Materials That Change Daily Life
Toray materials are used in all aspects of daily life. Follow the stories that have changed the world.
In April 2026, Toray marked its 100th anniversary. Beginning with the challenge of producing rayon a century ago, Toray has expanded the potential of materials and helped transform the world across industries, from fashion and aerospace to social infrastructure.
At the heart of this journey is WONDER. The spirit that asks, “Why is that?” and “What more can we do?”
We invite you to experience all the ways in which Toray has challenged itself over the last 100 years and discover how the power of WONDER continues to shape the future.
Creator Comments Added to the Creator Collaborations Section
Accepting Visitor Registrations
Toray 100th Anniversary Exhibition Website Launches
Toray materials are used in all aspects of daily life. Follow the stories that have changed the world.
Touch, feel, discover. Embark on a journey of exploration and experience the wonders and surprises of advanced materials that change the world.
For people, for society, for the planet. Experience the future possibilities envisioned by Toray.
Tracing 100 years of Toray’s challenges and WONDER across seven areas.
Follow Toray’s journey, from its origins to its future focuses.
Tracing 100 years of Toray’s challenges and WONDER across seven areas.
Follow Toray’s journey, from its origins to its future focuses.
Materials x Creativity
“To create materials that are better for the planet, we must continue to explore new possibilities.” Inspired by this spirit, four groups of creators reinterpret Toray materials through fresh perspectives. We invite you to discover creative works that go beyond imagination.
Misawa Design Institute
Nippon Design Center
Fiber
nomena
Carbon Fiber
Kengo Kuma and Associates
Carbon Fiber
Nature Architects
Film
A series of on-stage events will also be held to commemorate the Toray 100th anniversary. These events will offer exclusive content including talks by special guests, video screenings, and sessions led by Toray employees. Discover inspiring ideas and new perspectives that helps shape the future.
* Guests and program content are subject to change. Please visit this website for updates.
Guests from companies collaborating with Toray on resource circularity will join a cross-talk on the potential of circular materials and the future of manufacturing and society.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, sprinter and Toray global partner, will appear on stage. Brown will share what drives him to keep challenging on the world stage, as he shares his thoughts and aspiration on the next generation.
Researchers continue to pursue questions that have yet to be answered.
Step inside their minds to explore the excitement of discovery and uncover the origins of the spirit of “WONDER” that has shaped Toray for 100 years.
Coming soon
Additional on-stage events will be announced as determined.
Creative Direction & Design
TAKT PROJECT Principal/Designer
COMMENT
Creating this exhibition began with a visit to Toray’s Research Center to speak with the researchers there.
It was in this conversation that I encountered the phrases “pursuit of the ultimate limits” and “long-term continuity.” When you delve deeply into a single question, new inventions and discoveries emerge. It is this attitude, I realized, that is at the very heart of Toray.
100th Anniversary Vision
Film Production
BLUE DOCUMENTARY
Film Director
COMMENT
What impresses me about Toray is its deeply rooted culture of valuing people and nurturing talent over the long term. Also, rather than focusing solely on short-term results, Toray is committed to steadily building technical skills and deepening expertise to create new value. I felt that Toray is a company that respects individuals’ willingness to take on challenges while harnessing the strength of the organization as a whole.
Design & Production
Toray 100th Anniversary Exhibition Project Team
COMMENT
Each time we spoke with someone from Toray, we experienced a new sense of WONDER.
Through conversations with people dedicated to research and manufacturing, driven by a desire to make society better and enrich people’s lives, we have come to realize that our everyday lives have been shaped by their tireless pursuit of innovation and continuous experimentation.
Concurrent Event
A symposium featuring pioneers who have changed society through the power of materials, reflecting on the past and exploring the future will be held in conjunction with the exhibition.
Note: Final admission each day is 30 minutes before closing time.
Hall E, Tokyo International Forum
Located on B2F of the Glass Building
Tokyo International Forum
5-1 Marunouchi 3-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005 Japan
Please click here for inquiries regarding visitor registration, exhibition details, and other matters related to this event.
