A trip to Hugo Governorate .. The home of environmentally friendly industries in Japan

(Kobe Shimbon) - The "bags of bags" located in the commercial district of Toyuka, Hugo Governorate is home to many bags selling."This bag is made of hunting window waste," says Hashimoto Takahiro, director of Artisan Avenue, a manufacturer who works under the umbrella of the Toyooka Kaban brand, says.

The store's shelves are stacked with shoulder bags and small bags ranging from 23,000 yen to approximately 80 thousand yen.In front of these products, a light blue fishing network is displayed, which is the raw material from which these products were made.

To meet the competition from the cheap goods coming from China and other imported products, the eleven Toyooka Kaban Manufacturing Federation members depend on the strength of their goods that are produced entirely locally.The Bags Industry Association in Hugo Governorate was established in 2006, and no product is available to use the Toyooka Kaban brand name only after it undergoes a strict certification process.

Two years ago, a study on how to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals.When the group learned about the production of materials using recycled fishing nets through the Tokyo -based seas, which was established by the Nippon Foundation to reduce ocean waste and marine resource recycling, it made its decision as a great base for fish fisheries, especially its fame with snow crabs, so it has supportedToyooka this initiative.

For the assembly journey, the Huskaido hunting dealer begins to collect the nets used in salmon fishing, as it is recycled and transferred to the resin pellet by a company to recycle the materials in Tokyo.Then it is spinned into threads and woven into fabrics by a textile company in Osaka, so this is a cooperative project on a national scale.

Currently, the eleven companies that are manufactured under the umbrella of the Toyooka Kaban brand produce a variety of models between small bags and to Boston bags.The Toyooka Kaban Artisan Avenue store sells about 70 pieces per month, and there are even waiting lists for some models.

Moreto, the company that has developed the Osaka -based fabrics, is also looking for ways to convert the fishing windows that were used locally into raw materials, in cooperation with Tajima Cooperative Fisheries Cooperative Company in Hugo Governorate and specialized in crabs.Due to the fact that the nets used in crab fishing are very strong, the recycling costs are high in addition to the difficulty of converting them into products, but the company chose some fishing nets that facilitate recycling and plan to produce small goods that fishermen can use at the work site.

Naoto, one of the manufacturers and belonging to the Toyooka Kaban group, is currently working to produce school bags, and the company president Miashetta Egi expects to address the youth generation is a great idea on the basis that “it will be good for them to help them the elements they use daily to increase their environmental awareness.”.

Toyooka Kaban bags made of recycled window online can also be purchased through the Toyooka Kaban Artisan Avenue.

Using waste to make beautiful products

The Toyooka Kaban manufacturers have exceeded the phase of bags production to the development of lines to produce smaller bags and accessories.During the process of making accessories, the remaining skin scraps and the remaining fabric are used from the production of bags. Among these products are small conservatives, key keys and coins portfolios.

Hand Governor's production began in 2018 during a technical training seminar for craftsmen.This was followed by the launch of the accessories production line in the following year, after one of the partner companies put forward the idea during an accreditation meeting of the Bags Industry Association in Hugo Governorate.

The process of manufacturing bags is always produced by leather cut waste, so using these pieces to make Toyooka goods not only reduces waste, but also produces unique products that are then beautiful gifts.

Some manufacturers also study the idea of making products that have been tanned using the pillow, which is the remaining solid material of the wine industry.Their primary goal is to reduce harmful environmental effects by avoiding the use of chemical elements.

(Publishing the original text in Japanese, translation from English. Address image: bags made using recycled fishing nets. The fishing nets are also displayed in Toyooka Kaban’s Artisan Avenue. Article and image by Ishikawa Midori)