Our Student Cultural Exchange Program
By participating in the program, a Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto (TASK) student has the unique opportunity to stay with a local family, visit private residences, and immerse themselves in everyday lifestyles. They tour businesses, corporations, parks, museums, and galleries to understand how art and crafts are valued and displayed. The students also make a presentation and demonstration to a large audience at an event, receiving direct feedback from local residents. Additionally, they gain insights into Seattle's historic and cultural connections to Japan and other Asian countries and cultures.
Alumni
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Akiko Takeda
WOODWORKING
Class of 2026
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Wakaba Koide
MAKI-E
JAPANESE LACQUER DESIGNClass of 2026
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Rena Yamamoto
CERAMIC
Class of 2024
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Sakura Nakane
WOODWORKING
Class of 2025
The Mission
The goal of TASK is to preserve Japanese traditional arts and crafts by passing them onto the youth in a modern university setting. As these arts face the threat of extinction, an expanded market is crucial to keeping them alive. The Five Senses Foundation (FSF) exchange program aims to help students understand lifestyles outside of Japan, enabling them to create works that resonate with modern sensibilities.
Understanding cultural differences necessitates in-country experiences and cross-cultural interactions. Through the Five Senses Foundation program, TASK students immerse themselves in the American lifestyle, staying with a local family, demonstrating their crafts, and receiving valuable feedback.
Three Organizations with a Shared Mission
In 2019, while traveling in her native Japan, Five Senses Foundation founder and longtime Seattle resident Akemi Sagawa visited the Gallery of Kyoto Traditional Arts and Crafts. She was impressed by the high quality of works displayed at the gallery and learned they were created by students of the Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto (TASK). Inspired, Akemi visited the TASK campus on the outskirts of Kyoto and proposed hosting TASK students in Seattle through a Five Senses Foundation (FSF) exchange program.
TASK already had exchange programs with organizations in France and Italy and desired access to the US. Thus, TASK and FSF together launched the Seattle TASK student exchange program. The links between TASK, Kyotojinkai, and FSF are through Akemi Sagawa, a member of Kyotojinkai and the founder of FSF.
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Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto (TASK) is a unique institution created to foster the continued practice of traditional Japanese arts and crafts by passing them on to younger generations. TASK was founded in 1995 in response to requests from the Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry. Training takes place mainly under the guidance of experienced master craftspeople, some of whom are Living National Treasures. Classes are offered in ten traditional arts and crafts: Japanese Lacquer Work, Maki-e (Japanese lacquer design), Ceramics, Wood Carving, Buddhist Sculpture, Woodworking, Metalwork, Bamboo, Yuzen (hand-painted kimono decoration), and Washi (Japanese handmade paper art).
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Kyotojinkai or Kyoto Club of Washinton State, is made up of natives of Japan’s Kyoto Prefecture, or people who used to live there. The group is led by its chair, Mr. Shiro Kashiba, owner of Sushi Kashiba and the pioneer of authentic sushi in the US. As a member of Kyotojinkai, Five Senses Foundation founder Akemi Sagawa asked and received financial support for the FSF student exchange program from Kyotojinkai. Kyotojinkai members also serve on the selection committee for the FSF student exchange program.
Also contributing to the FSF student exchange program is the Japan-America Society of the State of Washington, with a generous grant to help fund student exchange expenses, including travel.
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Based in Seattle, Five Senses Foundation (FSF) supports, preserves, celebrates and promotes understanding of traditional Japanese arts in the US. The goal is to promote the use of traditional Japanese methods in the production of wares that are designed to appeal to modern, western lifestyles. Also, by enlightening Americans about traditional Japanese arts, FSF strives to enhance cross-cultural understanding and fuel Americans’ interest in living more harmoniously with nature and leading more sustainable, mindful lifestyles.
Selection Criteria
TASK provides students with a guide for the Five Senses Foundation (FSF) student exchange program. Interested students must submit a portfolio of their work and a short essay detailing their interest in the program and their goals for their time in Seattle. TASK also provides FSF with information on the students’ majors, GPAs, and class attendance records.
Five Senses Foundation and selected Kyotojinkai members review the submissions and select two students. The ideal candidate demonstrates a high level of skill in their major, is eager to promote their craft beyond Japan, and is willing to learn what it takes to achieve that goal in the US.
“It’s been a little over a year since I spent a week in Seattle. Now I have strong wish to make Japan’s traditional arts and crafts known to the world.
I was amazed that so many people in the US include Japan’s traditional arts and crafts in their interior design and also collect many items. I also learned that it is not easy to obtain such items there, and they are traded quite cheaply. These facts have led me to change my thoughts, that it’s not enough merely to make such items. It’s important to communicate the creator’s message to the world. In the past year I started sending our message proactively, and through such actions I have encountered many people in Kyoto who are devoted to promoting Japan’s traditional arts and crafts in various ways.
Many people in Japan still hold an image that its traditional arts and culture is outdated, but I disagree. I believe it has a huge potential for future growth. What I have learned and experienced in Seattle reminds me that there are a lot more things I can and should do as a member of such artisans and those who should take the initiative to spread the words in the world.”
- SAKURA NAKANE
