Dogiku served three generations of coppersmiths in Yanaka, which is part of modern-day Taito Ward, Tokyo. Here they crafted copper pots, kettles, Japanese omelet pans, water pitchers and more. The workshop was a sight to see among passersby in Yanaka at the time, with workers busily operating the bellows in the earthen-floored room on the first floor alongside smiths hammering copper pots and other workpieces, all accompanied by the lively voices of activity. In fact, Dogiku was a symbol of crafting traditions throughout the Yanaka district as a whole, and it was often used as an example of Tokyo artisan culture in 1970s media such as town-guide magazine articles.

After the coppersmithing business shut down, the house sat vacant and unused for a time, Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores rented the building, renovated it, and in March 2018 opened our Yanaka Office as a new base of operations for the Future Standard Laboratory.

Through Machiakarisha Inc., the company established for purposes of carrying out the renovations, we moved forward with our project based on the concept of "traveling back in time to the Dogiku era." Harnessing the unique characteristics of this traditional townhouse fostered through historical ties to Yanaka and its people, we developed a renovation and improvement plan wherein individual rooms would distinctly portray the Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods—a three-era span from 1868 to 1989—while also strengthening earthquake-proofing reinforcements.

The Future Standard Laboratory was founded in 2017 for purposes of proposing and communicating ideas about things that will become standards five years in the future. In the Laboratory's Yanaka Office, we pursue these activities in collaboration with outside creators and specialists. From this facility, which provides opportunities to experiences the changes brought by history from past to present, we examine the future of people and society as a whole.