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- Development story （English）
“Pursue your dreams and your days will be joy”
Historic firsts to excite people the world over! 8 types of unique product
When I made my move from the economic center of Japan to the little village of Arita in western Kyushu, sales of Arita porcelain had plummeted to one-third of their 1990 peak, putting the local economy in a dire situation. Eighty percent of Arita’s storefronts have some connection to Arita porcelain, so when it fails to sell, our company’s packaging solutions and all business in the town also enter dire straits. It would not be going too far to say that the town could collapse.
I felt a sense of crisis on seeing the condition of the town, and thought to myself, “I want to revitalize this town. I want to bring happiness to all the people of the world through Arita porcelain.” However, the average person on the street knows nothing about pottery these days. In the midst of my anguish, I became ill and was hospitalized. At that time, I had a wooden kaleidoscope brought in to aid with my healing process. When I showed the kaleidoscope to the bedridden grandmother neighboring my hospital bed, she said, “How beautiful! Please let me see this every day!” As she looked through the kaleidoscope she smiled and seemed to regain some of her energy, and the nurses marveled that she seemed to have had a great weight lifted from her.
I thought to myself that I would like to use Arita porcelain to make a kaleidoscope of this kind which has the power to move people, give them the power to live and new dreams. This was the spark that drove my invention. As I was still on death’s door from cancer, I dictated my will to my family, but now I offered a dream as well: “If I leave this hospital alive, let’s make a kaleidoscope from Arita porcelain.” On the wall, I wrote a saying of K?・nosuke Matsushita to encourage me: “Pursue your dreams and your days will be joy.”
The quotation proceeds, “I want to do something. I want to go to someplace. Anything, anywhere is fine. Having a dream for the future provides richness to life.”
Happily, I was released from the hospital. I assembled the knowledge of kaleidoscope makers and Arita’s greatest kilns and craftsmen of various fields, and within a year we were able to complete the world’s first Arita Porcelain Kaleidoscope. We received support from national, prefectural, and local institutions and businesses. And that unique, original, brand new Arita Porcelain Kaleidoscope was highly praised not only within Japan, but also throughout the world.
Historic firsts: our unique product line
When we exhibited at the 2007 Kaleidoscope Expo in the United States, our high quality Arita patterns handmade by artisans fetched fine prices and sold briskly. In Japan, Arita porcelain has been pushed to the brink by a price war and many artisans have been laid off, so I thought this sort of exposition might provide a way to show off the fine work of Arita’s artisans.My next thought was an Arita fountain pen achieved through collaboration. In Europe, a fountain pen is said to be like a third business card and a status symbol commanding millions of yen. Working together with the Sailor fountain pen company with international brand power and stores around the world, we took two years to bring our fountain pen to market. At the 2008 T?・yako G8 Summit conducted in Japan, the Japanese government presented a pen to each of the world leaders present. It was well received, and in 2009, it was awarded the Excellence Prize of the Seventh Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Awards by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Afterwards, we collaborated with global music box brand Reuge on an Arita porcelain music box, and developed an Arita porcelain wristwatch in collaboration with Swiss national treasure watchmaker Paul Gerber. These were exhibited at Baselworld in Switzerland, and the watch face received top marks from reviewers around the world.
Other unique products we have developed include mobilizing masters of Sakai cutlery and combining their masterpieces with Arita ware to make the Arita Porcelain Sakai Cutlery, as well as Musée Glass, built on the pedestal of artisans from across the country.
With over 400 years of history, Arita porcelain’s traditional techniques have been handed down from countless ancestors who put their hearts into perfecting the technologies. I want to offer them my gratitude.
The art of Arita porcelain
“We want to tell the world about this amazing Arita porcelain, and we want to revitalize the town of Arita.”
With those two wishes in our hearts, we developed 8 different kinds of brand-new, unique, high quality products, 130 models in all.
Our company’s specialties
（１）Aim for unique, first-ever, top-quality products, using advanced technology and quality materials in collaboration with Japan and global number one businesses.
