Materials created by man are returned to nature by human hands.
［Green Composite Hills by hide k 1896 is an industry-academia-government consortium for building a circular economy in which materials, products, consumers, and regeneration circulate.
We aim to establish a system for resource recycling by establishing "traceability" in conjunction with end-product manufacturers and the market, centered on environmentally friendly materials.
As a part of the "Green Composite Hills by hide k 1896® ", an industry-academia-government circular economy consortium organized by hide kasuga 1896 Co. The pen case (design by Kengo Kuma) made of TRANSWOOD® with Prasus® , an environmentally friendly material blended with wood flour from forest thinnings in Nagano City and biomass plastic (manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals Group), will be used by students of Nagano City Tobu Junior High School for one year, and then upcycled in stages into new products with new added value to foster awareness of a recycling society. After the benches are installed in the precincts of Zenkoji Temple for about one year, the plan is to upcycle them into artworks.
step 01
2023 Pen case
Pencil cases made of TRANSWOOD® with Prasus®, an environmentally friendly material designed by architect Kengo Kuma, were distributed to students at Nagano City Tobu Junior High School and used for one year. In addition, as a joint research project with the Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, we conducted a questionnaire survey on sensitivity evaluation and environmental awareness among students.
step 02
2024 Bench
Pencil cases used by students for one year were collected and upcycled into benches made of TRANSWOOD® withPrasus®. The benches were dedicated to Zenkoji Temple (Nagano, Japan) and installed in the temple grounds.
Since 2023, Ichihara City has taken the initiative in implementing this project in cooperation with Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. and hide kasuga 1896, in order to promote understanding of the circular economy through the experience of using, collecting, and upcycling pencil cases made of environmentally friendly materials in an integrated manner. Ltd. and hide kasuga 1896, Inc.
step 01
2023 Pen case
The pen cases made of TRANSWOOD® with Prasus®, an environmentally friendly material designed by architect Kengo Kuma, were used for about 250 students at Minamisou Junior High School. A symposium was held to commemorate the start of this project (Mr. Joji Koide (Ichihara City Mayor) x Mr. Osamu Hashimoto (President & CEO, Mitsui Chemicals) x Hideyuki Kasuga).
step 02
2025 Bench
Pencil cases used by students for one year were collected and upcycled into benches made of TRANSWOOD® with Prasus®. The benches were installed at Minamisou Junior High School.
