The "tagtype" Garage Kit collaboratively designed by Takram design engineering, Leading Edge Design, and FLX Style, 2004 The tagtype is a controller-like keyboard input device for the Japanese language. Originally designed for a disabled novelist, Ransei Etō, as such, it is incredibly easy and intuitive to use when compared to QWERTY keyboards. "Japanese phonetic alphabets consist of 49 syllables which can be organized into [a] 10 × 5 matrix of consonants and vowels. The 5 + 5 main input buttons of Tagtype correspond to the 10 consonants and 5 vowels, making typing Japanese much more intuitive than with the standard QWERTY keyboard."
Team
Project Lead: Kinya Tagawa
Product Design: Shunji Yamanaka (Leading Edge Design)
Software Design: Jun Homma (FLX Style)
Photograph: Yukio Shimizu
