“Let’s gather steam for the Expo, involving all players in Kyoto,” said Hando loudly with a powerful voice.

He said that at a session for experiencing the assembly of a bench held at the head office of Ace Japan, which is located in Seika Town, Kyoto in December. On that day, that session was attended by 22 students of Uji Makishima Junior High School, who had cooperated in producing chips for benches after cutting down the trees on their schoolyard, etc., and related officials of the prefecture. They will offer an enormous number of benches, that is, 2,000 benches for 4,000 seats to the Expo site. By taking advantage of this opportunity, Hando hopes to involve as many people as possible. This is derived from his wisdom and commitment.

At the factory, the students saw the processes using a press machine. They nodded in response to an explanation: “Wooden chips are compressed with a pressure of 620 tons equivalent to the force of 30 large-sized vehicles.” Chips produced by pulverizing the branches and leaves collected by the students are converted into a wooden board. When assembling a bench, a pair of students applied an adhesive to the back side of a seat, shoved parts cut out from the wooden board, and produced a bench with two seats. Ichika Shimizu serving as president of the student council said, “I didn’t expect this form when collecting trees which had been cut down. I also understood that these benches are environment-conscious. I want to go to the Expo and find the benches we produced.” Kiyohiko Sugimoto serving as principal exulted, “We were able to participate in the creation of dream benches on which people from around the world would sit. I’m excited,” while seeing the students assembling the benches.

One of the characteristics of the Co-Design Challenge is the fact that “you can participate without a large amount of capital.” This project is attributable to the prowess of Hando, who has grown the company from a start-up. He approached forest owners’ cooperatives and others throughout Kyoto Prefecture, to collect 700 bags of unused lumber from forest thinning for producing 2,000 wooden boards while 1 bag weighs 300 kg. They plan to transport a large number of completed benches by heavy-duty truck to the venue of the Expo in 4 days by utilizing the strengths of their own transportation business, and set up them at the venue.

What motivates Hando is a warning about the rapid destruction of the environment. He worries that destruction is rapid, but it will take a lot of time and labor to restore it. Therefore, he hopes to cooperate with as many people as possible, including young generations. “I hope to join hands with everyone to solve environmental issues.” He has kept these words in mind.

As Hando has proceeded with this project while utilizing the ingenuity of every project member, he feels that the interest in the Expo is growing, saying, “As an enterprise, we strongly feel proud of participating in the Expo amid the present chaotic age.” A landscape we have not yet seen is about to come into sight. The endeavor originating from Kyoto is aimed at a higher level with the Expo as a turning point.

Mr. Keita Hando, Representative Director of Ace Japan, explaining the process of producing a bench

Scene of the session for experiencing the assembly of a bench