MUJI IS Exhibition

Tokunaga has supervised MUJI’s Copywriting Atelier since 2001 and is responsible for the concise phrases that have become a defining element of the brand’s beloved individual product tags over the years. The installation takes visitors on a journey through large-scale versions of the iconic MUJI tags, highlighting the verbiage that has become central to MUJI’s catalog of simplistic products. Some of the brand’s most well-known items will be on display alongside their corresponding product tags, underscoring MUJI’s design ethos which places “selection of materials,” “streamlining of processes,” and the “simplification of packaging” above all else.Tokunaga’s work has shaped the narrative behind countless MUJI products, evolving MUJI’s own language in the process. For twelve years, she wrote for the MUJI Laboratory for Living project, contributing to the brand’s iconic MUJI IS book and the Kurashi Chushin (Living Centric) booklet. It is through her signature phrasings, attached to each MUJI product, that these product tags have become central to the brand’s legacy.

Founded in 1980, MUJI’s origin was a thorough rationalization of the manufacturing process with an eye to creating simple, low-cost, good quality products. Now, with more than 1,000 MUJI stores around the world and over 7,000 items ranging from clothing and household goods to food and even houses, the foundation of the brand’s ideology hasn’t changed since the day it was conceived.

The exhibition kicks off on Thursday, May 16th and will run through Sunday, June 12th at MUJI’s Hudson Yards store on Level 4, across from the entrance to the Edge (20 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001) during shop hours.