I am Taku Satoh, and it is my honor to serve as President of Kyoto University of the Arts. Throughout my career, I have worked across many fields of design, continually asking myself what design is, and how it differs from art. At our university, both art and design coexist, and I believe the word “arts” can be understood as a broad concept that encompasses them all. While I have long admired the boundless potential of artistic thinking and artistic ways of living, my own perspective has been shaped by looking at society through the lens of design.

In the worlds of art and design, we often use the word “work.” Yet I have always felt compelled to question this term. Art unquestionably produces “works,” but do we truly call what we do in design “works”? As I pursued the essence of design more deeply, it became impossible to leave this ambiguity unresolved. Depending on how one defines the word, I have come to avoid using “work” to describe design. This is because the essence of design is not to make, but to connect. Art and design may sometimes overlap, but their centers are not the same. If design serves as a mediator between all kinds of things—economy, medicine, welfare, education—then art, too, can be understood as something connected to society through design. Even spaces, lighting, media, sound systems, and tools such as paints and brushes are all designed. Thinking in this way clarifies the relationship between art and design, and the distinct roles each plays.

When people casually talk about design, they often associate it with stylishness or visual refinement—impressions formed purely from appearance. Design is frequently mistaken for “how something looks.” Yet design includes structure, planning, and function as well. The true nature of design lies not in creating objects, but in connecting people, ideas, and systems. Art, by contrast, derives its meaning from a clearly defined creative subject. It is in the dynamic interplay between “creating” and “connecting” that all human activity flows. Our university’s founder, Yoshinao Tokuyama, emphasized that every aspect of society requires artistic sensibility, and articulated this belief in the principle of Geijutsu Rikkoku—a nation built upon the arts.

Every individual possesses artistic sensibility and a design mindset, though modern society often suppresses these innate capacities. When we trace the roots of this issue, we find ourselves arriving at the importance of education. What does it mean to live a genuinely rich life? I believe this is one of the most essential questions of our time. Art transcends age, gender, nationality, and social position. In an era where anyone can nurture their artistic sensibility, I hope to explore—with all of you—the possibilities that the arts hold for our shared future.