Good to see that foreign media is noticing Japan’s eco trends, in particular Tokyo’s efforts to become a more sustainable green city.
An April article in the LA Times highlights a lot of developments, including the new cap-and-trade carbon credits system that will in theory help factories and offices to cut emissions by 25% over the next ten years. The author also looks at recycling schemes and urban community projects like the Roppongi Hills.
Pasona O2 made headlines a few years ago for having a rice paddy inside its office. However, since last spring the project had been closed while the recruitment firm moved to their new Marunouchi location.
Well, now they’re settled in and the eco office facilities are open — even to the general public! We went down to the company headquarters near Tokyo station, the heart of the capital’s banking district, to check out the project.
It’s gone through a bit of an image change: the name has become “Urban Farm”, and the quantity and variety of plants has greatly increased. The rice field is also no longer underground, but on the first floor and fully visible — and accessible — from the street.
The Urban Farm in total covers five thousand tsubo (c.19,760 sq. yds.) and contains over two hundred kinds of plants, including tomatoes, peppers, egg plant and, of course, rice.
Staff take it in turns to tend daily to the rice paddy and the other vegetation. Though this does decrease the CO2 emissions of the building by up 2 tons a year, the objective of the project is not “just” ecological.
Team skills and communication are said to be greatly improved through the gardening duties performed by the employees. They learn wholly new things and interact with each other in ways they would never encounter without, well, a watering can! Not a bad advertisement for a human resources firm!
The rice paddy is harvested three times a year; the cultivation facilities are an improvement on usual natural conditions which yields just one annual crop. Each time the Pasona farmers can get 50kg of rice from the field. This is then used in the staff canteen on the ninth storey; though it doesn’t feed all two thousand employees in the building it adds up to roughly three thousand onigiri rice balls a year.
The second floor meeting space, with its wooden furniture and green surroundings, also leads to relaxed, informal and, perhaps, better use of time. The office and desk areas are also apparently green: this is an experiment in creating a new kind of work place, as much as an eco project.
Beverages company Suntory is currently running a tie-up campaign with a long-running TV comedy show that gives consumers a chance to win one of eighteen kinds of eco solar bags.
Up to ten thousand people will receive a bag as part of the “Solar Lucky Bag” (ソーラー福バッグ) campaign. Lucky Bags are of course usually the blind purchases common in Japanese retail in the New Year sales, where you buy a sealed bag, which may or may not be filled with items ordinarily worth many times the package price.
Shoten (笑点, or “laughing point”) has been on TV for over forty years and its crew of old and young kimono-clad comics are household names, especially amongst the older generation. The show format is a competition between the men to see who can say the funniest gags, being rewarded with more zabuton cushions (obviously, the winning comic ends up suspended a few inches from the stage!).
To enter the campaign you need to collect twelve seal stickers from Suntory drinks, including Jokki, Kinmugi, and other popular beer or happoshu products.
The solar bag charges up a battery through its solar panel. You can then use this to power your mobile phone or other gaming device.
This campaign, which was first run in 2007, cleverly taps a key consumer base for Suntory’s cheap beer (salarymen drinking at home) and something they like (a treasured, long-running TV series). Given how a lot of the eco consumer trends have focused on “cooler” things like fashion and design, it is refreshing to see eco (and mobile culture) awareness being raised amongst a different demographic.
It’s also a logical pairing of two things most people like to do: drinking and laughing!
When we were scouting the FABEX 2010 trade show for food and drink developments we came across these new bento boxes (お弁当, or “lunchbox”). Debuted at the fair as part of the “Stylish Eco”, the One-Ori Hard from Acta is an eco product that also pays real lip service to design too.
Although the name might not slip off the tongue in English, the One-Ori Hard (ワン折りハード, “ori” means “fold”) comes in a range of funky colors and have three parts: a silicone lid (fully flexible depending on the model), a fold-up outer box, and a throw-away middle tray.
Once you’re done you just get rid of the tray, collapse the other parts and slip them into your bag. Throwing things away might not sound very eco but actually the materials are 40% lighter than typical bento box plastic.
The Acta staff told me that the company is currently starting negotiations with bento shops to form return systems using the One-Ori Hard. Obviously if you already have your own bento box it will likely be fully re-usable (and thus, totally “eco”). The issue is tackling the mountains of waste generated by the plastic disposable bento boxes from convenience stores and bento shops.
Acta’s attitude is great: rather than just focusing on ecology they created a product that looks fun too. Available in several colors, this is the kind of lifestyle accessory that you could definitely see people in Tokyo liking.
Back when I spoke at the PSFK conference in Singapore, fellow panelist (different panel) Mark Dytham shot me a look when I said I hadn’t been to Pecha-Kucha before. So, after making it to a few as an observer, I finally decided to do one myself to talk about our latest ECO Japan Innovation Report. As you can see, it’s harder than it looks, and often ends in stunned silence.
Tokyo can feel like a small world at times. Last weekend we were watching Toast Girl at the old Nanzuka Underground Gallery in Shibuya. Then this weekend we went to the current Nanzuka space in Shirokane to see the opening reception of Kosuke Tsumura’s “MODE less CODE”.
