OCICA, a new brand of jewelry made in a stricken area after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. We consider it a good model for our project, which attempts to create local standards through the collaboration among dialogue, survey and design. (photo: NOSIGNER)

This project will investigate the possibility of pluralistic society by discovering and shaping local standards, i.e. specific local values, which have far-reaching generality. For this purpose, we utilize the method of philosophical dialogue, where people can recognize the differences among themselves while having empathy for each other. We hope to rebuild local communities by creating local standards and to link our practice with the reconstruction of Watsuji Tetsuro’s theory of Fudo.