(Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Hideyuki Kasuga) has won the grand prize in the "Shinshu Brand Award 2024 Happiness Shinshu Category" for its environmentally conscious material brand TRANSWOOD®. Hideyuki Kasuga, President and Representative Director of our company, participated in the "Shinshu Brand Award 2024 Announcement and Award Ceremony" held at the 21st Shinshu Brand Forum & Symposium (hosted by the Executive Committee of the Nagano Prefecture Shinshu Brand Forum) on March 7, 2025, as a grand prize winner.
ABOUT THE TRANSWOOD® BRAND OF ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MATERIALS
All-bio materials that circulate for 100 years
TRANSWOOD® IS A BRAND OF ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MATERIALS DESIGNED BY DR. HIDEYUKI KASUGA (DOCTOR OF ENGINEERING) BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF "MATERIALS THAT CAN BE RECYCLED FOR 100 YEARS. TRANSWOOD® IS AN ALL-BIO, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY COMPOSITE MATERIAL THAT COMBINES WOOD-DERIVED MATERIALS AND BIOMASS RESIN MADE FROM WASTE COOKING OIL AND OTHER MATERIALS. IT CAN BE USED FOR TABLEWARE, FURNITURE, HOME APPLIANCES, AUTOMOBILE INTERIORS, STRUCTURAL MATERIALS, ETC. WITHOUT LOSING ITS STRENGTH.
Profile of Hideyuki Kasuga, founder of the brand
Hideyuki Kasuga. Born in Nagano, Japan. Doctor of Engineering, representative of "hide kasuga group" which promotes the construction of CE (Circular Economy). Founder and owner of environmentally conscious brands BLANC BIJOU PARIS®, hide k 1896®, and TRANSWOOD®. He is engaged in the social implementation of the circular economy, from the development of environmentally friendly materials and products to the establishment of recycling schemes. He also provides various companies with consultation on the establishment of a circular economy by utilizing the know-how of his own brand. In the field of education, he is involved in human resource development as a specially-appointed professor at Shinshu University and a guest lecturer at Waseda University. He is an advocate of "2021 Modernisme®," a lifestyle based in Japan that fuses the old and new.
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About Shinshu Brand Award
Organizers: Nagano Design Promotion Association (representative organization), Nagano Prefecture, Nagano Employers' Association, Nagano Prefecture Federation of Small Business Association, Nagano Prefecture Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nagano Prefecture Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shinshu University, Nagano University, Matsumoto University
Source: Shinshu Brand Award HP https://sba.ndpa.jp/about/
The "Shinshu Brand Award" is an award for outstanding brands from Nagano Prefecture, and was started in 2004 as the "Shinshu Brand Design Award" to select and award outstanding designs of brands from Nagano Prefecture on the occasion of the "Shinshu Brand Forum". The following year, in 2005, the award was renamed the "Shinshu Brand Award" to reflect the fact that the brand itself was selected as the subject of the award.
When a region attempts to create a brand, the question arises as to what exactly constitutes a brand. The "Shinshu Brand Award" has been selected based on five unique indicators: "Orientation," "Expression," "Communication," "Regional Character," and "Continuity and Development.
The selected brands are products and services with unique appeal created based on the unique local resources of the region, the businesses and operators that provide them, and the region itself, which is their base. Each one is a factor that makes Nagano Prefecture's industry shine today, and is the goal of the brands that will follow in its footsteps. We hope that this award will serve as a catalyst for the creation of brands that surpass their predecessors and contribute to the independent development of local industry in the future.