Fashion designer Tsumura created the exhibits out of fabrics, old plugs, LAN cables and even iPods. Everything was destined to become waste but he turned it into sculptures, using patchwork and knitting techniques.
We loved the concept behind the Touch Wood last year, NTT DOCOMO’s cypress phone. Now, once again mixing eco and design insights in that bravado way that only Japanese product designers seem to know, the Moku Deji (もくデジ or “Wood Digital”) series from Game Tech and With Smile Ltd. brings consumers natural wooden covers for their iPhone or Nintendo DS consoles.
It feels smooth and natural in the hand, and is arguably more eco than a plastic case (not just aesthetically of course, but also in the manufacturing process). The makers have used a warm mahogany for the outside cover and then, for the iPhone model, a velvet to cushion your handset inside. The results are, as you see, stunning.
Using only Japanese wood (saving on the carbon footprints from importing — disposable chopsticks brought in from China could learn a lot here), there are currently six models: the iPhone, iPod nano, iPod touch, DSLite, DSi, and DSi LL. You can even have a customized name or logo inscribed. Prices vary a bit, with the nano cover as low as 6,800 JPY (c.$76), the iPhone case at 9,600 JPY (c.$107) and the DS ones at around 16,000 JPY (c.$179).
We’ve been gathering resources and case studies on eco trends in Japan for years now. As part of our recent eco report we compiled a lot of them into categories in order to analyze their influence and global potential. Here’s a quick run-down of some of the coolest innovations we came across.
1. Eco-vending machines
Japan has 2.4 million beverage vending machines and this understandably consumes a vast amount of power. How can we support our mobile lifestyles while being kind to the planet? Well, there are prototypes being developed, including Fuji Electric’s E3 vending machines, which gets energy from a solar panel and insulates in the winter by growing moss on its side.
2. Solar powered electronics
Products such as those from Sanyo’s eneloop range prove that it is possible to be consumerist, mobile and eco at the same time. From their batteries that can be recharged 1,000 times to this portable solar panel, if you want to be green without setting up in a shack in the woods — then eneloop might be the solution. The panel serves as an auxiliary power source for your music player or iPhone, and can be put into your bag or held in your hand.
What’s more, though the totally solar-powered mobile phone might have some time to go, the main Japanese carriers are still pioneering handsets that at least offer some extra energy help from the sun. Softbank’s Solar Hybrid phone is waterproof and part-solar powered, with 10 minutes of solar charging equaling 1 minute of conversation.
3. Art visions
What would Tokyo look like if the pavement were suddenly replaced with grass? Well, the Green Island Project have turned this eco-warrior’s fantasy into art: a series of photographs that cleverly turn Tokyo streets into fields of green. The project is a collaborative effort between creative director Tag (Ryo Taguchi), photo retoucher IMKW (Imakawa), and contemporary artist-cum-coder Immr (Yuichiro Imamura).
Recycling and re-using materials is a major part of eco (that and cutting down energy consumption in the first place). Trust the Japanese to turn a good deed into a design dream. Just some of the great products made from old materials that we have particularly liked included (recently blogged) Seal brand’s bags and shoes (made from parts of old tires), Index’s eco chopsticks (from rice-based biomass plastic), and the Filt Waste Oil candles (below) (uses locally collected cooking oil waste and thrown-out glass jars).
5. Re-thinking packaging
Coca-Cola Japan’s l LOHAS is a bottled water product that makes an environmental stand (at least marketing-wise): its bottle design twists up neatly into a 12 gram piece of plastic, said to be 40% less than other PET bottles.
Ingenious, eco-friendly concepts are all around us, there’s no denying that. This one caught our eye because it’s pretty innovative, seemingly well thought out, and good looking to boot. The Turbine Light concept (which is going to be a part of the upcoming Greener Gadgets conference in New York City at the end of this month) harnesses the power of the wind from cars rushing past to light up the ever-darkening roadways. The turbines use the wind collected to generate energy for the lighting, and while the concept lacks a lot of firm details so far, but we’re sure to find out more about it soon — we’ll be sure to check them out at the conference on February 25th. Hit the source link to see more concepts, along with other people and companies who will be there.
Consumers love to buy cool shoes made from durable material, and Seal brand have taken this to an eco level. Collaborating with Hiroshima sneakers line Spingle Move, their latest product, Sneaker 101, is made using old tires.
More than just a green gimmick jumping on the eco bandwagon, the recycled material makes these shoes very water-resistant and long-lasting. And Seal brand didn’t stop at shoes: they have turned tires into bags, laptop cases, wallets and more. Design-lovers will definitely appreciate the sleek, black look that makes these ideal urban wear.
Seal’s products also tap into the crafts revival happening in Japan — each accessory is hand-made by artisans in Edogawa-ku, the old part of Tokyo. And the makers put their money where their heart is: Seal also donates one seedling for every item sold, along with 1% of their sales to the WWF.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
[Image courtesy of 
