The essentiality of forms, the extreme attention to details, the originality of each piece, all within the continuity of tradition, combined today with technological and engineering research that develops new materials and recycles waste materials, are characteristics that make Japanese design an international icon. The exhibition "ORIGIN of SIMPLICITY. 20 Visions of Japanese Design" offers a cross-cutting perspective between design and craftsmanship to understand the origins of the concept of simplicity, which can be interpreted as emptiness (ku), space or silence (ma), sometimes read as poverty (wabi), and consumption related to use over time (sabi), as well as asymmetry, indefiniteness, and imperfection. These concepts have roots in various philosophical thoughts belonging to this culture, from Zen Buddhism to Shinto animist thinking, which are almost opposed to Western rationality. An unprecedented research conceived by the curator Rossella Menegazzo, an expert in art history and Japanese culture at the University of Milan, with the graphic and exhibition design by the Japanese designer and curator Kenya Hara, who envisioned the exhibition path as a forest to walk through. Each tree groups together works that express the same quality, presenting unique combinations of works by different designers and artisans, through which the theme of simplicity is explored by assigning keywords that aid understanding. The exhibition features over 150 works, many never presented in Italy before, designed by the most representative names in modern and contemporary design, shaping the history of Japanese design from the Sixties of the twentieth century, as well as representatives of the latest generations, less known to the international public. All selected objects emphasize craftsmanship, which traditionally combines techniques, materials, and forms passed down from generation to generation through workshops, historical laboratories, and masters considered "living national treasures" in intangible heritage. A centuries-old wisdom reveals a preference for natural materials such as wood, paper, metal, ceramic, and textile, and a sensitivity to the characteristics of each, blurring the distinction between a design or art product.