VISTOSI -A 500-Year Old Glass Company Meets Japanese Design” ( AXIS Gallery Symposia / Tokyo ) Exhibition “sozo_comm” ( Fiera Milano / Rho, Italy ) TOKYO DESIGNER WEEK in Milan ( Tortona / Italy ) “Lacquer industry in Iwate - Joboji Lacquer” Planning supervision ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Appointed Chairman of the Japan Institute of Design Promotion |
| 2014 | Japan Creative "ambiente 2014" ( Messe Frankfurt Exhibition G mbh / Frankfurt, Germany ) TOKYO DESIGNERS WEEK in Milano, exhibited [ O-Bath ] ( Padiglione Visconti / Tortona, Milano, Italy ) Exhibition “sozo_comm” [ KISARAGI ] ( Fiera Milano / Rho, Italy ) sozo_comm 「HIDA COLLECTION 2014」 出展 ( Fiera Milano / Rho, Italy ) MANILA FAME, Lecture ( Manila, Republic of the Philippines ) His work is collected by the Tokyo University of the Arts Museum. Beijing design week, Lecture ( Beijing ) Good Design Award [ KISARAGI ] Gold Prize Symposium “Japan Creative Talk session '14” ( Shibuya Seibu / Tokyo ) |
2015-2019
| 2015 | 712th Design Gallery 1953 Exhibition : Kanazawa Design Successful Businesses and Their Legacies, Supervision ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) sozo_comm 「HIDA COLLECTION」 出展 ( Fiera Milano / Rho, Italy ) DESIGNERS WEEK in Milano ( Padiglione Visconti / Tortona, Milano, Italy ) Possibility of Japanese cypress and bath exhibition “ta yu tau” ( le bain / Tokyo ) Symposium “This is your chair.” ( SAPPORO ART PARK / Hokkaido ) JAPAN CREATIVE in SFF 2015 ( Stockholm / Sweden ) |
| 2016 | WOOD FURNITURE JAPAN AWARD 2016 [ O-Bath mugen / infinity ] Forestry Commissioner's Award and Overseas Audience Award ( Paris, France ) WOOD FURNITURE JAPAN AWARD 2016, [ KISARAGI ] Grand Prix ( Spiral Hall / Tokyo ) Japan Creative "NY NOW」 ( New York City / U.S.A. ) Design for Asia Awards 2016, Bronze Award ( Hong Kong ) iF DESIGN AWARD ( Germany ) Exhibition “sozo_comm in Milano Salone 2016, HIDA COLLECTION2016” ( Milano, Italy ) IFFT interior lifestyle living, exhibition “Perch Project”, Lecture ( Tokyo Big Sight / Tokyo ) Exhibition “THE FUTURE OF JAPANESE TRADITION”, Lecture ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) |
| 2017 | Honorary Visiting Professor, Kanazawa College of Art Exhibition “sozo_comm” ( Fiera Milano / Rho, Italy ) Exhibition “Japan Creative Millano 2017” [ O-bath ] ( La Triennale di Milano, Parazzo di Arte / Milano, Italy ) Japan Creative “Milan Design Week” ( Palazzo Litta / Milano, Italy ) Exhibition “Tradition and Design Create the Future: Tools for Everyday Life Created with Materials, Skills, and Design” ( Kumamoto Prefectural Traditional Crafts Museum / Kumamoto ) Exhibition “Higo inlaid”, Supervision ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) NT Release 40th Anniversary Exhibition ( Arflex Tokyo / Tokyo ) |
| 2018 | German Design Award 2018 [ KISASRAFI / HIDA SANGYO ] Winner ( German Design Counsil / Germany ) JAPAN DESIGNER WEEK in Milan, Exhibit [ Cradle ] ( Tortona, Milano, Italy ) UNIVERSAL DESIGN CONSUMER 2018 ( Germany ) Good Design Award 2018 [ Cradle ] (The Chicago Arthenaeum / Chicago / U.S.A.) Good Design Award [ STICK ] BEST 100 “Glass exhibition designed by 10 people” Sugahara craft glass x Japan design committee ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) |
