News Release
The Design Preachers
May 19, 2026
Yanmar Compact Equipment
Inside Yanmar’s quietly radical design philosophy.
When Yotaro Tsuchiya, Head of Design Division at Yanmar Holdings, and Mina Kaido, Manager of the company’s Visual Communication Group, set out to build Yanmar’s in-house design division in 2015, they were stepping into a company shaped by more than a century of engineering heritage.
Operating in more than 130 countries and spanning industries from agricultural machinery and compact construction equipment, to marine propulsion and energy systems, Yanmar posed a clear challenge: how could design work across such a diverse organization?
The answer, they decided, was to begin by listening.
“We used to call ourselves the design preachers,” Tsuchiya laughs. The pair traveled across Yanmar’s divisions, meeting engineers and product teams to understand how machines were developed and used in the field. Coffee meetings became their pulpit, and conversation became their method.
“It’s really all about communication,” he explains. “Each division has different products, markets and customers. By spending time with people across the business, we understand how design can support.”
Product design: machines built around people
At the heart of Yanmar’s product design work is a philosophy known internally as “intrinsic design”. Rather than beginning with appearance, the team starts by understanding the challenge a machine must solve for the people who rely on it. “Machines must be tough when facing difficult environments,” Tsuchiya explains. “But they also need to be gentle beside the people who operate them.”Yanmar equipment operates in demanding environments – from construction sites to farms and fishing vessels – where reliability is essential. Operators often spend long hours inside these machines, making comfort and usability equally important. Modern Yanmar equipment therefore prioritizes an operator-centric design, with spacious cabins, clear visibility, intuitive controls and low-noise operation designed to reduce fatigue.
“Operators spend a very long time inside these machines – they become like an office,” Tsuchiya shares. “The experience should feel comfortable and refined.”
This thinking also shapes the division’s exploration of future equipment. In recent years, Yanmar has introduced a new generation of concept machines that reflect its evolving vision across land (agriculture), city (construction) and sea (marine).
Developed as part of Yanmar’s broader Product Vision for 2035 – which outlines the “ideal future form” of products across each business domain – these concepts prioritize functional value and purpose over surface styling. They explore how machinery can adapt to changing environments through technologies such as electrification, automation and alternative power sources, while remaining intuitive and responsive to the people who use them.
The work has received international recognition, including two Red Dot Design Awards in 2025 – among the world’s most prestigious design honors. Across each concept, the emphasis remains consistent: creating machines that address real-world challenges while elevating the user experience. The result is a vision of future equipment that feels both technically advanced and closely connected to the industries – and people – it serves.
A color that defines the brand
Yanmar’s design philosophy is also expressed through its visual identity. One of the most recognizable elements is Premium Red, introduced as part of the company’s 100th anniversary in 2012. Used across its products and brand communications, the color has become a distinctive signature of Yanmar’s design language. “It symbolizes energy, confidence and the pioneering spirit that has defined the company throughout its history,” explains Kaido.Developed in collaboration with renowned industrial designer Ken Okuyama, the initiative brought designers and engineers together to create a stronger visual identity across Yanmar’s product portfolio. Tsuchiya himself worked alongside Okuyama during this period, contributing to projects connected with the program.
Today, Premium Red links Yanmar across industries, allowing the company to stand apart through a striking and recognizable visual identity.
Visual communication: translating engineering into experience
Mina Kaido leads Yanmar’s Visual Communication Group, translating the company’s engineering expertise into experiences people can engage with and understand. Early in her career at a confectionery company, Kaido once spotted an error on a packaging label and went to the factory floor to correct it herself – an experience that shaped her belief that design must follow a project through to production.“Many designers can draw beautifully,” Tsuchiya says. “But Mina (Kaido) understood how to carry an idea from the very beginning through to production. That mindset was exactly what I needed when building the design division.”
Today, her team brings Yanmar’s engineering expertise to life through exhibitions, events and brand experiences that help people engage with the company’s technologies. “Engineering can be very complex,” Kaido says. “Our role is to understand how people experience that technology in their daily work.”
Connecting technology with culture
Design extends beyond machines, creating experiences that connect people with the technologies shaping agriculture, construction and marine industries.Kaido highlights a collaboration with the historic sake brewery Sawanotsuru, which began with Yanmar researchers developing a new rice variety designed to ease the burden on farmers cultivating rice for sake production. Her team brought that story to life through the design of the sake’s bottle and packaging.
The bottles combine modern elements such as QR codes highlighting production transparency with traditional symbols like the sugidama – the cedar ball associated with sake brewing – linking agricultural innovation with centuries of Japanese cultural heritage.
“Rice is deeply connected to Japanese culture,” Kaido says. “Through projects like this, we hope people around the world can appreciate that connection while recognizing the farmers whose work makes it possible.”
The design team’s work also extends into public spaces. Through Waku Waku Park Create, a Yanmar Group company managing Nagai Park in Osaka since 2021, Yanmar has helped reimagine one of the city’s largest urban parks. Built around the themes of food, sport, art and learning, it combines community activities with environmental initiatives such as renewable energy systems and food-waste recycling; making sustainability tangible in everyday life. Mina’s team supported elements such as park signage, facility design and the overall visitor experience, helping to bring the park’s philosophy into practice.
For Kaido, projects like these demonstrate how design can help people connect with the ideas shaping the future.
Imagining the future
Alongside this evolving vision, the principle guiding Yanmar’s design remains remarkably simple – it begins with the same question that inspired Yanmar’s founder, Magokichi Yamaoka, to create the company’s first engine more than a century ago:How can technology make work better for the people who depend on it?
For Tsuchiya and Kaido, that question continues to guide every solution they design – shaping machines, experiences and partnerships that support the industries that power the world.
About Yanmar Compact Equipment
Yanmar Compact Equipment (Yanmar CE) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and support of compact equipment for a range of segments, principally construction and other earthmoving applications. Its products include extensive ranges of mini and midi excavators, wheel loaders, compact track loaders and tracked carriers. These are supported by a wide range of services designed to ensure customer success. A global company with proud Japanese heritage, Yanmar CE has manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe and North America – and an extensive international dealer network. Renowned for its innovative approach – it was the first to market with the now-benchmark mini-excavator, and is credited with popularizing the zero-tail swing concept – Yanmar CE remains a trusted brand known for its reliability, performance and commitment to customer satisfaction. These traits are demonstrated through the company’s tagline – ‘Building with you’. For more details, please visit the official website. https://www.yanmar.com/global/construction
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Inquiries
Valeria Iervolino
Global Marketing & Communications
Yanmar Compact Equipment
valeria_iervolino@yanmar.com
+39 380 58 20 485
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