Riki Watanabe (1911 – 2013) After graduating from Tokyo Higher School of Art and Design in wood crafts, Watanabe worked with Bruno Taut, a German architect who had fled to Japan to escape the Nazis. Although he was well versed in the modernist ideals of the Bauhaus, Watanabe wanted to translate them into the Japanese culture. In 1949 he started his own design studio. Watanabe was involved in the formation of many of Japan's important design organizations, including the Japan Industrial Designers Association (1952) and the International Design Committee (1953). Masaru Katsumie, Isamu Kenmochi, Yusaku Kamekura, and Sori Yanagi were fellow founding members of the International Design Committee, which became the Good Design Committee (1959) and later the Japan Design Committee (1963). Rope chair, 1952 - "A low-cost item of furniture that struck a balance between Japanese traditions (low-level seating and natural ...