Eco-friendly Items from Japan

08 Mar 2010

One of the characteristics of natural indigo blue dyed items is long-term color resistance as well as robustness. However, by wearing and washing repeatedly, though it may happen unnoticeably, it certainly gets worn out and loses its color. Yet the difference between the synthetic dyes and plant dyes like natural indigo blue dye is that although it may leave colors in washing water, it rarely leaves stains on other items. And although that tends to happen the first few times items are washed, stains can be easily washed off with soap.

As organic indigo-blue is from plants, their products should not be washed with alkaline synthetic detergent with surface-activating agent; lye from wood ash as used before is best suited to maintain its quality. In terms of reducing the ecological footprint of the product life cycle, indigo-blue products are thoroughly designed for the “use” and “waste” stages.

“There is no other cloth like it. It does not lose color or wear out,” says the plant manager with a smile. With the time spent by repeatedly using a traditional craft like an indigo-blue dyed cloth, it adds charm. Aging for such product means accumulated beauty.

Related Articles:
Japanese Indigo Dye--Indigo Blue is Bluer than Indigo
Japanese Indigo Dye--Indigo In the Making
Japanese Indigo Dye--The Clothes Dyed Indigo

03 Mar 2010

Indigo dyeing was practiced and a color known as indigo blue or Japan blue was extracted from varieties of plants with indigo pigment in many parts of the World through distinct methods. In Japan, the color is acquired through a natural process of fermentation and oxidation from a plant called Polygonum tinctorium.

First, the leaves are separated from the stems and left for about 4 months until becoming leaf soil, then mixed with water, charcoal lye, sake (Japanese rice wine) and wheat bran, which you can imagine looks just like oatmeal.

At the controlled temperature of 25C, it is left for further fermentation. The indigo blue dye has the color rather closer to brown. An indigo dye artisan knows if the dye has the right alkaline pH and ready by just looking at it! Then soaking in the dye and exposing to the air for are repeated for an average of 5 to 6 times, even more than 10 times for darker color. It is when the dye is exposed to the air that the beautiful indigo blue appears gradually.

Kosoen Studio produces wide varieties of products, from clothes to interior decorations such as tapestries. They have been chosen for special exhibitions at the Museum of Arts and Crafts at Homburg (Germany), Museum of Vancouver (Canada), Seybold Museum (Germany) and so forth and also introduced in foreign publications, such as “Blue and White Japan” by Amy Sylvester Katoh, and the New York Times.

Related Articles:
Japanese Indigo Dye--Indigo Blue is Bluer than Indigo
Japanese Indigo Dye--Indigo In the Making
Japanese Indigo Dye--The Clothes Dyed Indigo

26 Feb 2010

“Indigo blue is bluer than indigo” is a Japanese saying meaning that education and unstinting efforts are very important for one’s success, making an analogy to a long, difficult process involved to create indigo blue dye from indigo plants.

Mr. Murata is the third generation owner of a dye factory and also the founder of Kosoen Studio specialized in traditional indigo dyeing. While the color Indigo blue and even similar color shadings can be easily and cost-efficiently obtained with synthetic dye, Kosoen Studio chooses to adhere to a traditional, rather complicated method to express the hidden colors of indigo plants, which Murata explains as “the ultimate ecological way.”

This is the entrance of Studio Kosoen. Ome has flourished once through textile production. Yet Studio Kosoen is one of a few companies left in the area, which still runs businesses in textile industry.

22 Feb 2010

We all love natural forests. The wind in the trees, the birds singing and… the dairy cows?! This picture may seem strange, but AMITA Corporation, the producer of Forest Milk, thinks it is only natural. Forest Milk is produced from Jersey cows that live in
the forest according to their own natural cycles. Hence, the cows are happy and stress-free, well fed on natural grasses, and produce some of the best milk you have
ever tasted. The milk is non-homogenized, which is said to be better for you, and comes in a simple yet elegant glass bottle. which was nominated for a Good Design Award. Not only is Forest Milk tasty and stylish, the cows help forest ecosystems by fertilizing the soil and making space for new seedlings to grow and it creates local jobs.
So buy some Forest Milk today. Taste the difference, support the forest, communities, and the cows who are after all doing all the hard work.

