Kokuyo Design Award 2025 | ¥2,000,000 prize

We are excited to announce that the Kokuyo Design Award 2025 is now open for applications! This prestigious international product design competition seeks to collaborate with innovative designers and empower their creative endeavors. Under the theme of “prototype,” the Kokuyo Design Award 2025 invites talented designers to submit their visionary ideas and bring their concepts to life.

In product design, the word “prototype” is generally used to mean a pre-finished product or a sample before completion, but for this project, they saw it as “an original idea that has the potential to lead to the next step.” A well-thought-out prototype will inspire others and serve as a catalyst for the future. The Kokuyo Design Award 2025 is looking for product designs that will be the starting point for the future.

Since its establishment, excellent product designs have been selected from entries that represent current social conditions, and award-winning works have been turned into commercial products through co-creation between KOKUYO developers and the award winners. By delivering designs to the world that breathe new life into the tools we regularly use in our daily lives and at work as reliable products, KOKUYO aims to support the future activities of designers and at the same time, bring you a tomorrow you can’t wait for.

More than 24 years have passed since the founding of the award, and more than 20 products have been created to date. It is continuing to evolve as a project that conveys value reflecting the times, and not simply as something to be selected and awarded.

Reward

• Grand Prix (one winner): ¥2,000,000 (about $12,800)
• Merit Award (three winners): ¥500,000 (about $3,200) per winner
• NEW GENERATION AWARD (max ten winners): ¥30,000 (about $200) per winner*

Eligibility

• Corporations, organizations, individuals, and groups are all welcome, regardless of age, sex, professional background, or nationality.
• Only designs that have never before been shown publicly (in Japan or other countries) are eligible for entry.
• Eligible entries include any stationery, furniture or tool used in working, learning and living scenes.

How to Apply

Submit using the apply button below. Registrations/Design submissions will be accepted beginning July 26 to 12:00 (noon) JST on October 9.