- Unique, first-ever products, with nothing like them anywhere on the market.
- Through collaborations with number one businesses in their fields,
we can achieve high quality results.
The kaleidoscope was the collective work of 12 different fields of knowledge and expertise, including the support of world class kaleidoscope makers Koji Yamami and Yasuko Nakazato, and the famous porcelain makers Koransha and Geniemon in Arita, as well as Arita glassmaker Shoko Soejima.
The fountain pen and ball pen were collaborations with the global brand Sailor.
The usic box was a collaboration with the world-reknowned Reuge company.
The watch was a collaboration with Paul Gerber, winner of the Gaia Award, the Nobel Prize of the watchmaking industry.
The cutlery was a collaboration with a famous expert in Sakai cutlery.
We have been highly regarded for our collaborations with Risogama’s Shinji Terauchi and
Sakai City’s monodzukuri master Jun’ichi Tanhara who have brand name businesses
with a global sales network.
（２）Grow definitive strengths.
I feel that Arita porcelain, with its history of 400 years, has three treasures.
First, amazing technology produces beautiful products that are moving when held in the hand.
Second, that beauty will not fade even after 500 years. It can become the treasure of a household.
Third, it can be adapted to all sorts of other uses.
The greatest strength of Arita porcelain is that we can be proud of it as a type of fine art
which has the power to move people.
The eight unique, original products I have developed are built on the above three strengths.
（３）Weak material becomes strong product through innovative technologies.
When Arita porcelain is fired in a kiln, it shrinks in size by 13%.
When a hollow object like a kaleidoscope or fountain pen is fired in a kiln, slight differences appear in the size of each one.
The products I was aiming to produce could not be completed without fitting them to advanced technologies such as ultra-precision metal fittings and glass. Therefore, no one had ever tried them before.
To heighten the purity of our porcelain, we attempted to purify the kaolin, changed the place and method of firing, and developed new designs.
Our closing move was found in a new polishing technology developed by Koransha, known for their porcelain insulators and new ceramics.
Improving further on this technology, we were able to overcome our difficulties.
For our fountain pen, we sought to reach a consistent size within a few millimeters for both the internal and external pieces. Here, too, new polishing technologies were able to resolve our problems. For the face of the watch in particular, we required a precise diameter of 33.2mm and a thickness of just 0.6mm, and this, too, was made possible by improved polishing technologies.
Truly, we were made to study K?・nosuke Matsushita’s teachings: “Every crisis is an opportunity. The way has no limits. Success means continuing until you succeed.”
（４）Strengthening Arita’s weak brand power and sales network.
We look frankly at Arita porcelain’s strengths and weaknesses. Its strengths are producing a product which has the power to move and inspire customers. But its weakness is that its brand power and sales network are weak in foreign markets.
Through the development of unique, world’s-first products in collaboration with global brands with considerable sales network, we are continuing to accumulate fans from throughout the world.
■Accomplishments of our products up until now
（１） Sale of the Arita porcelain kaleidoscope
Over 40,000 have been sold, with a constant annual sales base making it a long-selling item.
１．Popular with OEM products (collaborating with organizations and overseas brands, etc.)
２．Can be sold by high class merchants and department stores
３．Also enjoyed by inbound (foreign) customers as a souvenir.
（２）Sale of the Arita porcelain fountain pen
We are developing billion yen markets inside and outside of the country.
１．After being presented at the 2008 T?・yako G8 Summit, we sold over 2000 fountain pens inside and outside of the country. We are currently making OEM products in collaboration with various businesses.
２．Special edition pens were created to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Arita porcelain. (8 types, customizable into 96 styles)
（３）Other
１．The Arita Porcelain Watch has been manufactured and sold in 10 different varieties inside and outside of the country
２．We have produced liquor bottles in collaboration with Kuma Shochu (Sengetsu Shuzo).
English / Japanese