17 Feb 2010

This October saw a most unusual wedding of the “woods.” Yoichi Mori, whose surname literally means “forest,” and Nanae Hayashi, whose surname means “woods,” tied the knot at Jiyugakuen Myonichikan, near Ikebukuro.

Jiyugakuen Myonichikan, known in English as the “House of Tomorrow,” was designed in 1921 by renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Originally a girls school, the “House of Tomorrow” was designated as an Important Cultural Property in May 1997 for its historic and artistic value.

The bride and groom are both active in the environmental field in Japan, having returned to the roots of their respective surnames, and the food and gifts were chosen personally by them with top consideration given to the environment.

We wish the newly married “woods” the best of luck in their environmental endeavors!

15 Feb 2010

The San Francisco Green Festival started in 2002 with
just 50 speakers and a few special events. But as of
2009, the event has expanded to become an eco-packed
extravaganza with over 150 renowned speakers, 400
green businesses in attendance and 40,000 attendees
over the full 3 days.
Ecotwaza took five eco-products from Japan to see
what kind of buzz we could generate. And buzz it did!
More than 1,000 people visited our booth over the three
days, leaving us pretty exhausted but happy green
campers.

09 Feb 2010

Written by Dina Faoziah

There is more to enjoy in Roppongi than just its shopping malls, restaurants and night clubs. If you want a taste of fresh agricultural products, why not stop by the Hills Marché? This local farmers market, held every Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM in the ARK Hills complex near Roppongi-itchome station, is awash with fresh local produce just waiting to be eaten.

Many customers say they feel secure about the products being sold there because they can meet the farmers directly. And farmers enjoy being able to mingle with the buyers—many of them local residents—and communicate face-to-face with them.

Hills Marché is part of the Marché Japon Project, a program run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) to promote local farm-fresh production for local consumption by creating opportunities for producers and consumers to mingle at a marché (a French word for market) in major cities. Currently, Marché Japon operates in 8 prefectures ranging from Fukuoka to Hokkaido.

Since its establishment in 2009, Marché Japon has been serving as a link between urban communities and rural farms where growers can sell their products directly to the consumers and the consumers can get to know the growers and their stories, and even ask for recipes.

Buying local products means less food miles, i.e., you consume less fossil fuel to deliver them, a major focus of the locavore movement. If you don’t grow vegetables in your own backyard, what can be more eco-friendly than that?

For further information about Hills Marché visit http://www.hills-marche.com/ (in Japanese and English) and for more details about the Marché Japon Project see http://www.marche-japon.org/ (Japanese only).

08 Feb 2010

Today I'm going to inform you about a contest. British Council is going to hold "E-idea Competition".

They are seeking applications for eco project plans from visionary young eco-social entrepreneurs. To help realizing projects aiming at sustainable society, they will sponsor a total of 10 projects with a maximum grant amount of 800,000 yen per project.

For those who have project plans that may contribute substantially to Japan's future environment, why not give it a shot?

Your entry must arrive by March 31, 2010 (Wednesday).

Please check the details at the following website:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/jp/japan-science-climate-change-e-idea-competition.htm

It seems that explanation and counseling sessions will be held, too.

Date: 22 February (Monday), 8 March (Monday)
Time: 19:00－20:00, 20:00－21:00 (twice)
Venue: British Council (Iidabashi), Tel. 03-3235-1896

Recently, there is an increasing number of people wanting to establish a company working for the environment or launch project to solve environmental problems. So, everybody, why not participate in this competition?

08 Feb 2010

Mosquitos are the feature of Japanese summer.
If you want to live a comfortable summer, combatting mosquitos is one big issue.
So here are some Japanese tips so you don't have to use unhealthy insecticide.

1.Don't let them come near you
Use a KAYA. KAYA is a large net like a tent that you can put up in your room so that mosquitos don't come in. It is good when going to bed, or when your children are playing indoors. Japanese houses used to be open so the wind blows through, and mosquitos were flying everywhere. KAYA used to be an essencial goods up till the 60s, and although they were replaced by screan windows, many people are revaluing the usefulness.
It will be useful in areas where houses don't have screan windows for economic reasons or low building technology.

