Kokuyo Design Award 2026 (¥2,000,000 prize) Deadline: 8 October, 2025

Applications are open for the Kokuyo Design Award 2026. The Kokuyo Design Award is an international competition for product design that aims to co-create with talented designers and support their activities. 

Since its establishment, excellent product designs have been selected from entries that represent current social conditions, and award-winning works have been turned into commercial products through co-creation between KOKUYO developers and the award winners. By delivering designs to the world that breathe new life into the tools we regularly use in our daily lives and at work as reliable products, KOKUYO aims to support the future activities of designers and at the same time, bring you a tomorrow you can’t wait for.

More than 24 years have passed since the founding of the award, and more than 20 products have been created to date. It is continuing to evolve as a project that conveys value reflecting the times, and not simply as something to be selected and awarded.

Prizes

• Grand Prix (one from all entries) ¥2,000,000 (about $14,000)
• Merit Award (three from all entries) ¥500,000 (about $3,500) per winner
• NEW GENERATION AWARD (max ten winners) ¥30,000 (about $210) per winner

Eligibility

• Corporations, organizations, individuals, and groups are all welcome, regardless of age, sex, professional background, or nationality.
• Only designs that have never before been shown publicly (in Japan or other countries) are eligible for entry.
• Eligible entries include any stationery, furniture or tool used in working, learning and living scenes.

Application

Registrations/Design submissions will be accepted beginning July 25 to 12:00 (noon) JST on October 8, 2025.

For more information, visit Kokuyo Design Award.