Mirai-e

Into the future of Japan-UK collaboration in culture, education and innovation

Mirai-e is a unique UK-Japanese group of cultural, design, communications, educational and policy experts and consultants who work together to:

Create strategies for partnerships, knowledge, and cultural exchange through research, design and communication.

Support and encourage mutual cultural understanding through exploration and experience.

Develop innovative joint strategies for a shared future.

Our approach to research and communications is based on design thinking - we focus on the solution to a problem through a creative, engaging and data-led process. We apply design thinking to communication strategies and programmes for cultural and academic exchange, collaboration, and partnerships, to foster mutual understanding and strengthen people-to-people ties between the UK and Japan.

The group

Mirai-e Research and Communications brings together an expert UK-Japan team, with high-level knowledge, experience, and insight.

Founding Director General of Japan House London, and museum director who has worked in a diverse range of cross-cultural settings and with collections of national and international significance.
Mike has worked at the Imperial War Museum and has led the Horniman Museum, the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Between 2016 and 2022, he was Director General Japan House London, a major cultural diplomacy initiative by the Government of Japan, to showcase Japan's cultural, social and economic contribution to the 21st Century.

David is founder of Keechdesign, a London-based company founded in 2005 which supplies creative services to Japanese businesses. Keechdesign has a strong network of partner companies in Japan and numbers Yanmar, Epson, Yamaha and Central Japan Railway among its long-standing clients.
David graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1989 where he studied under and later worked closely with Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. David was an Associate at Foster & Partners, joining as a member of the Bilbao Metro project team. He was one of the founding members of Norman Foster’s in-house product design team, gaining experience in architecture, product design and project management. He was the first non-Japanese designer to join Yamaha’s design team in Hamamatsu, Japan and produced a number of ground-breaking designs for their music equipment and consumer product sectors. He was a key force in the internationalisation of Yamaha’s design team. David has led numerous projects on the Innovation Design Engineering course at the Royal College of Art as a senior visiting tutor, and is also a visiting Project Leader at KLC School of Design.

Our unique approach to research and communications

Research for successful strategies

Understanding Audiences:
We help understand international audiences through situational analysis.

Strategy Development:
Our research supports evidence-based planning for the change you want to see.

Programme Design:
Drawing on global best practices to design policies and programmes that deliver sustainable results.

Measuring Impact:
Using data and real-time feedback to understand what works and learn for the future.

Communications with an international audience

Reaching audiences with your message and sharing your vision.

Influencing their choices and shaping their preferences.

Building your reputation with key contacts, partners, audiences.

Increasing trust through shared understanding.

Our identity

Our team has strength in: senior cultural leadership, international relations, public and cultural diplomacy, evidence-led policy, national and local government, private sector, senior academic expertise, design, branding and communications.

We have extensive knowledge of the UK, Japan, and global networks.

We work across borders of all kinds, and use an agile, creative approach to achieve outstanding results for businesses, organisations, cultural and educational institutions, and places.

We are creative, flexible, collaborative, rigorous, and ethical.