| 2019 | iF DESIGN AWARD 2019 [Cradle] ( Germany ) JAPAN DESIGNER WEEK in Milan, Exhibit [ STICK ] ( Tortona, Milano, Italy ) 757th Design Gallery 1953 Exhibition - Thank you for being born “This is your chair” Supervision ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) Angelo Mangiarotti - Reality of construction ( Italian Cultural Center / Tokyo ) 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT special exhibition, “Secret source of inspiration designers” hidden sketches and mockups ( 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT / Tokyo ) |
2020-
| 2020 | CHICAGO GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2020 [ Cazetora-chair ] ( The Chicago Athenaeum / Chicago, U.S.A. ) German Design Award 2020 [ Cradle ] Winner ( German Design Counsil / Germany ) Exhibision “Tea Ceremony and Designers” ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) |
| 2021 | Good Design Award 2021 [ Cazetora-chair ] (The Chicago Athenaeum / Chicago, USA) reddot 2021 [ Cazetora-chair ] Winner ( Germany ) Japan Creative Exhibition ( Seibu Shibuya Store Building A / Tokyo ) 782th Design Gallery 1953 Exhibition “My favorite design” ( Matsuya Ginza / Tokyo ) IFFT+TALENTS exhibition “wooden chairs” ( Tokyo Big Sight / Tokyo ) |
| 2022 | Prize Designs for Modern Furniture + Lighting 2022 (The Chicago Athenaeum / Chicago, U.S.A. ) The exhibition “Chairs for All : Musashino Art University and Design” ( Musashino Art University Museum & Library / Tokyo ) Ishikawa Prefectural Lobrary Opens ( Kanazawa, Ishikawa ) "Design by Motomi Kawakami" lecture (Real Style / Kanazawa, Ishikawa ) |
| 2023 | "My Favorite Design 2023" ( Matsuya ginza design gallery / Tokyo ) "Art in Love with Design, Design Envious of Art" (Nakanoshima Museum of Art / Osaka ) Documentary film on Angelo Mangiarotti “Alfabeto Mangiarotti” ( Italian Curtural Center / Tokyo ) AACA (Japan Association Of Artists Craftman & Architects) Award [ Ishikawa Prefectural Library ] Publication “Explore, encounter, experience : discovering the world of Ishikawa Prefectural Library” ( Kenchiku Gahou Inc. ) |
| 2024 | Documentary film on Angelo Mangiarotti “Alfabeto Mangiarotti” ( Waseda University Okuma Auditorium / Tokyo ) “20th Century Design Exhibition - Through Chairs” Exhibit [ FIORENZA ] ( Nihonbashi Takashimaya Shopping Center・Osaka Takashimaya・JR Nagoya Takashimaya ) ORIGIN of SIMPLICITY - 20 Visions of Japanese Design - Exhibit STEPSTEP・TITAN tea ceremony spoon ( ADI Design Museum Compassod'Oro / Milano, Italy ) Special Exhibition “Yokohama Bay Bridge and Tsurumi Tsubasa Bridge - Long bridges that support the port-” 30th anniversary of Tsurumi Tsubasa Bridge Opening ( Special exhibition room at Yokohama Port Museum / Kanagawa ) Timeless Masterpieces - Motomi Kawakami- formax NEW COLLECTION 2025 ( estic formax OMOTESANDO / Tokyo ) |
| 2025 | TOKYO CREATION SALON, Lecture ( International Design Liaison Center / Tokyo ) The 10th Special Exhibition Architecture forum 1 “The New Creative Point for Knowledge and the Arts”, Lecture ( Yoshiro and Yoshio Taniguchi Museum of Artchitecture / Ishikawa ) "Designs for Forestm Trees and Tokyo" Lecture ( 3x3 Lab Future / Tokyo ) |