2.Instead of insecticide...
Use a KAYOKE-SENKO, or a mosquito stick. There are many types, and those called KATORI-SENKO are usually made of Allethrin, a strong chemical component. KAYOKE-SENKO is most likely made of natural ingredients taken from pyrethrum (or insect flower) so better for your health.

3. When you are bit
The best way to forget the itch is to wash the bite with soap and water! Mosquito saliva is acid, and the alkali of soaps neutralize it. Seriously, it cures the bite instantly!

Please tell us if you know any other eco-friendly ways of combating mosquitos.

29 Jan 2010

Global Voices from Japan, in search of Japan through the point of view of foreigner, is holding an essay contest in English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. GVJ aims not only to collect foreigners' writings about Japan but also to serve as a platform for exchanging opinions about the respective issues.

Theme: Global Voices from Japan

Word Count: 1000-1500 words for English/1000-1200 characters for other languages

Applicants: Foreigners who have lived in Japan or those studying/doing a research about the country

Prizes:
1 Most Distinctive Essay Prize for 300,000 yen
3 Distinctive Essay Prize for 100,000 yen
as well as Special Prizes for researchers about Japan

Application Period: January 12, 2010 to March 31, 2010

For more information, please visit
http://glovoicesjp.com/

27 Jan 2010

AKS is a hair salon in Omotesando. They recently switched their cups from normal paper cups to cups made from Kanbatsu-trees (thinned trees, usually disposed. More about KANBATSU). Yu Imamura (photo above), in charge of beverage, decided to adopt this new cup last month. "Why not start doing something, when the cost is the same and it is better for the environment?" Using Kanbatsu trees for products will contribute to the healthy growth of Japanese forests. The impact may be small, but whatever small a change is a change. Visit AKS to experience how "same" the cup is with normal paper cups!

AKS website (Japanese only)
You can read Ecotwaza Times at AKS too!
http://aks-japan.com

Sansei website (Japanese only)
Cups and tea
http://www.sts-sansei.co.jp/

20 Jan 2010

From December 10, The three-day eco-friendly product exhibition EcoProduct 2009 had been held at Tokyo Big Sight. It was claimed by the organizer Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry (JEMAI) to be "an exhibition of the power of business persons, the consuming public and students, as well as companies and governments." Ecotwaza has also participated with an exhibition booth. Hear it out from Reina Otsuka and Nanao Sonobe at the EcoProduct 2009

◆Opening Talk 12/10

◆12/12 Closing Talk

20 Jan 2010

When asked about the future of Japan, Nicol is optimistic. “I’m hoping with the change of government that there will be active foresters not just bureaucrats sitting in their offices who hire contractors to cut down a swath of forest to satiate their own greed, which is what’s been happening. I’m hoping Japan will raise a new generation of true foresters that don’t nurture the woods just for timber, not only to protect the water, not only to protect biodiversity, not only because forests have contributed so much to Japanese food like sansai (wild vegetables) and kinoko (fungi) and wild animal meat, but that the forests and the rivers will once again be the spiritual core of Japan where Japanese people can go for a walk and feel refreshed and at ease.”
He believes that Japan’s great diversity of nature, from sea ice in Hokkaido down to coral reefs in Okinawa, mean it could well become the ecotourism center of Asia. “I won’t see it in my lifetime, but I think that in another generation or two Japan could be the Garden of Eden of Asia.”
With a few more brave foresters like Nicol forging the way, that dream could well become a reality.

18 Jan 2010

One of the highlights for Nicol in recent years was a visit to the Afan Woodland Trust by Prince Charles, who was accompanied by Princess Hisako Takamado of Japan. Nicol described Prince Charles as “a driving force for the green movement in Britain,” and was clearly deeply moved by his visit. So much so that he personally took a thank-you present to His Highness and another for his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. “His secretary said he has some interesting tools so I had a nata, a Japanese machete, made for him. They’re razor sharp and I told his secretary they are the all-round tool of the Japanese forester. I gave it to him wrapped in a furoshiki [traditional Japanese wrapping cloth]. For the Duchess, I took a set of aromatic oils made from the trees in our woods and she was delighted with them.”

