November 06, 2024
Sustainable Japan Grand Prize: World Heritage Iwami Ginzan (Omoricho, Oda, Shimane Pref.)
Nakamura Brace Co. Ltd.
Noburo Nakamura
President, Nakamura Brace Co. Ltd.
Thank you very much for selecting us for the Grand Prize of the Sustainable Japan Award in the satoyama category. We are truly grateful.
This year marks the 50th anniversary since our company was founded in 1974 near the Iwami Ginzan silver mine. To receive such a high evaluation in that year is an honor.
Fifty years ago, Toshiro Nakamura, the company chairman, returned from his training in the U.S. and started Nakamura Brace with a single-minded determination to do something about his dying hometown and make Iwami Ginzan a world-class silver mine once again. He started with a corset he made for his uncle for ¥12,300. Though at a snail’s pace, the number of patients gradually increased.
When the company slowly began to make a profit, we started to rehabilitate old houses one by one. At first, the houses were used as dormitories and residences for employees, and later as souvenir shops, restaurants, lodging facilities, the world’s smallest opera house, etc. To date, we have renovated 65 old private houses. Today, U- and I-turners who want to live in Iwami Ginzan live in those houses, as well as our employees, making use of them and protecting and nurturing Iwami Ginzan. Seeing the increase in the number of children in local nursery and elementary schools is a true joy, and we are reassured of our strong beliefs. I would like to express my gratitude again to all the residents who love Iwami Ginzan and are trying to make it a better town, and above all to all the employees who have worked diligently and sincerely, making prosthetic devices every day for half a century in a town without convenience stores.
We will continue to think about what we can do for patients in need in Iwami Ginzan, and continue to make human-friendly products that will make people happy.
Iwami Ginzan Gungendo Group Co. Ltd.
Tadashi Matsuba
PRESIDENT, Iwami Ginzan Gungendo Group Co. Ltd.
We are very honored to receive this award. Our company was founded in the Omoricho area near the Iwami Ginzan silver mine, a small town with a population of 400. We have continued to seek sustainable businesses based on the concept of “livelihood with roots,” focusing on local culture and history, and Japanese craftsmanship. We are very pleased that our long-standing efforts have been recognized and appreciated in the form of a joint award with Nakamura Brace.
Founded in 1988, at a time when Japan was in the midst of its bubble economy, the founders, Daikichi and Tomi Matsuba, rediscovered values that had been overlooked in the age of mass production and mass consumption, and collected fabric scraps from sewing factories. We have been putting the Japanese spirit of “mottainai” (waste nothing) into our products. In cooperation with Japanese textile production areas, we are currently proposing to incorporate into our daily livesJapanese fabrics that should be preserved.
In order to carry on the beautiful lifestyle and culture of Japan, we would also like to introduce not only our fabric products but the Iwami Ginzan lifestyle to the world. In 2027, the Iwami Ginzan silver mine will celebrate the 500th anniversary of its discovery. Iwami Ginzan was once world-renowned for its silver, but from now on, we will strive to make the satoyama lifestyle world-renowned and bring the unique brilliance of Iwami Ginzan to the world.
We will use this award as an opportunity to grow with the local community and continue our efforts to build a sustainable future. We look forward to your continued support and guidance.
Reason for the award:
These two companies founded in the Omoricho area of Oda around the Iwami Ginzan silver mine, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007, have worked to achieve a sustainable local economy while maintaining Omoricho’s population of approximately 400 people.
Nakamura Brace Co. Ltd. established a prosthetic device factory in 1974, and the Iwami Ginzan Gungendo Group has been making textiles and household goods since 1989, promoting manufacturing rooted in the community and the Japanese textile industry’s rich history and technology. Both were founded by husband-and-wife couples from Omoricho.
The Iwami Ginzan Gungendo Group continues to build on a history of working and raising children locally and passing on activities like the restoration of old homes and the operation of support facilities for the disabled, preparing for the future while also attracting the youth of today.
