SMASELL Sustainable Community - Japan
Shayla SakoraEyes on Sustainable Living in Japan
Safia met Tsuyoshi Fukuya, when she was attending the World Expo, as a speaker in Osaka – 12 sustainable fashion and sustainable living pioneers met for lunch and they hit it off. Fukuya mentioned the sustainable living community that he recently founded and Safia was reminded of the Global Village/ People Tree community that she set up over 30 years ago in Japan. “People Tree was a leader in Japan, and later in Europe, partnering with farmers and artisanal groups, developing a range of natural and fair trade foods, fashion and crafts, selling in over 500 shops and social enterprises around Japan. The selling of products was important, but equally important is providing a space to talk, think and promote awareness of social injustice and environmental degradation and action – and that’s always easier to do together with others,” says Safia Minney. Safia was thrilled to learn about the Osaka community. Fukuya offered to take her straight there, and after a short train ride – this is a short article from the trip.
Why doesn’t every city have a sustainable store like this? One that celebrates sustainable, upcycled, and crafted fashion, furniture, plant-based foods, eco- and ethically sourced gifts, children’s toys, and book swapping, along with live music in the evenings…. (Does anyone with access to finance want to develop one?)
We are grateful to bring you Fukuya and his team for their incredible and inspiring work.
→ My name is Fukuya, and I am the CEO of WEFABRIK Inc. Our company was established to solve the problem of 300 billion pieces of clothing being disposed of annually. I previously worked for a Japanese textile trading company for around 10 years, during which time we produced large quantities of goods, sometimes keeping them and sometimes throwing them away, so I started my own company with the aim of changing this industry.
What motivated you to start SMASELL Sustainable Community and what does SMASELL mean? What are your inspirations for the project?
→The company originally operated a platform called SMASELL, an online outlet site where people can purchase collected used clothing and brand deadstock at up to 95% off, with around 300,000 registered users.
When making a purchase, the amount of CO2 emissions reduced for each item is visible, providing an opportunity to raise awareness of the impact of fashion waste as well as a way to make buy items more affordably.
SMASELL Sustainable Commune, our first in-person location, is not just a fashion complex, but also a multifaceted space that encompasses food, drink, and lifestyle, allowing people to experience the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) while enjoying food, clothing, and shelter. The facility was created by renovating an abandoned ironworks factory and includes a cafe renovated from a decommissioned London bus, all powered by renewable energy. Its primary function is as a shopping centre, but it also includes a cafe, gallery, and live music venue, making it a space with a fresh concept.
How did you get it going? Raise the money? Build the team? Decide on live music etc (Built on abandoned land in a disused factory, etc - amazing story) :D
→ We were able to get the project off the ground thanks to raising around 25 million yen (approx. £125,000) through the crowdfunding site FUNDINNO and support from the landlord. The team consists of the facility director and part-time students from fashion schools and other institutions. We also able to run the project with the help and cooperation of staff from sustainability-oriented tenant companies who operate stores within the facility to run the project.
We are only open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, so at other times we lease the space to companies for use as offices and rental areas.
This time, we aim not only to create memorable experiences of food, music, art, and
fashion that can only be experienced in person, but also to build deep human
relationships with customers and participating brands (sustainable communes).
[PHOENIX LABO PROJECT] Yoshiokubo x SMASELL
https://www.smasell.jp/sp/
It's a community where entrepreneurs and citizens like Safia and the supply chain surrounding her work toward the same goal of creating a better fashion industry. There are limits to what an individual or a single company can do alone, so I believe that communities like this can have a major social impact. This has something in common with our SMASELL Sustainable Commune, and I really empathize with it.
1 comment
Such a beautiful way to live – hard to believe it’s not how the whole world works!