Syllabus

GEIKO Short-term
Studio Program 2026
- 幻界合宿 / Edge Camp

1. Outline

“Design Camp: Weaving Memories of a Port Town”

Dive Deep Into The Memory of The Port Town 

The Edge Camp is a residential regional expression program in which participants spend a short time in the port town of Tsuyazaki. While immersing themselves in the local rhythm of life and daily routines, they use “observation” as a starting point to cultivate their own questions and forms of expression.

Participants interpret the memories layered within the landscape, buildings, people’s daily lives, history, and culture, and explore their relationship with the place by overlaying these observations with their own senses and experiences. They delve into the memories and values—still unarticulated—that lie beneath the familiar landscape, and develop the insights and questions gained there into diverse forms of expression, such as photography, drawing, writing, and audio recordings. Through editing and dialogue, the program aims to present new values and meanings of Tsuyazaki from each participant’s unique perspective.

Spend four days and three nights in Tsuyazaki, immersing yourself in the local pace of life and rhythm of daily existence

Through fieldwork and dialogue with local residents, interpret the memories of the land accumulated in the landscape, buildings, history, culture, and daily lives of the people

Through repeated dialogue and critiques with instructors and local practitioners, participants will deepen their own perspectives and develop their forms of expression

Participants will edit and organize the collected materials to compile the value and meaning of Tsuyazaki they have discovered into a final project

Through exhibitions, talk events, booklets, and zines, participants will share their work with local residents and visitors, presenting new perspectives and interpretations to the community

“幻界 (GENKAI)” refers to the Genkai Sea stretching out before Tsuyazaki, as well as the unknown possibilities that lie beyond the “limits” of people, the region, and oneself. In this port town—a place of boundaries—we aim to delve deeply into the memories of the land, transcend established frameworks, and challenge our own senses and values to generate new questions and forms of expression.

2. 教育目標 / Learning Objectives

Learning Themes

Theme 1: Reading the Memories of Land and Buildings

We view buildings and landscapes not merely as objects, but as places where people’s lives and the passage of time have accumulated.

Question: “What is the ‘invisible value’ that remains in this place?”

Theme 2: Exploring the Relationship Between Place and Self

Rather than observing the community from the outside, we explore our relationship with the place by overlaying our own senses and memories onto it through our stay.

Question: “What is this place revealing to me?”

Theme 3: Reimagining Value Through Expression

Through expression, we not only document existing value but also generate new interpretations and perspectives, and consider ways to pass them on to the future.

Question: “What aspects of this place should we preserve, and what kind of future can we envision?”

Practical Skills to Be Acquired

Observe and document the local natural, cultural, and living environments using multiple senses

Discover and articulate unique “questions” or “themes” based on observations

Apply basic methods of artistic and design thinking to practical situations

Create and present final projects within a short timeframe

Collaborate with participants from diverse backgrounds to produce outcomes that draw on each other’s perspectives

Ongoing Engagement After Completion

Graduates will be awarded the “GEIKO Program Certificate.” They will also be registered in “GEIKO Communitus,” a community open to all program participants, and will be eligible to participate in future AIRs (paid and unpaid), mentoring opportunities, research projects, events, and more.

3. Studio Model & Schedule

We adopt a studio-based approach to education rather than a lecture-based one. Faculty members do not simply impart knowledge in a one-way manner; instead, they participate as collaborative practitioners, mentors, and critics. The Program Director (PD) and Community Manager (CM) provide ongoing support for participants’ activities.

4. Deliverables

Participants will create one or more works during their stay. Themes for the works will be determined both at the time of application and during the program. There are no restrictions on the format of the final works, and the method of sharing them will be decided through individual consultation. What is important is not only the finished product but also the dialogue with the local community and the process of trial and error itself.

This program is designed to coordinate with the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ “Japan Expo” initiative. If participants perform or exhibit as part of that initiative, they will receive performance fees, production support funds, and travel expenses based on the project’s content and budget. Through this two-tiered structure, the program integrates talent development with cultural creation.

5. Organization & Faculty

GEIKO LLC: Responsible for program planning and management, coordinating guest lecturers and local partners, and providing production support; the organization creates practical learning environments that connect the university, the local community, guest speakers, and participants.

Kyushu Sangyo University, Faculty of Arts: In addition to participating as core faculty members, the faculty provides expertise on practical education and evaluates the educational outcomes.

6. Program Details

Content: Observe, Feel, Identify Questions, Express

Deliverables: Mock-up products, graphics, sound, video, etc.

Duration: 3 nights, 4 days

Dates and Number of Sessions:

Session 1: February 11, 2027 (Thu, Holiday) – February 14, 2027 (Sun)

Organizational Structure: 1 Program Director, 1 Community Manager (shared across sessions), 1 Core Faculty Member, 1 Guest Faculty Member (per session)

Target Audience & Capacity: Primarily undergraduate and graduate students; 10 participants per session (minimum of 5 participants required)

Participation Fee (tax included): 50,000 yen (includes lodging and dinner)

Venue: Former Tamanoi Ryokan

Accommodations (Proposed): Accommodations in Tsuyazaki Town (Minshuku Yoshidaya)