What Is “Offshoring”? A business strategy that emerged in the 1980s.
Offshoring refers to the practice of relocating a company’s services, operations, or production bases overseas. It is primarily pursued to reduce costs and enhance business efficiency by leveraging differences in business environments across countries, such as exchange rates and tax systems.
A related concept is outsourcing, which broadly refers to delegating operations to external parties, whether domestic or international. Offshoring specifically denotes the overseas-oriented form of outsourcing.
This article provides a brief overview of offshoring, its evolution, the opportunities it presents, and its impact on GARDE’s business.
Offshore development began in the 1980s, primarily in China, and expanded to other ASEAN countries around 2010.
From the 1980s through the early 1990s, the yen’s unprecedented strength led to a global perception of Japan as a country synonymous with high quality—but also high cost. During this period, Japanese products such as automobiles and electronics significantly increased their value-added content and strengthened their global branding.
Manufacturing offshoring was concentrated primarily in other Asian countries, with China’s rapid development from the 1980s standing out in particular. This trend later expanded to India and ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, becoming an essential global strategy for manufacturing.
In recent years, however, this dynamic has shifted dramatically as the yen has depreciated at an accelerated pace. The former perception has evolved into a new value proposition: Japan is now seen as offering high quality at reasonable prices. The sharp rise in inbound tourism provides clear evidence of this transformation.
New Market Environment: Risks and Growth Opportunities Driven by Tariffs, Trade Wars, and Climate Action
Furthermore, changes in the market environment stemming from U.S.-origin tariffs have compounded existing challenges. These include climate change initiatives, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia, and shifts in national energy policies, all of which are creating new obstacles to the export and distribution of goods.
In response, GARDE leverages one of its core strengths—its global network—to export creativity rather than physical products. With its Tokyo headquarters as a hub and offices around the world, GARDE delivers design, ideas, and consulting services with minimal exposure to tariffs and transportation costs.
Similarly, as part of Japan’s broader revitalization strategy, highly portable digital content—such as NFT art, online games, and anime—represents a significant growth opportunity. These industries are less constrained by geopolitical risks and trade barriers, positioning them as key drivers in the evolving global market.
Ushio Shinohara, Black on White, 2025. Acrylic paint on unstretched canvas, 72 x 96 in.
《Autumn Sunshine》（2025）
GARDE will present the group exhibition “Generations” by the Shinohara family—contemporary artists Ushio Shinohara, Noriko Shinohara, Alexander Kukai Shinohara—at GOCA by Garde, the art gallery operated by GARDE. The exhibition will open on Thursday, January 8, 2026.
GOCA by Garde is GARDE’s first overseas art gallery, showcasing a diverse range of works including
paintings, sculptures, and ceramics, with the aim of introducing Japanese and Asian artists to the world. It seeks to become a new cultural hub for promoting contemporary art from Japan and Asia on a global scale.
The exhibition commemorates the first anniversary of GOCA by Garde’s opening and marks the first collaborative exhibition in New York since 2014 to feature all three members of the Shinohara family together.
From postwar Japanese art to the present day, Ushio Shinohara has pursued an active career spanning Japan and the United States.
Noriko Shinohara has developed her own distinctive mode of expression alongside him, while Alexander Kukai Shinohara explores new forms shaped by urban culture and contemporary sensibilities.
By bringing the works of these three artists together in a single space, the exhibition reveals something that transcends a conventional retrospective or family show: the inheritance and transformation of the creative act itself.
Promotional Video
Credit: Kamran Rosen
A “family” as a form of expression, coexisting around the axis of creative practice.
The Shinohara family has long pursued their artistic practice in environments where life and creation are inseparable—from their artist loft in SoHo to their current home and studio in Brooklyn’s DUMBO. This exhibition raises questions not about bloodlines or generational frameworks themselves, but about how creative environments, physicality, and narratives are shared, inherited, and continually renewed.
Through the intersection of each artist’s distinct personality and perspective, the avant-garde spirit of postwar Japanese art, feminist narratives rooted in personal history, and contemporary expressions shaped by urban culture converge within a single space. This convergence brings to life the layered dimensions of time evoked by the title, Generations.
