At One&Co, 10 award-winning works are on display in collaboration with Omotenashi Selection. These winning entries are chosen by foreigners living in Japan who have been asked to vote for them based on their opinion of what constitutes an excellent traditional Japanese product.
Even with current travel restrictions, you are still able to experience the history, culture, technology, and beauty of Japan while in Singapore simply by coming to One&Co.
In this series, we would like to introduce the function and design of the products, and background of the Japanese traditional artists.
This time, we interviewed Mr. Takashima of ZIPANG Co., Ltd., who created “BOTTLE ARMOR”. The product is designed based on a traditional samurai armor and matched with a bottle of sake. Mr. Takashima wishes “BOTTLE ARMOR” to be known by many people from around the world.
―First of all, please give us an introduction to your business.
The armor that my family gave to me when I was a child has not faded for more than 40 years. Every time I look at it, its appearance reminds me of the love from my family. It also gives me courage, hope, and the power to move forward. We would like to introduce Japanese “treasures” such as traditional crafts and high-quality materials that have been passed down over the years by using them to create modern-styled products. One example is “BOTTLE ARMOR”. It is a fusion of a traditional Japanese armor with Japanese sake.
―Can you introduce the award-winning products?
Due to the combination of armor and sake, the product is not only for the festival of Tango (celebrating boys’ health), but also relevant in various scenes from various seasons. (Birth celebration, health prayer, company establishment celebration, prosperity celebration, birthday, adult celebration, 60th birthday, retirement age, retirement celebration, prayer for victory, championship celebration, bottle keep, drink menu, room decoration and so on.) I hope people use this product during various occasions.
―Please tell us how you got the idea for the product.
I decided to make this product because I wanted to change the current situation where the demand for armor is decreasing due to changes in lifestyle, declining birth rate as well as the dwindling number of traditional craftsmen. Similarly, domestic demand for sake is on the decline. We wanted to create a product that combines two unique Japanese traditional arts, armor and sake, so that the product can be on the market throughout the year as a celebratory drink.
Above all, we want to emphasize the feelings and “heart” of the creator. The armor is entirely handmade, going through approximately 2500 steps to completion. By doing so, the creators put their heart and soul into their craft. The product is finally complete after adding the thoughts of the sender. I hope that those who receive this product will appreciate the many feelings contained in the product.
―What kind of difficulties did you have before commercializing it?
It was difficult to design an armor which wouldn’t lose its beauty and overall shape after putting on a liquor bottle. Initially, we started with a 1.8 liter bottle, but we realized that this exceeded the size limit for bottles carried onto planes, so we took another year to reduce the size to 720 ml. As a result, because of the smaller size, people can carry it easily and decorate it with limited space.
―What are the “issues” and “potentials” beyond this current Covid situation?
Due to the declining birth rate and modern living style, people don’t celebrate the festival of Tango as often as before, so our domestic market was not doing very well. In addition to that, there is a new challenge from the Covid-19 pandemic, and tourism in Japan has dropped to almost zero. I am concerned that the people who are involved in traditional crafts will go out of business.
The potential is we have been able to constantly increase our sales at duty-free shops at the airports. Since Japan’s samurai art is highly regarded by foreigners, there is great potential if we can take orders from around the world through cross-border electronic commerce. We also hope to collaborate with Japanese manga artists, their characters, and high-end brands around the world.
―Please give us your goal for the future.
Although It is a tough time for inbound businesses, by using social media and other modern technologies, we believe that we will be able to reach out to more people and get them to be interested in original armor. Before, most of these were the armors of famous military commanders, but now it is possible to customize your own armor based on individual preferences. Now that the world is becoming more “digital”, I would like to continue making original armors as proof that I have lived in “analog” and leave this as a gift for future generations.
Right
Ichiro Takashima
Director, ZIPANG Corporation
Director, Kanda Kogyo Co. Ltd, (Electronic Components Manufacturing Industry)
Representative Director, MIRAIBAR Inc., (IOT Device Ventures)
Left
Yasuhiro Okoshi
Technical Advisor, ZIPANG Corporation
Traditional Craftsman, 3rd generation, Tadayasu-Kacchu Corporation
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