ILLF2010

Born in Germany, Horst Schulze was just 11 years old when he announced his intent to work in a hotel. His steady ascent in the industry took him to management positions with Hilton, Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton, where he was appointed its executive vice president in 1987 and president and COO a year later. Schulze has revolutionized the hotel industry, altering the very nature of customer service by creating a culture of "We are Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen." A charismatic leader and entrepreneur with an intimate understanding of market demands, he has created a legion of loyal customers by raising the bar for customer service expectations to unprecedented levels. Currently chairman and CEO of The West Places Hotel Group, Schulze is launching the newest standard in luxury hotels: Solis Hotels and Resorts and Capella Hotels and Resorts. Capella Niseko is scheduled to open in Hokkaido in 2010.

Born in Kanazawa, Mamoru Nakagawa studied industrial design at the Kanazawa College of Arts. Three years after graduating, however, his encounter with Kaga inlay at an art museum represented a watershed in his life. He apprenticed for 5 years under the Kaga inlay master Kaishu Takahashi, who passed his expertise on to him. Nakagawa is a distinguished successor to the generations of Kanazawa craftsmen who have kept alive "Kaga Zogan," the highly refined metal working tradition of the region since their heyday in the Edo period. He specializes in a sophisticated form of hirazogan (flat inlay) in which different metals and alloys are inlaid into each other to build up multi-colored decorative patterns. His commitment to excellence in both his design and his mastery of this complicated technique earned him the honor of being designated a "living national treasure" in 2004.

Listed as one of "the world's most influential modern and contemporary artists in all media" by the New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2001, Alexander Gelman operates out of New York, London and Tokyo. His collaborations with artisans, musicians, companies and institutions include projects ranging from product development and publishing to exhibitions, events, and consulting, as well as directing brand and advertising campaigns, TV commercials and music videos. His collaborations include projects with Apple, Nike, Target, Warp Records, United Airlines and most recently a group of Yamanaka lacquerware and Kutani porcelain artisans in Ishikawa Prefecture. His work is represented in permanent museum collections, including the Smithsonian, the New York's MoMA and Bibliothèque nationale de France. Gelman also serves as a guest professor with Yale and MIT Media Lab. He is the bestselling author of "Subtraction" (2000), "Infiltrate" (2004), and most recently, "Postglobal" (2009), published exclisively in Japanese the book is offering a unique perspective on Japanese culture.

As a chef, creator of restaurants, innkeeper and instructor, over the course of twenty-five years, Alain Ducasse has developed unique know-how that is expressed through many activities in the art of contemporary good eating and good living.He runs his business in a spirit of sharing of a passion,and transmission of knowledge. With hisconstant curiosity, he is always drawing on the diversity of the world and its cultural richness.

Paul Noritaka Tange -President of Tange Associates-
Born in Tokyo in 1958, Paul Noritaka Tange began his architectural career upon receiving his Master in Architecture from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design in 1985. That same year he joined Kenzo Tange Associates, the architectural firm headed by his father, well known international architect, Kenzo Tange. Paul became President of Kenzo Tange Associates in 1997 and founded Tange Associates in 2003. Paul exemplifies the international element of his practice. Born in Tokyo, Japan, and educated in Japan, Switzerland and the US, he is a registered architect of both Japan and Singapore.
Photo. (c)Yoshihiko Ueda