{"id":303,"date":"2026-08-08T06:06:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/?page_id=303"},"modified":"2026-09-15T04:59:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T04:59:53","slug":"j-s-founder-of-imprint-japan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/?page_id=303","title":{"rendered":"J.S.\u2014 Founder of Imprint Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FounderMontage2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FounderMontage2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FounderMontage2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FounderMontage2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FounderMontage2-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FounderMontage2.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Idea Hiding Inside the Object<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For as long as I can remember, I&#8217;ve been drawn to the same thing wearing different costumes: the \u201cidea\u201d hiding inside the \u201cobject\u201d. Reading <em>A Good Example of Tenacity<\/em> (Maurice Richard) or the Jackie Robinson courage story as a kid are two good early examples. Later, in architecture school, winning a design contest by extracting meaning out of a dictionary of symbols to shape space in an existing airport is another. Around the same time, an inspiring Critique magazine article on Wabi-Sabi struck a feeling in me that never left: imperfection can be beauty. My unconscious mind held on to this idea that<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-border-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-color:#8c2a2a;background-color:#8c2a2a12\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left is-style-default has-x-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>the missing piece can make something more true, not less.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thirteen years after, that same instinct followed me to Kyoto Seika University grad school: a Master&#8217;s in Graphic Design, where I gave Japanese kanji etymology \u2014 filtered mainly through the world of Wabi-Sabi \u2014 contemporary form. Following this, I did a PhD in art &amp; semiotics, researching how 20th-century French poet Henri Michaux found meaning through Asian brushwork \u2014 another dot in the idea-inside-the-object route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Find the meaning first, then build the form around it. This pattern led me to publish peer-reviewed research on Japanese manhole cover design, write about the kanji for &#8220;purple&#8221; for <em>Kyoto Journal<\/em>&#8216;s special Kyoto color edition, and, ultimately, to build these workshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-920e359d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-medium-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/?page_id=260\">See Research &amp; Media<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, I read Japanese kanji characters as creative tools or visual philosophy rather than vocabulary. That manhole cover design fascination of mine isn&#8217;t a coincidence. Within each lid is a small hidden layer of local identity, hiding in plain sight under everyone&#8217;s feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-920e359d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--2\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-medium-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/R3eo7aV1R88\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Watch: &#8216;Ma&#8217; Kanji &amp; Manhole Cover on YouTube<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Almost 2 decades in Japan changes you. Although I strongly identify with my French-Canadian identity, I&#8217;m honestly not sure I&#8217;m fully from one place anymore. That in-between feeling is probably the reason why these workshops are built intimate, and slow in nature. They lower a wall one brick at a time &#8211; either an everyday Japanese language snippet or a street lid monster head &#8211; rather than perform \u201cexpat-expertise\u201d at you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I chose Otsu over Kyoto on purpose. It&#8217;s a short train ride away, but it moves at a completely different pace. I&#8217;d rather help this quieter side of the region grow than add to a city that&#8217;s already overflowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Mission Built On &#8220;RGB&#8221;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>&#8220;To make what&#8217;s usually walled off \u2014 Japan&#8217;s symbols hiding in plain sight \u2014 accessible, tactile, and meaningful, away from the crowds.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Three things I run every workshop, every piece of writing, and every decision through for you and me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-1\" style=\"color:#8c2a2a\"><strong>Reduce<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reuse materials, not just recycle them<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Slow down instead of consuming faster<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Choose local Otsu over crowded Kyoto, reducing over-tourism one visit at a time<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-2\" style=\"color:#2f6844\"><strong>Ground<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Understand local culture \u2014 even just one kanji or one local expression<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notice what&#8217;s hiding in everyday Japan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trade the screen for texture \u2014 touch, feel, be present<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-3\" style=\"color:#2f5f8a\"><strong>Be<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ask what actually matters \u2014 to you, or to the place you&#8217;re in<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stay playful, never performative, have agency<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leave with something you can actually use<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-x-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Curious what that looks like in practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons has-custom-font-size has-large-font-size is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-35f06ea7 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--3\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/?page_id=513\" style=\"color:#8c2a2a\">Explore the Kanji Printing Workshop<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons has-custom-font-size has-large-font-size is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-35f06ea7 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--4\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/?page_id=557\" style=\"color:#8c2a2a\">Explore the Manhole Cover Printing Workshop<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Idea Hiding Inside the Object For as long as I can remember, I&#8217;ve been drawn to the same thing wearing different costumes: the \u201cidea\u201d hiding inside the \u201cobject\u201d. Reading A Good Example of Tenacity (Maurice Richard) or the Jackie Robinson courage story as a kid are two good early examples. Later, in architecture school, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-303","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>J.S.\u2014 Founder of Imprint Japan - Imprint Japan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover Imprint Japan&#039;s mission of sharing Japanese kanji as ideas, and manhole cover design through small, mindful workshops.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/?page_id=303\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"J.S.\u2014 Founder of Imprint Japan - Imprint Japan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover Imprint Japan&#039;s mission of sharing Japanese kanji as ideas, and manhole cover design through small, mindful workshops.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/?page_id=303\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Imprint Japan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-15T04:59:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/imprintjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FounderMontage2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/imprintjapan.com\\\/?page_id=303\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/imprintjapan.com\\\/?page_id=303\",\"name\":\"J.S.\u2014 Founder of Imprint Japan - 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