three centuries-old japanese craft traditions converge in loudspeaker collection

Animism Objects brings japan’s craft traditions into audio design

Tokyo-based VOID Inc. launches Animism Objects, a loudspeaker label that brings traditional Japanese materials and artisanal techniques into contemporary audio objects. The project is set to be presented during London Design Festival 2026. Animism Objects draws from San’in, a region where Japan’s creation myths have been passed down for more than a millennium. In this landscape, nature is understood not simply as a resource, but as part of everyday life, memory, and ritual. The region is also associated with materials and techniques developed over centuries, including Washi, made by hand from natural plant fibres; Aizome, the traditional Japanese practice of indigo dyeing; and Yakisugi, a woodworking technique that chars the surface of cedar boards to increase durability and fire resistance. These processes bring distinct material qualities to the speakers while retaining visible traces of their making. The surfaces reflect variations in the natural materials and the work of the craftspeople who produce them, connecting the finished objects to accumulated knowledge, care, and ritual practice. Each technique gives the speaker a different tactile and visual character.

Traditional craft and technology converge in three speakers

The first Animism Objects collection comprises three editions: Washi, Aizome, and Yakisugi, with each limited to 10 sets. The three finishes establish different relationships between the speaker’s contemporary form and the traditional processes used to construct its surface. The project takes its conceptual starting point from Animism, understood here as an approach in which people, nature, and objects exist in relationship with one another. For the London exhibition, this idea is considered through the combination of traditional Japanese craftsmanship, technology, and contemporary design. By incorporating established materials and techniques into audio products, Animism Objects examines how inherited knowledge can continue to operate within contemporary design. The project positions craftsmanship not only as a form of preservation, but as a material and cultural practice that can inform new objects and their relationship to everyday life.

project info:

name: Animism Objects

designer: VOID Inc.

producers: Yusuke Mizobata, Masayuki Inoue, Maika Goto (VOID)

creative director: Wataru Kiruta (Art Collective Ochill)

product designer: Joe Yoshimura (BREND)

acoustic designer: Chiaki Uehira (I/O STUDIO)

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. See more project submissions from our readers here.