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POP UP at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
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We are a brand that creates diverse resource circulation.
Paragliders have nowhere to go, having completed their flying duties due to strict safety standards.
We have started a project to recycle these materials as terrestrial resources by collecting and dismantling them and turning them into bags at our base, HOZUBAG Mfg., in Kameoka, Kyoto.
Additionally, through a variety of approaches, such as bags made from fabric recycled from PET bottles, the company aims to create a society where resources are recycled, while also working to revitalize local communities and create jobs.
Their signature item, a bag made from salvaged used paragliders, is characterized by its lightness and durability.
Another big attraction is that each machine has a different color and the appearance changes depending on where it is cut.
Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture, is a local government that announced the "Kameoka Plastic Waste Zero Declaration" in 2018 and is currently undertaking various initiatives with the aim of eliminating disposable plastic waste by 2030.
The project began when the city asked us to hold an event to raise awareness about eco-bags using paragliding fabric.
At that time, we told Kameoka City that we did not want this to be a one-time event.
If we were going to do it, we wanted to take action that would fundamentally change society, even if it was small.
Therefore, we proposed to create a base in Kameoka City to produce eco-bags using recovered paragliders and to hold a "kick-off event" to lead to ongoing activities.
To our surprise, Kameoka City responded positively, saying, "We understand. Let's establish a base here."
That was the moment when "HOZUBAG" was born.
A conversation between Takahiro Katsuragawa, Mayor of Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture, and Akira Takeuchi, founder of HOZUBAG (2020)
Workshop in Kameoka
The big bag used in the installation was spread out in the venue, and each person cut out their favorite part,
A workshop was held where people could sew the fabric into eco-bags to take home, and around 200 people participated.
Establishment of HOZUBAG Mfg.
In order to recycle paragliders into bags, processes such as dismantling and cleaning the aircraft to accommodate its complex structure, as well as cutting the curved material, are required, and the reality is that these processes are difficult for existing sewing factories to handle.
We thought that by establishing a base where these processes could be carried out consistently, we could create a new route for recycling resources, so we renovated an old house in the city and established HOZUBAG Mfg.
The establishment of this base has created the first "receiver" for paragliding lessons and privately owned used aircraft from all over the country.
An unexpected start to sales
In November 2019, HOZUBAG held its first exhibition at the Palais Royal in Paris, a first for the brand prior to its launch in Japan.
Based on the idea of "striving for borderless, stateless activities," multiple samples were prepared and an exhibition was held.
This caught the eye of the contemporary art bookstore Yvon Lambert Bookshop, which decided to carry all of the bags, leading to an unexpected debut in Paris.
HOZUBAG made from balloons
The paraglider dismantling factory and the bag manufacturing base were all unprecedented challenges.
Meanwhile, in 2021, we received a new request from the souvenir shop "sagair" in conjunction with the renovation of the Saga International Airport terminal building.
The request was, "We would like you to make a HOZUBAG using a balloon envelope."
Saga Prefecture is the host city of the Saga International Balloon Fiesta, Asia's largest international hot air balloon event. Over 100 balloons gather from all over the world to color the sky at this event.
We received the balloons that were used in the event and created and sold special HOZUBAGs exclusive to sagair.
The expanding HOZUBAG
In 2022, HOZUBAG began to be sold at the MoMA Design Store, the official museum shop of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
After undergoing rigorous screening in the US, the product is now available for sale at three flagship stores in Japan.
The following year, in 2023, the HOZUBAG Tote XL was adopted as an amenity item at NOT A HOTEL AOSHIMA, operated by NOT A HOTEL, a lifestyle service whose vision is to "make the world more fun and free."
Submitted to "Fashion in Japan 1945-2020 - Trends and Society"
In 2021, HOZUBAG exhibited at an exhibition held at the National Art Center, Tokyo.
This exhibition captures the history of Japanese fashion from the post-war period to the future, and HOZUBAG is exhibited in the "Fashion for the Future" section.
The group of dismantled paragliders hanging from the 8.5 meter high ceiling were a striking presence within the museum.
Exhibition at SONY PARK mini
In the fall of 2022, HOZUBAG held his first solo exhibition in Japan at Sony Park Mini in Ginza, Tokyo.
Sony Park Mini is an experimental pop-up space located on the first basement floor of the Nishi Ginza Parking Lot adjacent to Ginza Sony Park, and is approximately 30 square meters in size, housing a coffee stand and gallery.
Based on the concept of "continuing to run a program that allows you to feel the pulse of the artist," HOZUBAG's products were neatly displayed in this space that functioned as a "white space" created in the city, and many visitors experienced the worldview of the brand over a cup of coffee.
Water turns from the sea into clouds
Eventually it falls as rain on the mountains
Like flowing down a river to the sea
A very natural cycle
HOZUBAG creates it modestly.
Activities and products that create a cycle of terrestrial resources are called "HOZUBAG."
Representative Akira Takeuchi