Hand towel woven by the wind - Imabari's challenge and rebirth, September 2006

Hand towel woven by the wind - Imabari's challenge and rebirth, September 2006

In 2006, Ikeuchi Towel in Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, attracted attention with a unique product called "Towel Woven by Wind," woven by wind power generation. The company's initiative, which allocated electricity generated by wind power to the manufacturing process using Green Power Certificates, a certification of natural energy, was in line with the prevailing climate at the time, when global warming countermeasures were in full swing. In Japan, not long after the Kyoto Protocol came into effect, the introduction of renewable energy and the question of corporate environmental responsibility began to be raised, and the term CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) was gaining popularity.

Imabari had long flourished as a town with a thriving towel industry, but it was being pushed out by inexpensive imports, and differentiation was required to survive. Ikeuchi Towel chose the path of converting environmental friendliness into product value, and incorporated its technology and philosophy into the concept of "weaving with the wind. This was not mere PR, but a quiet yet innovative system whereby yarn spun by wind power actually reaches the hands of the consumer.

This product became a symbol of incorporating the power of wind into daily life in a tangible way, and presented a new form of consumption in which consumers could "contribute to the environment by buying. The "Wind Woven Towel," which links tradition and innovation, local and global issues, has brought a new light to the textile industry in Imabari, while benefiting from the tailwind of the times.