Kids Tinkering Studio Kichijoji

A creative lab in Kichijoji where children learn and play by making things with their hands. We call it tinkering: thinking with your hands, trying, failing, and trying again until something works. Children take apart, rebuild and invent — combining art, making and programming — and much of what they build starts life as something discarded: offcuts of thinned Tokyo hinoki, packaging foam, drinks cans. Sessions are led in Japanese. Because the work is about seeing, feeling and making rather than talking, children who speak little or no Japanese can take part.

Yoko Nagayama (Representative) A graduate of Nihon University College of Art and a licensed second-class architect, I worked in architectural design before going freelance, and opened my children's art workshop in 2013. I founded Tinkering Studio Japan in November 2020. Children are often afraid to fail, because the adults around them anticipate what they need before they need it. I would rather they found out for themselves — that when something is missing, you can simply make it. I also serve as a supporter on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's entrepreneurship program, visiting schools to work with students.