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toray-100th-exhibition@eventsupporter.jp
Designer
Nippon Design Center
Rather than replacing materials with new ones, I first examine and bring out the inherent potential of the materials as they exist. Even fibers so tiny they cannot be seen by the naked eye possess inherent qualities that enable behaviors such as stretching, disappearing, sliding, and shrinking—though these differences cannot be understood simply by looking at the material. It is by repeatedly interacting with it, experimenting with it, and observing it that its identity clearly emerges. This means approaching a material as if to say, “Ah, so this is what you can do.” Making the most of nature’s inherent qualities and intervening no more than necessary is, I believe, the way forward in our relationship with Earth.
Director of the Misawa Design Institute at Nippon Design Center. Associate Professor at Musashino Art University. After working at the design office nendo, Misawa joined the Hara Design Institute at Nippon Design Center in 2009. She established Misawa Design Institute in 2014.
Misawa takes an experimental approach, aiming to observe the underlying principles of objects and visualize the unknown possibilities in them. Her major works include waterscape, which reconstructed the underwater environment into a new landscape; Paper Verb, which explored the possibilities of paper as never before; and WHO ARE WE, a mobile exhibition kit for the National Museum of Nature and Science. A solo exhibition of her work, bit by bit, was held at the ADI Design Museum in Milan, Italy, in April 2026.
Engineer
nomena
Shortly after this project launched, I visited four Toray research centers in Ehime, Shiga, Shizuoka, and Nagoya to attend detailed lectures on Toray materials. What struck me was how every researcher spoke about what made these materials so interesting, with an open, unguarded smile. Behind their smiles, I sensed a pure and passionate curiosity—a desire to learn more about the wonders and beauty of this world through the study of materials. For this project, nomena chose to focus on carbon fiber, which Toray became the first company in the world to successfully produce commercially in 1971. Through carbon fiber, we hope to express the spirit of those who have continued their research in the face of many challenges, guided by their belief in carbon fiber's potential.
Established in 2012, nomena pursues unprecedented creative projects, driven by multidisciplinary knowledge gained through daily research, experimentation, and collaboration with creators and clients. Major projects include collaborative research with JAXA, the water art installation for the BLUE OCEAN DOME at Expo 2025 in Japan, the mechanism design of the cauldron for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Watches That Forgot Their Role, created with Seiko Watch. Awards include Mainichi Design Award (2025), the Kukan Design Award Silver Prize (2023), and the Excellence Award in the Art Division of the Japan Media Arts Festival (2022).
Architect
Kengo Kuma and Associates
I have used carbon fiber throughout my work, but still I was amazed to learn that carbon fiber nonwoven fabrics made from recycled materials exist. Beyond its structural performance, I was also intrigued by the texture of the fibers, which resemble black washi paper and set this nonwoven apart from typical carbon fiber fabrics. This encounter with the material inspired the idea of creating a carbon fiber tearoom. Bringing together cutting-edge technology and delicate spaces that resonate with the Japanese sense of physicality transforms recycled materials into new forms of beauty and cultural value. I would like as many people as possible to be able to experience this material’s potential.
Kengo Kuma and Associates Partner. In addition to working at the firm on architectural projects in Japan and overseas, Kuma is also involved in experimental projects that utilize AI, digital technology and new materials. Kuma has worked on several projects including SAZAE, a sauna on the island of Naoshima, and SHIWA SHIWA, a cloth theater set made with a special porous fabric.
CTO
Nature Architects
I was impressed by Toray’s technology and by how the materials and microscale structural design create new physical properties that directly add societal value. Behind it all lies a tremendous amount of experimentation and exploration, and I can feel the passion for exploring the potential that unknown materials have to offer. Our piece delves into the phenomenon of “wrinkling” and reveals the very process by which various forms of order emerge from chaos. Rather than introducing foreign elements into the world, it seems to us that the process of developing materials is the act of choosing, from among all the materials inherent in our world, the order that brings value to people, society, and the environment. I hope that this work will connect with people’s senses.
With its mission of “Transforming manufacturing industries through design,” Nature Architects, Inc. has developed Generative Engineering™, a proprietary technology that provides design solutions for a wide range of industries using computer-generated shapes that control physical phenomena. By analyzing the relationships between shapes, materials, and physical phenomena and rapidly and comprehensively exploring vast design spaces, the company derives design solutions that would be impossible relying only on conventional thinking or trial and error.
Recognized as a Super Creator under the MITOU Program (Exploratory IT Human Resources Project), he also received the 2024 Software Japan Award.