Highlights of this exhibition
・Ushio Shinohara
One of the leading avant-garde artists of postwar Japanese art, Shinohara was a key member of the Neo-Dadaism Organizers and exerted a decisive influence on Japan’s art scene in the 1960s. From 1969 onward, he has been based in New York, continuing his practice within the postmodern art scene.
This exhibition centers on Shinohara’s new work Black on White (2025), created to commemorate the first anniversary of GOCA as the artist turns 94 during the exhibition period. In addition, the exhibition presents works from his iconic “Boxing Painting” series, along with sculptures.
・Noriko Shinohara
《Aurora — or Fjord — ?》（2025年）
A painter and printmaker known for the Cutie & Bullie series, which reflects his life experiences. In this exhibition, through recent and newly created works, she presents an expressive space where everyday life and memory, personal experience and fiction intersect.
・Alexander Kukai Shinohara
Incorporating urban found materials and sensibilities drawn from street culture, he creates paintings and sculptures that combine figuration with narrative depth. While grounded in an expressive lineage inherited from his parents, his works are imbued with a contemporary sense of speed and energy.
《 Untitle 》（2017年）
Exibition Overview
Title:「Generations」
Date: January 8, 2026 (Thursday) to February 19, 2026 (Thursday)
Address: GOCA by Garde 515 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011
Admission Fee: Free
Official Site：https://www.goca.gallery/
Artist Profile
Ushio Shinohara
Ushio Shinohara is a Brooklyn-based painter and sculptor and one of the leading avant-garde figures of postwar Japanese art. As a founding member of the Neo-Dadaism Organizers, he made a powerful impact on Japan’s art scene in the 1960s. In 1963, he was among the first Japanese artists to adopt Pop Art techniques, presenting his Imitation Art series. By critically referencing the works of artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, he developed a distinctive artistic language that bridges Japanese and American art movements.
After relocating to New York in 1969, he developed a series of figurative and highly energetic works, including his iconic cardboard motorcycle sculptures. From the 1960s onward, he pursued his signature Boxing Painting series, in which sponges attached to boxing gloves were soaked in paint and used to strike the canvas. By transforming physicality and the act of creation itself into art, this practice established his international reputation.
He continues to sustain a vigorous creative drive, producing dynamic works that range from public spaces to intimate, private contexts. His works are held in the collections of—and exhibited at—major museums and institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, M+, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and the Japan Society in New York.
Noriko Shinohara
Noriko Shinohara is a contemporary painter and printmaker known for her distinctive visual language that weaves together narrative, humor, and her own life experiences. Born in Toyama Prefecture, she moved to New York in 1972 to study art and has continued her artistic practice there ever since.
In her signature Cutie & Bullie series, which she began in 2003, Shinohara employs comic-style imagery and semi-autobiographical characters to candidly and lightly depict her artistic independence, her relationship with her husband Ushio Shinohara, and the conflicts and everyday realities surrounding creative life. This body of work has been highly regarded for elevating personal narratives into a universal perspective.
In her more recent work, Shinohara has developed a more fantastical and poetic worldview, drawing on motifs from her own memories and dreams, as well as scenes from everyday life and animals in her immediate surroundings. She was selected for the New York International Print Competition New Prints in both 2003 and 2005, and in 2007 participated in the exhibition Making a Home: Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York at the Japan Society Gallery. Her works are included in the collection of the Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College.
Alexander Kukai Shinohara
Alexander Kukai Shinohara is an artist whose paintings and sculptures are rooted in figuration and narrative, incorporating sensibilities drawn from street culture and the urban environment. Based in Brooklyn, he has developed a distinctive artistic language while sharing a studio in DUMBO with his parents, artists Noriko Shinohara and Ushio Shinohara.
After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), he began creating sculptural works using found urban materials such as discarded cardboard, electrical wiring, industrial plastics, and newspapers, alongside paintings characterized by neon colors and dynamic, gestural brushwork. Motifs such as skateboards and motorcycles—symbols of speed, consumer culture, and memories of urban life—are distilled into deeply personal narratives throughout his work.
In 2009, he was selected for the exhibition New Tale of Our Age (co-curated by Midori Yoshimoto and Irene Wang) at the Visual Arts Center in Summit, New Jersey, and has since continued to exhibit his work in both the United States and Japan. In 1992, he received the Mark Rothko Award, sponsored by The New York Daily News and the Mark Rothko Foundation.