A large part of the work at the Trust centers upon helping children. The Trust runs programs for vision-impaired children and those who are victims of domestic violence. Through their experiences with nature in the forest, the children are able to open up and be themselves. With the direction of Dr. Shoko Homma, the Trust is carrying out an on-going study of forest therapy effects utilizing analyses of children’s artwork analyzed before and after they visit the forest.

13 Jan 2010

In the decades following the reforestation program, Japan became one of the world’s largest importers of timber and timber products, due to the ready availability of cheap imports from overseas, leading to a progressive decline in the domestic forestry industry. As forestry became less and less economically feasible, giant tracts of cedar plantations were left to rot with no one to tend them.

Nicol complained, “The old customs of nurturing the woodland, the satoyama, had stopped, the satoyama had become tangled brush and the plantations were not looked after. If I had come to Japan then, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with the country. And I can say that because I’m Japanese, and because some Japanese do look after our forests.”
It was then that he heard about work being done in South Wales to restore woodland in the Afan Argoed coal-mining region. This inspired him to bring back the Japanese tradition of nurturing and respecting forests. At first he started off by purchasing small plots of neglected woodland with his own money. With further land acquisitions, the forest gradually grew and began to receive support from donors and local community groups.
In 2002, he established the C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust, which was officially twinned with its namesake, the Afan Argoed Forest Park in Wales. Their goal is “to show people the results of our work, and to inspire and encourage other people and groups to bring back their own local woods to vigorous biodiversity and healthy, sustainable human use.” At the Trust, head forester Nobuyoshi Matsuki is responsible for all aspects of forest management and has worked tirelessly to restore the woodlands to their original state as mixed-growth forest. Matsuki has been living with the forest since he was 15 and knows every inch of ground, every tree and every sapling, like the back of his hand. Thanks to his dedication, many species of plants, insects, birds and other wildlife have returned to the woods.

06 Jan 2010

After Ethiopia, Nicol once again returned to Japan to begin work on his historical whaling epic Isana (meaning "whale"). The novel, published in Japanese in 1986, earned him fame and celebrity throughout Japan as a “champion of Japanese tradition.” Since 1978, he has spent most of his time in Japan writing a string of novels and essays, starring in television shows and commercials, and producing a yearly series of documentaries.

Despite his rise to fame, Nicol has never forgotten his environmental roots. He established a reputation in Japan for fighting the hard fights that no one else was willing to take on, and often winning. Still, Nicol complained that after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics something had changed in Japan.

Japan is in fact one of the most heavily forested countries in the world. However, a large percentage of the forests have been transformed from diverse mixed-growth forests to single-species cedar forests. This is due to a reforestation program that started in the 1960s to create giant national plantations to protect the land and watersheds, and provide a boost to the economy. Unfortunately, this well-meaning program was carried out almost entirely using a single fast-growing species, the cedar. The plantations grew quickly into giant cedar forests but the end result was that other plant life was smothered as the broad, leafy cedars blocked out all light to the forest floor.
Another unintended consequence of planting these extensive forests, which cover nearly 12 percent of Japan, was a sharp increase in hay fever as the cedar trees dump thousands of tons of pollen into the air every spring. By some estimates, this directly costs the Japanese economy $2 billion per year in decreased leisure, travel and food spending, and $0.6 to $1 billion indirectly through absenteeism.

03 Jan 2010

In 1962, at what may seem like the tender age of just 22 – but with a lifetime’s worth of experiences under his belt – Nicol made his way to Japan to pursue karate. The peacefulness and balance with nature he found here amazed him. Nicol recollected his first impressions of Japanese farms in 1962, “I wrote in my diary, ‘the Japanese don’t farm, they garden,’ because the farms were just like gardens, they were so beautiful.”

He immediately fell in love with Japan and the ways of its people. “I came to Japan and it changed my life. I perceived this wonderful balance between nature and human culture. What the Japanese had done traditionally was to preserve the high forests as a place of the gods, to use but at the same time protect and nurture the woodlands and the satoyama [traditional villages and woodland], and really respect the land, so that, in fact, the biodiversity was improved by human activity.”
After Japan, Nicol’s adventures led him to Canada, working with the Canadian Fisheries Research Board, and then to Ethiopia and the Semien Mountains National Park. His first novel, From the Roof of Africa, described his time in Ethiopia. By then it was easy to see Nicol possessed not only a deep respect for the beauty and inherent value of nature but also a strong belief in the power of individuals to restore and protect what others have destroyed.

