What is Kotatsu?
Kotatsu is a traditional Japanese heating appliance. It is a square table placed on the floor with a heat source inside, and the outside covered with a quilt, to warm the people sitting round it. It has been used in Japan for approximately 700 years, and in modern times it is common for Japanese families to gather round a Kotatsu in winter, eating mandarins and watching television. Since olden times the Kotatsu has been a place of communication for the family. It is seen less and less lately, however, but even now is considered a traditional part of Japanese culture.
What is the Kotatsu Conference?
The Kotatsu Conference is a unique program of the *Knowledge Capital* and a new form of round-table discussion, where four speakers are seated at a Kotatsu and converse openly. A facilitator, the Kotatsu Conference Host, and the various guest speakers, such as a university professor, a cartoonist, a pop idol, a performer or an artist, discuss the theme of Omosiroi. In the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival, Japanese special guests, such as a media artist and a Buddhist priest, explore the idea of Omosiroi. Come and enjoy the Kotatsu Conference, the Special Knowledge Capital event and a new platform of communication.
Omosiroi
Omosiroi is a Japanese word, which has various meanings such as as “interesting,” ”funny,” “amusing” and “convivial.” However, as a core value of Knowledge Capital, Omosiroi signifies knowledge innovation, and that is to say, the most fundamental human sensibility, originating in a heart-moving experience with unexpected discoveries and inspiring encounters. It is the driving force to accelerate pleasure and curiosity regardless of nationality, gender or age. At present, when society has reached a transition period, what is required is not the existing standard of values, but a novel point of view and new criteria. Now that values are more diverse, Knowledge Capital is aiming to create a future full of creativity through *Omosiroi* as the most fundamental human sensibility.
