The Story behind Technology

The reason why Onewill started to develop this old and new technology was interesting. Onewill Co., ltd. used to import Canadian houses about ten years ago, but during their first construction, they became aware of the indoor air pollution because of the plastic wallpaper. It was even before the "sick house syndrome" became a social issue, but since the company vision was to "supply houses that are cool in summer, warm in winter, and healthy", they decided that it was conflicting their vision to supply such houses to their customers. According to Mr. Kohbuchi, who was in charge of the project at the time, they postponed the delivery date to bake out* the walls and also installed a ventilation system on all houses. This made the company start a quest in search of materials that won't do harm to people in order to fulfill their vision.

*bake out means to heat indoor air to let the chemical compounds come out of the material, and release it outdoors.

Most KEISO-DO (diatome earth) products use synthetic resin to keep the soil together for cost reasons, but KEISO-KUN really insists on not using chemicals.
The reason why this company developed this wall material stems on the background of the CEO, Mr. Iwamoto. His former profession was related to PPT products, and he insisted on creating a material without using synthetic resin, since that will ruin the virtue of the nature-born diatom earth. There are many local company owners that have this kind of "Soul" in Japan.

Their product has too many appealing points, and it is quite difficult to explain at once. Well it is my job to figure out a way to clearly communicate, but it is quite difficult! If you feel like using KEISO-KUN for your new house, or even for painting over your normal wall, please tell us which point grasped your heart!

It will look like this from near distance.→

KEISO-KUN

KEISO-KUN is the name of a wall paint /wall paper series including diatom earth supplied by Onewill Co., ltd.. Diatom earth is a "breathing soil", which can absorb and release moisture depending on humidity. There are quite a few diatom earth wall materials in Japan, but their product is different from others in three ways.

1. It includes about 40% diatom earth to maximize the effect of absorbtion

There are many products which claim to include diatom earth, but the amount varies, and of course it effects the ability to absorb water. You can actually feel how this wall material absorbs moisture at their showroom. The two doors lead to two small rooms with the same humidity, and when you touch the walls, you can feel that the one with ordinary plastic wall paper is wet, while the one with KEISO-KUN is slightly sweating but not so much. By data, it can breathe in 125g/m2 moisture in a room set at 30C and 95% humidity. This is twice as much as ordinary KEISO-DO wall material.

2. It uses lime paste instead of synthetic resin to keep the soil together

So what is good about using lime?
First of all, you need to use some kind of glue to stick the soil together, but you don't want it to be synthetic resin. By using lime, which is a natural glue also popular for old Japanese architecture, KEISO-KUN does not include chemical compounds that does harm to your health.
Secondly, lime is alkaline, which means it can prevent mold without using mildew-proofing agents. This was commonly known in old Japan, a wisdom of living in such humid country.
And third, formaldehyde〔HCHO〕in air is acid, so when the wall absorbs this compound from the air, the lime will neutralize it. This means that the wall can literally absorb (and won't release) harmful chemicals to prevent sickhouse syndrome!
Now this is technology... or even craftsmanship.

3. They developed a new technology from Soy-sauce?!

A soy sauce production company asked Onewill to do a research for recycling diatom earth after used for soy sauce production. Although it was too cost consuming to recycle the earth into wall paint, they figured out that Amino had a great effect on increasing the amount of moisture absorption. Onewill and the Kanagawa Industry & Technology Center conducted further research, and came out with this breathing wall that can inhale formaldehyde and control humidity.


The picture is the showroom of Onewill Co., ltd.. The statue of the elephant was brought from Thailand by the CEO. Elephants are said to be able to communicate at long distances using ultrasonic sound, and their message is that "direct communication is important in this world of electric communication". You can visit Onewill Showroom from Ohfuna Station (Tokaido Line). Contact Mr. Kohbuchi from 0467-43-1415 (Japanese only) or if you need assistance in English, call Ecotwaza at 042-573-5613 or email info@ecotwaza.com

Onewill Co., ltd. website (Japanese only)
http://www.onewill.co.jp/

Breathing Wall (KEISO-DO)

Have you ever heard of a breathing wall?

KEISO-DO, or diatom earth, is a common material for traditional Japanese architecture. Diatom earth is fossils of plankton taking the shape of soil. (Yes it is the similar to fossil fuel, only shaped differently)
It has numerous tiny holes which can absorb moisture and other small particles in the air, including harmful substances. The amazing thing is, it doesn't just absorb moisture when it is humid, it can also automaticaly release moisture into air when it is too dry.
In modern buildings, moisture control is a big issue since it consumes much energy. Keiso-do can be one way of reducing your use of air conditioner.

Tomorrow I will write about my visit to a showroom of Onewill Co. ltd., located in Ohfuna. Among the numerous KEISO-DO related materials, so far their product is the best. Amazing experience.

Kamakura Temples

Whenever a friend from abroad comes to Tokyo, I recommend to take a day or two to visit Kamakura. It is an old area in the Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. There was a shogunate government called the "Kamakura Bakufu" (1192-1333) around this area. Secured with mountains on three sides and the sea on the south, it was said to be a natural fortress. There are many temples in this area, they mey not be beautiful like churches, but are sublime and peaceful, a beauty of simplicity. The temples of Kamakura have a taste of ZEN Buddhism because ZEN came into Japan during this period and was a boom among the Samurais of Kamakura.

