SHIBAURA HOUSE organized a Taiwan-Japan cultural exchange exhibition called ’Urban Cultural Clinic’, held successfully in Taipei. It marks SHIBAURA HOUSE established 'Onshitsu' in Taiwan as first year's anniversary. We summarized all the activities conducted over the past year into this exhibition, using surveys, card games, and various data and articles to engage in discussions on diverse rural-urban issues and solutions.

■ Event Highlights

・The content of exhibition is based on all of activities SHIBAURA HOUSE organized in Taiwan and conducted social surveys for it specifically.

・The exhibition layout includes text and hand-drawn illustrations of Taiwan's daily life.

・ Unlike a regular conventional exhibition, we presented talk events in a symbolic 'Clinic' setting.

・Sharing SAKE drinks together after talk events

■ Part I: Exhibition

The exhibition including insights shared by Taiwan participants and social research we conducted specifically for this exhibition over the past year. Topics ranged from children’s homework, and agriculture to design education, among others.The entire exhibition attracted hundreds of people, with over 200 visitors on a single day during the weekend. We were delighted by how attentively the Taiwanese visitors engaged with the details of our exhibition’s content.

■ Part II: Talk Events

Unlike a regular conventional exhibition, we presented the discussion in a symbolic 'Clinic' setting and invited Japanese and Taiwanese guests from different fields to act as "doctors" and "patients"engaging in discussions about common social concerns.Together with the audience, we shared the challenges faced in our respective fields and worked together to find a practical solutions to social issues.

■ Story behind the exhibition

The Taipei City Government issued a notice about a rare Typhoon causing schools and work to be suspended. As a result, leading to a temporary closure of our exhibition.we had invited one of talk event guest Mizuboshi-san, , was unable to attend due to flight cancellations unfortunately. However, His unique game design brought enjoyment to all of visitors at the exhibition.

After the Typhoon passed, visitor's enthusiasm remained undiminished. We received over 60 questionaries responses, with feedback touching on social topics, such as: reuse of old homes, rural-urban resource distribution, personal identity, social detachment and others.

■ 'Onshitsu' in Taipei

To promote cultural exchange between Taiwan and Japan, SHIBAURA HOUSE established 'Onshitsu' in Taipei from 2023 as an imaginative cultural communicative space. This space is an extension of SHIBAURA HOUSE's operational model,with the goal of sharing with Taiwanese friends how we built cultural communities in Tokyo.

■ Future

This "Urban Cultural Clinic" event represents a seed we’ve planted in Taiwan to foster Taiwan-Japan cultural exchange. We will periodically organize various cultural exchange events at'Onshitsu' in Taipei and hope that this seed of cultural communication will allow "Onshitsu" to grow and foster a deeper mutual understanding between the people of Taiwan and Japan.