His work, titled Nukegara -- A Cast Off Skin, is a conceptual electric power code, which promotes conservation of energy by plugging off a cable when not in use. A white cable is a real socket, connected to an apparatus. The colorless one --referred as an exuvia-- is to be plugged in when the apparatus is not in use. The exuvia protects dusts coming into the socket graphically and physically.

This product itself may be perceived as a funny "this is cool lol" gadget. But what differentiates Nukegara from a simple gadget is its concept and philosophy behind its creation -- "There is a story." Yoh, says.

"The very first thing I did for the competition was to think about the significance and meaning of MUJI AWARD. The competition was not expecting us to create an extension of the current product line up. (If they want that, they can simple use a number of MUJI in-house designers.) My conclusion was to design and idealize our not-too-distant future through our proposals. As many people are aware, a brand, MUJI, is successful because the consumers support each product's background behind its creation. In that sense, my proposal for the competition must retain some sort of philosophy or concept, which is attached to our day-to-day life."

Yoh chose a word, "affluence" as a philosophy behind his creation. (Because all of MUJI products are somewhat created to provide affluence in our lives.) With this foundation, he finally focused onto design, and the word, "sumi, or angle".

"In these days, an environmental issue has been gaining a strong attention from the world. I thought that solving such issue results affluence in our lives. Plus, the process of creating affluence becomes more motivating and exciting when some sort of humor is involved. With these basis and the concept of sumi, I decided to create a new conceptual electric plug that enlightens and promotes an act of conservation of energy -- that's how Nukegawa was born."

Regardless to say, an outlet is frequently located on the corner --sumi-- of the room, and an idea of having a "fake plug" is treated a source of humor. (Imagine the situation when some sees this exuvia plug attached.)

Through this project, Yoh has not only come up with a product for affluence -- he has pushed the envelope of MUJI's design philosophy.

Similar approach was employed for Machida Sogo High School project. In the beginning, Yoh was asked to design a brochure for the school.

"The object of creating a brochure was, regardless to say, to publicize the school. " Yoh recalls.

Yoh had a meeting with the headmaster to gain the better understanding of the school. After an hour of conversation, Yoh came to realize that a simple brochure design won't allow the school to effectively publicize the school. Instead, the total design of the school --logo, uniform, typeface--- is more adequate to achieve the primary goal.

On the next meeting, Yoh brought a whole package of school branding scheme, which include its log, typeface, and even uniform. The headmaster was impressed with the proposal, and assigned him as the creative director of the school's brand images.

This is the logo Yoh came up. Quite unusual one for a public school.


"This square shape is somewhat incomplete -- this is a portlayal of a student when entered at Machiso. The educational policy of Machiso is to build a foundation for students to be the ones they want to be in the future. The incomplete square is to be shaped to the perfect square through 3 years of education.


From the end of 2011, Yoh is planning to relocate himself to Shanghai, exercising his total design practice in China. How does his design practice converge with the local influences -- it'll surely be an edgy and distinctive, just like his past outputs.