Core77

Joe Gebbia's hangin' 2 the max in Tokyo for this week's design festivities and will be updating us throughout with the latest 411. He kicked it all off yesterday with plenty of excitement and anticipation (and bit of post party hangover).

It's bigger than last year, but it doesn't take long to see this is not ICFF or Milan. 100% Design Tokyo is distinctively more intimate, spotlighting individual designers over large companies, prototypes over manufactured goods, up-and-coming over established. The energy is young, confident, and earnest; a pool of international talent looking for their big break.

After each 12 hour-or-so day in the tents, an evening of parties and networking events awaits to connect conference goers with each other as well as the locals. DesignTide rocked out Tuesday night with a well attended jam sesh to tie in with their exhibit and gift mart. A host of other events are taking place throughout the week, most notably Pecha Kucha. Last night, the widely popular design extravaganza hosted this month's Tokyo session in a freakin' baseball stadium, lifting the presenters to near rock star status.

more coverage in the works...