Workers of Ecoasu in Umaji, Kochi Prefecture, show wooden bags in various designs and sizes in front of cedar logs.
Cedar logs from forest thinning are sliced into 0.5-mm-thin sheets in Umaji, Kochi Prefecture.
The village of Umaji in Kochi Prefecture has managed to put on track the business of creating unique items from cedar logs that come out as a result of forest thinning.
Ecoasu, a joint public-private venture enterprise which is working on revitalizing the forestry industry in the district, is engaged in the whole process from thinning forests to manufacturing products.
The firm’s top selling product is “monacca,” wooden bags created from wood slices. Logs are first sliced into 0.5-mm-thin sheets. Then six sheets are glued
A layer of wooden sheets are processed into the shape of a bag with a pressing tool in Umaji, Kochi Prefecture.
together, molded into the shape of a bag with a pressing tool and are completed after fasteners are sewn on and coating is done.
The bags, priced at 22,000 yen or more plus tax, have proven popular overseas, and were sold at a store inside the Museum of Modern Arts in New York.
Francesco Fabbiani, 45, an Italian company owner who bought the bag at a
Ecoasu in Umaji, Kochi Prefecture, also creates name cards from cedar sheets.
shop in Tokyo, said he likes the texture of the bag, adding that it reminds him of the forests in his hometown.