Cross-border upcycled kimono fabric wins EcoPro circular economy award

A Tokyo company that upcycles used kimono fabric has won an EcoPro Award for a circular economy initiative that passes on an aspect of culture. Nihon Reuse System received the excellence award for its “ohariko jigyou,” or seamstress business.

The business processes fabric from old kimonos and obi sashes into new bolts of cloth. The cloth is marketed mainly to handicraft artists in Japan and to professional designers in Mongolia. Nihon Reuse System says it has been able to reuse 415,320 kimonos and sashes in this way.

The awards, which were formerly known as the Eco Products Awards, recognize products, services, technology, solutions and business models that have excellent environmental consideration factored into them to contribute to creating a sustainable society. They are sponsored by the Sustainable Management Promotion Organization, or SuMPO.

Turning unwanted goods into value-added products

Ohariko jigyou was cited for creating a structure that allows the effective use of unwanted kimonos and sashes, linking resource utilization with business, and recreating resources into value-added products via processing Mongolia.

Nihon Reuse System operations have increased the social inclusion of disabled workers in Mongolia and Japan. It has also increased work opportunities for single mothers and the poor. The company says it is contributing to the achievement of 10 different Sustainable Development Goals 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 17.

Nihon Reuse System trades in around 30 regions throughout the world via its various business operations, supplying things no longer needed in some places to regions where they are needed now. In that sense, it sees itself not as a recycling company but one that utilizes resources and prevents waste.

The sanpou-yoshi philosophy

Its corporate philosophy is that of the “sanpou-yoshi” tradition from Shiga Prefecture, which is when business benefits the three parties of seller, buyer and society.

One of the key factors that makes Nihon Reuse System’s approach work is that it takes a broad definition of ‘society’ to extend beyond Japan’s borders. Furthermore, knowing you can extend the life and use of something as expensive and beautiful as a kimono makes it easier to part with it.