Fuchu City is a hilly and mountainous region located in the southeast of Hiroshima Prefecture and considered as one of the cities at risk of disappearing; however, it is striving to transform into a city of manufacturing that evolves by utilizing traditional techniques while following the fashion of the day. What will be sent out to the Expo from the peaceful countryside through the Co-Design Challenge is the stools produced by a picture frame maker that uses the mountain scenery as a source of inspiration. Behind it is a story of making a comeback by transforming weaknesses into strengths.

　Fuchu no Antenna, a specified non-profit organization, was set up in 2011 under the slogan of creating a brighter and joyful local community. Mr. Naomasa Kotani, Vice Chairperson of Fuchu no Antenna, launched this project. While currently busying himself with trying to pass down the charm of the community to the next generations, he is one of many people who have returned to Fuchu City after leaving the city to go to university because he thought that there might be no future in Fuchu City. The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, however, is what made him decide to return to Fuchu City. Mr. Kotani worked at a company in Tokyo at that time, and he was on a business trip to Fukuoka Prefecture on the very day of the earthquake. He finally got back to Tokyo by overnight bus, only to find empty shelves at convenience stores and supermarkets. He realized that he would not be able to continue living in Tokyo. Considering the future of his child who was born in 2009, he and his family returned to Fuchu City in 2012. Then, he began to participate in projects led by Fuchu no Antenna through his connections in his hometown.

　Each leaf has a different color. This is one of the things that he found fascinating in Fuchu City when he started to miss the nature of his hometown he left once. While Fuchu City was a region thriving with such indigenous industries as fiber, woodworking, and metal, some companies have been taking on challenges by developing new products with the aim of finding market niches since managers of the next generation succeeded to the businesses. Fuchu no Antenna offers factory tours and workshop events under the name of Setouchi Factory View, which is giving Mr. Kotani some hopes and dreams. Hoping to show the potential of Fuchu City, he decided to participate in the Co-Design Challenge on the advice of the Chugoku Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry.

　He sought a partner and made contact with Dentou Kougei Co. Ltd., a company established in 1988. While Dentou Kougei started with manufacturing of such items as picture frames, folding screens, and tea ceremony utensils in Fuchu City, where Japanese calligraphy is popular, the company was confronted with a declining production volume due to lower-priced products imported from overseas. As a remarkable comeback attempt from the brink, Dentou Kougei embarked on production of furniture around 2012. Mr. Toshihiko Fukumaki, Representative Director and President of Dentou Kougei, took a retrospective glance by saying that he did not expect at all that they would produce furniture. However, the traditional techniques they have polished up through their business of producing picture frames helped them find a way out of the hardship. Elaborate handiwork makes exquisite beauty. What they will bring up to the Expo is wooden stools within which the spirit of the craftsmen lives.