Rituals is a well-being lifestyle brand renowned for turning everyday routines into meaningful moments. The brand offers distinctive fragrances that enhance daily life, organized into collections focused on bath, body, and home care products.
Special gift sets, combining unique design and practicality, are also available—ideal for the holiday season.
Rapidly expanding across Europe and gaining fans worldwide, the brand has continued to open multiple stores in Japan since its September 2024 debut.
GARDE was honored to be involved in the creation of four stores in 2025, following the highly anticipated domestic flagship store, Rituals Aoyama. We invite visitors to immerse themselves in the brand’s world at each store this festive season.
Rituals – Aoyama store
The long-awaited first domestic store opened on Thursday, September 19, 2024. Each Rituals store is uniquely designed to reflect its location. GARDE was responsible for the local architect and construction of the store.
Address: KY Building, 5-6-5 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062
Business Hours: 11:00-20:00
Rituals – Yurakucho Marui
The second domestic store opened at Yurakucho Marui on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. GARDE was in charge of the local architect and construction.
Address: Yurakucho Marui 1F, 2-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006
Business Hours: 11:00-20:00
Rituals – Terrace Mall Shonan
Opened on Friday, January 24, 2025, at Terrace Mall Shonan as the first brand store in Kanagawa Prefecture. GARDE was responsible for the local architect and construction.
Rituals Landmark Yokohama, the brand’s eighth store in Japan, opened on Thursday, July 17, 2025. GARDE was responsible for the local architect and construction.
Address: Landmark Plaza 3F, 2 Chome-2-1 Minatomirai, Nishi Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 220-0012
Business Hours: 11:00-20:00
About Rituals
Rituals is a beauty brand that values sustainability and well-being. As a pioneering brand that combines bath, body, and home care into a holistic lifestyle experience, the brand aims to turn everyday routines into more meaningful moments. Each of the products is inspired by traditions from around the world, encouraging the discovery of small moments of happiness in daily life. With a commitment to environmental and social responsibility, products are made with natural-origin ingredients and packaged in refillable or recyclable materials. By harmonizing beauty with a well-being lifestyle, the brand strives to lead the way toward a new, sustainable future.
GARDE will present the group exhibition “Sprouting in GreenPoint” at GOCA by Garde—the art gallery operated by GARDE—from Thursday, November 20 through Saturday, December 20, 2025.
This exhibition features works by seven artists who honed their skills at MATSUYAMA STUDIO, led by internationally renowned contemporary artist Tomokazu Matsuyama, based in New York. Through the creations of these New York–based artists, the exhibition showcases the creative energy nurtured at MATSUYAMA STUDIO and the expanding expressive horizons of a new generation.
MATSUYAMA STUDIO is known not only as Tomokazu Matsuyama’s creative base but also as a place where emerging artists refine their international perspectives and skills. Many have launched from this environment onto the global stage. This exhibition marks the moment when the next generation of talent, inheriting this artistic legacy, steps out of the studio to shine with their own light.
The title “Sprouting in GreenPoint” reflects Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, where MATSUYAMA STUDIO is based—a neighborhood rich in diversity and creativity. “Green” symbolizes youth, vitality, and growth, while “Point” represents a starting point or focal point. Together, the words capture the moment when artists take root and begin their journey toward the future. Talent nurtured in Greenpoint spreads across the globe, and the artists shaping the next era grow with energy and vigor—this title embodies that hope and dynamism.
Through this exhibition, GOCA by Garde celebrates and supports the creative journeys of young Japanese artists trained at MATSUYAMA STUDIO, providing them with a platform to share their work with the world.
About MATSUYAMA STUDIO
Based in New York, Matsuyama Studio is a world-renowned contemporary art studio led by artist Tomokazu Matsuyama. The studio recruits emerging artists as members of its production and design team, providing ongoing support to help them eventually succeed as independent visual artists. To this end, the studio opens its space beyond regular working hours and on weekends, fostering an environment where staff can freely pursue their own creative projects. Additionally, by planning and hosting exhibitions for its affiliated artists, the studio provides opportunities to showcase their work and actively promotes their art to the media.