I visited Enkaku-ji Temple at Kita-Kamakura Station on Sunday with my business partner Naomi, saw the Shari-den (meditation room) which was luckily open to the public for Culture Day, and had some tea at a nearby cafe. Refreshing and inspiring. You can take the Shonan-Shinjuku / Yokosuka Line from cetral Tokyo. It is about an hour ride from Shinjuku and other major stations. If you are staying in Tokyo for a while, definately, Kamakura is a place you don't want to miss out!



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EDO is ECO Rule #7

REMEMBER THE SENSE OF AWE TOWARD WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE

It is so easy to forget about the "unseen" in this modernized world. The "unseen" doesn't necessarily mean God, or anything religious. As I wrote before, there are numerous spirits in Japan (expressed as the "Eight million Gods"). There are also many local "YOKAI"s, which are creatures that can be seen occasionally. YOKAI are different from ghosts, since they are alive and usually represent natural phenomena or certain types of people, rather a folklore than religion. People of the Edo period "saw" YOKAI often, and there are many documents left. Some examples (and please note that this is not the one and only explanation) would be a RYU (dragon) meaning flooded river, KAMAITACHI meaning a wind that cuts your skin. The boundary between god and Yokai is very vague. That is how close human was with natural phenomena. Nowadays, western science will analyze everything into categories, but there are things that cannot be explained so clearcut. The relation between nature and human should be like that too. Human is a part of nature, and of course there are many things that cannot be explained. Of course there are things that cannot be seen. It is time when we remember the existence of these unseen creatures and feel a sense of awe toward the magic of the natural cycle. YOKAI, just like nimphs and fairies, disappear when less people believe their existense. Let's leave some space in our heart for them...

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A Message from Tokyo to the World

After the Low Carbon Seminar (see the past four articles), all audiences participated in a workshop to create a message from Tokyo to the world.

70 people were devided into groups of 7 or 8, and were given different themes to talk about. The discussion was to be wrapped up into one sentence each. A wide range of people (from ages 0 to 60!) were participating, quite a hastle!

Some groups talked about the past, some talked about what kind of future they want to create, according to the given theme.

And the sentenses they came up made a single long message from Tokyo to the world.


Today, we learned we have to take an action with our family and friends.
Reflecting our everyday life, although we think important of environment we sometimes act against it.
ECO is our DNA!
Starting today, we will choose Eco-friendly products.
For our next generation, we will compensate our negative impact. Think together, act together continuously.
In 2050, we wish we are linked with the world.
In 2050, we wish our lives will rotate around a natural cycle (work during the day,　when it’s not hot, etc.).
Let’s pay attention, communicate, and just do it together!

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Low Carbon Seminar (4/4)

Special Seminar 2008
HOW TO CREATE A LOW CARBON SOCIETY IN JAPAN
--A MESSAGE FROM TOKYO TO THE WORLD--

Moderator: So lastly, please tell us here today about actions we can take as individuals. Of course using less energy and buying energy-saving products is important, but are there other actions or subjects to think about?

Mr.Ehara: In our research, we introduced 2 types of ideal societies. One was the “technology-centered” model in which economical development is pushed for the cause of technological development for the environment. The other model was the “relaxed” or “slow life” model in which we try to decrease energy usage by reconsidering our lifestyles. It is up to the individual to decide which is better. Also, we can’t limit the ideal future as two scenarios. It is rather important that there are proposals from all you young people when rules change as they do today. Let’s try to make a new society towards the next generation.


Mr.Nishikawa: A low-carbon society is not a miserable one, but one in which the whole world can also experience economic development. There are aspects which we must endure, but it is important to gain a new sense of value which is to feel satisfaction through it. I think a new idea of trying to suppress CO2 when energy is acquired should be woven into at the time of investment.
Recently, I was involved in an emission credit project in which we collected funds from Europe’s largest investor. In such case, it is important to; use the funds to contribute to the world; to have a sufficient amount of return for the investor; to disclose information; and to have a good eye in evaluating technology. Without such guideline, we would not have been able to move money as much as 45 trillion dollars.
It is fairly easy to change awareness from the individual, so what’s important at the final realization part is for companies to thoroughly plan their businesses. There is demand in the environmental area so profit is promised.
I also agree about the generation issue. It is important that we pass it on to a next generation that believes it is common sense to think of the environment rather than looking for its merit.


Mr.Mori: Recently, I often feel society is starting to move towards a low-carbon one. When I talked about global warming, I realized the awareness of people in the business world has changed significantly. People who are struggling with CDM in NGOs in China are also happy about creating a new society themselves, and we are also happy we can do business together with them to build a new society. If one person takes action, more people start to move, and the system changes, and so does another, which is how I believe the world will change. I think we have just recently experienced the turning point of such scenario.


Moderator: Thank you for sharing us your wonderful insights, Mr.Ehara, Mr.Nishikawa, and Mr.Mori.


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