“I’ve seen in two regions, Wales and Africa, what happens when you destroy nature. I’ve fought and shed blood to defend nature and to make a national park in Ethiopia, and I’ve seen in an African country what happens when you destroy the forest: you lose the water and the land turns to desert. First the cattle die, the sheep die and the goats die, then the people start to die. But in Wales, I’ve seen what happens with reafforestation, where the dead river I remember from my youth is now a vibrant salmon stream.”

01 Jan 2010

SHOGATSU is New Years day.
It is a big holiday in Japan, and we usually spend time with our family at home, or visit shrines for HATSUMODE.
There are many unspoken rules, or traditions related to SHOGATSU.

The ones I like are the OTOSO and OSECHI.

OTOSO is Sake spiced with herbs that we only drink for New Years day.

There are three cups with different size, and we pass it around the family members. Usually, Japanese customs tell us to respect the elders, but in case of OTOSO, the younger one gets to drink first. This is so that the older people can regain youth by drinking after the young ones.

OSECHI is a Bento prepared especially for New Years
.

We usually have a similar set of menu each with a meaning, like shrimp (for a long life) and sweet black beans (to be diligent). Of course details vary according to region and family. We are supposed to eat OSECHI for three days. This is to let housewives rest after the busy cleaning and preparing for New Years.

The URUSHI dishes and bento boxes are beautiful, and many families pass it on for generations. These customs reminds us of how we are "kept alive" by many other species and nature. Partying is nice too, but try out this Japanese-style New Years too!

30 Dec 2009

Nicol’s mother remarried when he was 10 and his stepfather, who was in the Royal Navy, quickly became his hero. The family moved to England where Nicol was badly bullied at school because of his Welsh background. He signed up for the Sea Cadets when he was twelve and there learned how to defend himself from bullies using jujitsu. However, he apparently learned how to defend himself a little too well and his Sea Cadet instructor recommended that he study judo to learn how to master peace through this traditional Japanese martial art.

He was introduced to a judo sensei (teacher) named Gunji Koizumi, the first Japanese person he had ever, and this meeting had a major impact on Nicol’s life. “He was a wonderful samurai, a Meiji period gentleman, an artist, a scholar and a judo master. He became my ideal, a ‘gentle man’ who could take on anyone. From then on, I became interested in Japan and determined to one day come here.”

Nicol’s first encounter with a Japanese and his first visit to Japan were not so far apart, but in typical adventurer style, in this brief time he managed to squeeze in three arctic expeditions, a foray into the world of pro wrestling, and moved from judo to perhaps the most famous Japanese martial art of them all, karate.

28 Dec 2009

C.W. Nicol is one such person. Something of a modern-day Algren, Nicol is also a man who fell in love with Japan because of its culture and natural beauty. Spending the afternoon with Nicol is like sitting down with a character straight out of a swashbuckling 18th-century adventure novel. His life could fill dozens of volumes, and it has.
By the time he has finished regaling you with tales of arctic adventures at the age of 17, or his time spent fighting poachers in the Semien Mountains National Park in Ethiopia, a park that he helped establish, and his days at sea onboard a Japanese whaling vessel, you may find it hard to believe that one man could have accomplished so much in one lifetime. But, by that stage, the story of Old Nic – as he is known in his decade-long Japan Times column – or Uncle Nic – the title of the Afan Woodland Trust’s “English Corner” – has only just begun.
Most would say he’s clearly not your average Japanese, though Old Nic would beg to differ on that point. (And how many of us would dare to argue with a fifth dan karate black belt?) A naturalized Japanese, Nicol was born in 1940 in Neath, an old castle village turned coal-mining town in South Wales in the UK.

Nicol explained that when he was a boy only 5% of South Wales was covered in forest and he describes the environmental devastation associated with the mines in the area around his hometown in vivid detail. But now the forest coverage is nearer 60%. As he said, “The people brought the forest back.” It is clear this and other aspects of his childhood had a major influence on his later life.

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