Official Website: https://www.matzu.net/
Title: “Sprouting in GreenPoint”
Dates: Thursday, November 20 – Saturday, December 20, 2025
Venue: GOCA by Garde, 515 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011
Admission: Free
Official Website: https://www.goca.gallery/
Artist Profile
Mariko Fujimoto
Born in Tokyo in 1991, Mariko Fujimoto graduated from Tama Art University in 2014 with a major in oil painting and relocated to New York in 2021. Her work explores themes of memory, emotion, and shifts in perspective within everyday life. Based in both Tokyo and New York, she has held two solo exhibitions in Tokyo and three in New York. She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including Parallel City – 6 Artists, 1 Studio, Infinity Worlds (2025) at FOAM CONTEMPORARY in GINZA SIX. Her works are included in collections such as the Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariko_fujimoto/
Tsukasa Kanawa
Born in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, Tsukasa Kanawa is based in Brooklyn, where he explores the interplay of rhythm, light, sound, time, and space on canvas, drawing inspiration from club culture. His style, which involves improvising with color and light much like a DJ manipulates sound, has garnered considerable attention. His works are included in the collection of the Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tsukasa_kanawa/
Kazuki Onohara
After working on background art for traditional Japanese theater—including Kabuki, Bunraku, and Kyogen—Kazuki Onohara relocated to New York in 2021. He creates symbolic works exploring the theme of “invisible entities” through contemporary motifs and continues to challenge himself with new artistic styles.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kazuki_onohara
Ryuichiro Kawaue
Ryuichiro Kawaue graduated from the Faculty of Arts and Culture at the University of Toyama in 2018 and has been based in New York since 2023. His work explores the boundary between thought and sensation, capturing subtle moments of daily life through a philosophical lens and reinterpreting them as paintings.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kawaue_ryu/
Hosanna E. Amemiya
After graduating from Tama Art University, Hosanna E. Amemiya relocated to New York. He adapts his artistic style to diverse themes and actively exhibits his work both in the United States and internationally.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ameee.art/
Gunoterre
Gunoterre graduated from Nihon University College of Art. After working in Tokyo, Gunoterre relocated to the United States. The work is characterized by delicate, predominantly white colors and reflects Japanese aesthetic sensibilities. Public art installations have been created at Otemachi Station and for long-established shops. In recent years, a new series has been developed that blends three-dimensional elements with two-dimensional surfaces, exploring themes of memory and regeneration.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guno.terre/
Keiko Fukuda
Keiko Fukuda, born in Nagasaki Prefecture, creates colorful, texturally rich works inspired by animals, nature, dance, windows, and more. She is also active as a picture book author and art instructor. In 2025, she participated in a residency at Kinhouse Gallery in the United States.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keikofukudart/
GOCA by Garde
GOCA by Garde, an art gallery operated by GARDE, is located in New York’s Chelsea district and specializes in contemporary art from Japan and Asia. Through paintings, sculptures, and ceramics, the gallery introduces both emerging and established artists, aiming to promote cultural exchange and dialogue.
The Chelsea district is renowned as one of the world’s leading centers for art and culture, currently home to approximately 200 galleries showcasing a wide range of works, from exhibitions by renowned artists to experimental projects by emerging talents.
In this dynamic Chelsea setting, GARDE leverages its expertise in spatial design and its network of artists to create a space where art enthusiasts can gather and engage. We anticipate that the inspiration and possibilities born from GOCA by Garde will positively impact society through the power of art.
French designer Jérôme Jacques Marie Mage founded the luxury eyewear brand “Jacques Marie Mage (JMM)” in 2015, based in Los Angeles, USA.
Combining cutting-edge technology with Japan’s world-renowned craftsmanship, the brand produces limited-edition eyewear, each piece handmade in small quantities.
GARDE was honored to be entrusted with the design development and construction of the brand’s first flagship gallery in Japan, which recently opened in Omotesando, Tokyo.
The flagship gallery, spanning three floors from the basement to the second floor, embodies JMM’s global vision through a distinctly Japanese expression. It showcases limited-edition eyewear, leather goods, jewelry, and art objects.
Conceived as a “ship,” the gallery welcomes guests through its entrance, the “Mothership,” enveloped in walls and floors of sacred hinoki wood—a revered and protective material.
Beyond the threshold lies a consultation room furnished with vintage pieces and rugs, featuring a presidential desk crafted by Hervet Manufacturier, JMM’s longstanding partner.
