HARA DESIGN INSTITUTE

We are assisting Hitoyoshi Kuma in southern Kumamoto Prefecture to develop its communications tools. The district was ruled by consistently by the same family, the Sagara clan, for an unbroken period of about 700 years from the Kamakura period to the Meiji Restoration. As a result, many cultural assets were passed down and still survive, remaining part of the context for residents' daily lives. 'Japan Heritage' alongside the name of the district refers to intangible cultural assets recognized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as being part of stories on Japanese cultures and tradition. Hitoyoshi Kuma was the first story to be recognized by the agency, back in 2015.