At the 2025 Good Design New Hope Awards, the work of Fushi Sano (1st-year Master's student, Graduate School of Media and Governance) and Mirai Fujimoto (Graduate of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies) from Associate Professor Shinya Fujii's laboratory in the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies won the "Honorable Mention," and other works by SFC students and graduates were selected for the "Honorable Mention." (*All school years are at the time of application)
The Good Design New Hope Award is organized by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion and was established in fiscal 2022 with the aim of supporting the activities of the new generation that will lead the future development of the design field. Applications were open to individuals or groups where all members were enrolled in various vocational schools, universities, or graduate schools in Japan as of April 1, 2025, or who graduated/completed their studies after June 1, 2024.
A total of 668 works were submitted from all over Japan, and 115 works were selected through a rigorous screening process. From SFC students and graduates, one group received the Honorable Mention and four groups were selected for the Honorable Mention.
The final presentation screening by the eight Honorable Mention winners will be held on December 20, 2025, and the Grand Prize will be decided.
【Good Design New Hope Award: Honorable Mention】
Celestial Sound Observation Party
Fushi Sano (1st-year Master's student, Graduate School of Media and Governance)
Mirai Fujimoto (Graduate, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies)
Comment from Fushi Sano
The "Celestial Sound Observation Party," which observes stars through sound, is a project that converts stellar data into sound, allowing people to look up at the night sky through their sense of hearing.
I have loved looking up at the starry sky since I was a child. When I moved to Tokyo, the night sky I looked up at was bright, and the stars were not visible. "Is it possible to establish a new relationship with the starry sky that has become invisible due to urban brightness and environmental issues?" With that single-minded thought, I have expanded the "mechanism" from system development to urban events and school classes.
In this project, we place importance on "sonification" and "listening design," exploring new connection points between the city, nature, and the universe. In today's world, which tends to be visually biased, I am deeply honored that our efforts to focus on the "invisible world" through hearing have been recognized. I would like to express my deep gratitude to everyone involved who supported us.
With this device, your usual place turns into a planetarium. If you are interested in implementation or collaboration after reading this news, please search for "Celestial Sound Observation Party" and contact us. We are also sharing our activities on social media. We will continue to practice overlapping new landscapes onto the urban night sky.
【Good Design New Hope Award: Honorable Mention】
Sota Kitano (2nd-year, Faculty of Policy Management)
So Imai (Department of Global Japanese Studies, School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University)
Nao Sugimoto (Department of Visual Communication Design, College of Art and Design, Musashino Art University)
Koki Shimizu (Department of Global Japanese Studies, School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University)
Daiki Sawada (4th-year, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies)
Hinako Makita (4th-year, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies)
Nanako Ohini (3rd-year, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies)
Hiro Hirano (3rd-year, Faculty of Policy Management)
KOTOBUKI CARE Program: Turning "Japanese Nursing Care" Challenging Hyper-Aging into Value
Tomoki Kaneko (Completed Ph.D. program, Graduate School of Media and Governance)
Source: Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) Office, General Affairs