Itochu Fashion System, a consulting firm specializing in corporate branding strategies and product development, has launched the "ifs Future Research Institute" (hereafter, "Future Research Institute"), a think tank with the concept of "thinking about the future as an extension of our daily lives." Led by Director Yoko Kawashima, the Future Research Institute includes seven creators from various fields who will support corporate brand consulting and promote lifestyles for the near future. Members include Kotaro Watanabe, director and design engineer at Takram Design Engineering; Yasuhiro Karakawa, management consultant (researcher at the SGE Center at Cornell University's Graduate School of Management); Toshihiko Sakai, product designer (principal of Sakai Design Associates); Tsuyoshi Tane, architect (Dorel Ghotmeh Tane Architects); Nobuyuki Hayashi, journalist; Tamae Hirokawa, fashion designer (SOMA DESIGN); and Takeshi Fukui, visual creator (SOMA DESIGN). Two pilot projects were also announced at the same time. The "Sweets of the Future Project," a collaboration between Watanabe and the Japanese confectionery shop Toraya, resulted in "Hitohi (One Day)," a set of five Japanese sweets to be eaten at specific times each day, from waking up in the morning until going to bed at night, each with a shape and color that represents the "changing light of the day" from sunrise to moonlight. The packaging was designed by Hatoba Tsugutatsu, a crest artist who specializes in designing family crests.

Another project is "Bath Oil and Foam," a "bath additive of the future" that combines foaming bath additives and bath oil in a single container, a collaboration between Pola Orbis Holdings and Sakai. It has yet to be decided whether to commercialize this product, along with Hitohitohi.