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The Ricoh GR DIGITAL II will be on display at the
"WA : The Spirit of Harmony and Japanese Design Today" exhibition.
Tokyo, September 9, 2008 - Ricoh Company, Ltd. announced that its GR DIGITAL II, the high-resolution compact digital camera introduced to the market in November 2007, will be on display at "WA : The Spirit of Harmony and Japanese Design Today" to be held in Paris, France from October 22, 2008.
Sponsored by the Japan Foundation, * whose mission is to promote and foster international cultural exchange, the exhibition is being staged to present to the world dynamic developments in product design in contemporary Japan, and underlying factors currently shaping Japan’s excellence in product design. About 160 products sporting outstanding design features were selected from a broad range of fields and will be on display at the Japan Cultural Institute in Paris, France. The exhibition is also scheduled to be held in other locations in Europe.
The GR DIGITAL II is the latest in the GR DIGITAL series, the first model of which was marketed in October 2005. In terms of concept, this high-resolution compact digital camera was modeled on the GR compact film camera series introduced in 1996, which received rave reviews for their outstanding image quality. The compact, slim body of the GR DIGITAL series, which is only 25 millimeters thick, is fully loaded with features that ensure a level of image reproduction that satisfies even professional photographers. Since its introduction, the GR DIGITAL series has been enthusiastically received by a wide range of professional and advanced amateur photographers.
The GR DIGITAL II was selected for the exhibition for the following reasons. The significance of the GR DIGITAL II is that it is a digital camera that has inherited and further expanded the spirit of the GR1 compact cameras released in the second half of the 1990s, film cameras whose outstanding features included superb picture quality delivered by a high-performance wide-angle lens, and a compact body allowing excellent maneuverability. The GR DIGITAL II truly exemplifies Japan’s photo-cultural DNA, which has successfully made the transition from analog to digital. As an object in itself, this camera, reflecting the highest-quality materials and textures, feels great in the hand, further justifying its recognition as an outstanding contemporary Japanese design.
*The Japan Foundation (an independent administrative institution) is a public service organization established in 1972 as a special legal entity to promote international cultural exchange. Since its transition to an independent administrative institution in October 2003, the Japan Foundation has been extensively engaged in a wide range of activities in and outside Japan that focus primarily on three spheres: arts and cultural exchange, Japanese language education overseas, and Japanese studies overseas and intellectual exchange. In the area of visual arts and particularly design, in 2003 it produced a traveling exhibition called “Japanese Design Today 100. EThis exhibition was taken to more than 30 cities in 10 countries around the world, enabling more than 100,000 visitors to experience representative examples of Japanese design.
Head office: 4-4-1 Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0004, Japan
Telephone:+81-3-5369-6062
Website: http://www.jpf.go.jp/
<Outline of WA : The Spirit of Harmony and Japanese Design Today>
Name of the exhibition: “WA : The Spirit of Harmony and Japanese Design Today E
Time: Wednesday, October 22, 2008, to Saturday, January 31, 2009. (The exhibition is scheduled to tour Europe. Details are not yet confirmed).
Venue: Japan Cultural Institute in Paris (Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris)
101 bis, quai Branly, 75740 Paris Cedex 15, France
Telephone: +33-1-44-37-95-00
The venue is about 450 square meters. (Other European cities and venues where the exhibition will be held are not yet finalized.)
Sponsors: Japan Foundation, Japan Cultural Institute in Paris, Association for the Japan Cultural Institute in Paris
Details: About 160 Japanese products representing Japan’s excellence in product design will be on display. Dynamic developments in product design of contemporary Japan as well as underlying creative impulses will be highlighted. Through the exhibition, attempts will be made to point out the "Japaneseness" (wa or harmony) inherent in contemporary product design.
Number of items on exhibit: A total of about 160, including 22 tableware items, 12 furniture pieces, 10 lighting devices, 10 home appliances, nine stationery products, four digital cameras, and many others.
About Ricoh
A global leader in digital office solutions, Ricoh ( www.ricoh.com) creates new value at the interface of people and information, offering a broad range of digital, networked products, including MFPs, printers, fax machines, semiconductor related products and digital cameras. With 83,400 employees worldwide, and $22 billion in revenue, Ricoh is also one of the world’s leading environmentalist companies, committed to sustainable business everywhere.
GR DIGITAL II