people tree japan

Gorgeous inside and out

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I caught up with Dean Newcombe who is a sweet English chap from Nottingham who’s living in Japan. He switches from volunteering in Ishinomaki in Tohoku to modeling in Tokyo.

We’re kind of motivated by the same thing, humanitarian issues, so it was great to meet Dean who will model for People Tree’s next collection and maybe do a film with us – watch this space!

Dean has been a permanent fixture in Japan after his first modeling assignment there, he heard about the horrific tsunami and jumped on a plane to come and help. He was told by relations not to come – it was dangerous, ‘what would he do with his, at that time, limited Japanese language skills?’ they asked. He said as he was strong and could move stuff and that’s exactly what he did. This man has moved buildings worth of oily sludge, clearing out the foundations of houses covered by the Tsunami, so they can be rebuilt. He’s also coordinated hundreds of volunteers both Japanese and foreigners.

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We’re so looking forward to working with Dean! Read his blog – ‘Intrepid model adventures’

KTS knitting design competition – the winners!

The winner! Sanita Shrestha

Masako, Head of Clothing Design in Japan and I judged KTS’s knitting competition while I was in Japan this week. KTS in Nepal make the amazing hand knitted pieces for our collections and every year they hold a competition to showcase their skills.

Each knitter knits one square of their own design and they are sewn together into a huge garment (a hat, jumper or scarf) which we then judge to find the most innovative winner. It’s a great idea and often inspires our designers to use these new techniques in the People Tree collection. As always it was hard to pick a winner – such amazing hand knit skills! But here they are – which are your favourites?

Susya Maya's lovely scalloped effect

Runner up - Gyani Baj

Runner up - Sio Savaswat's butterfly

Runner up Shanti Man

Purya Tana Bajrachaiya won the prize for making us smile the most! We love this!

Runner up Nani RinaBaj's beautiful crochet entry

We love Nani Chari Baj's choice of colours

Dunga's beautiful daisies

Safia the shopkeeper – People Tree store in Tokyo

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People Tree shop - Omotesando, central Tokyo

We have three stores in Tokyo and today I got to play at being shop keeper. I love being in the People Tree shops, meeting customers and seeing how they pick up and look at the products we make in villages around the world. I’m thinking – If only I could show you the place it was made, if only I could introduce you to the person who made it!

Saf shooting street Fair Trade fashion

Rika, Yoshiko and Safia

PR Manager Michiko, Rika and Yoshiko

Everyone wears People Tree so well in Tokyo too. So I did some street photography of People Tree customers wearing Fair Trade fashion for our new book – and caught up with old friends ex-editor of Marie Claire – Ikoma Yoshiko, Activist and Founder of Ecokoro, Maekita and Rika Sueyoshi, TV reporter and People Tree’s new Ambassador and front person! So many university students studying Fair Trade, new economics and international affairs came to meet me too – I barely had time to eat my o bento (lunch box).

Can't get enough of our Laura Ashley collaboration with People Tree

Talking to university students

Saf eats lunch at 4pm

World Fair Trade Day in Japan – a paradigm shift?!

14^th May 2011

600 people gathered for our Fair Trade, sustainable economics and low energy event in Tokyo. I arrived that morning, had a shower and then went straight to the event at Eco Plaza – this amazing wooden cube event space in the absolute centre of town run by social entrepreneur and ex-adman Ikeda san.

After the earthquake we decided to work with other Fair Trade organisations, farmers groups and activists in Japan to get the message out there about what a low carbon and sustainable society looks like.

Not surprisingly awareness level of a non-nuclear based economy and society have increased massively. Earlier this year 40% of the Japanese public said they would buy environmentally friendly products and products that make a positive social contribution, today that figure has risen to a stunning 70%. This could well be the point of a paradigm shift for Japan – later I did an interview with the Japan Economics daily newspaper ’Nihon Keizan Shinbun’ about just that. The silver lining of a dark cloud!

Donation for Japan from Kumundini Welfare Trust, Bangladesh

Mr Rajib Prasad Shaha, Chairman and Managing Director of Kumudini Welfare Trust of Bengal (BD) Limited, Bangladesh handed a donation of $500.00 to Safia Minney, Founder and CEO of Fair Trade Company Ltd (People Tree Japan), with the kind words, “We would like to help the people of Japan in any way we can with our prayers and with our great respect for a great friend to Bangladesh. We hope that their suffering will lighten as the weeks go by and we hope that they can rebuild their country and their great nation in the same way that they did after the Second World War. We have collected some money here from Kumudini Welfare Trust and we know that People Tree Japan is the best way for us to get the money to the hands of the people who need it most. Japan, you have been a great friend to Bangladesh and we only hope we can be some help to you in this difficult time as your friend!”

Very many thanks to all at Kumudini and to all those who have sent kind messages of support.

Report from Tokyo

I wanted to share with you this quick update from Yoko, one of our shop managers in Tokyo.

“People Tree Jiyugaoka + Omotesando shops reopened yesterday. There are still only a few people in downtown Tokyo because of the blackout.

Here is a picture of my flat after the earthquake! Now, I’m really thinking I was lucky to have been working at the Omotesando-shop then. If I had been in my room, it might have been really scary!

We’ll have to be really “tough” for a whille, but I’ll keep working with a smile!” Yoko Yoshida, People Tree Japan

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Thank you so much to all of our Japan team – we move forward with love, positivity and hope! Great love and respect to you all!

Update from Japan

We were sitting in the showroom on ground level when the earthquake started, we ran to the middle of the road knowing that if the buildings came down we probably would get crushed, but Tokyo is a place of buildings and few open spaces…

The tarmac and buildings shook, and the telegraph poles flapped overhead. I was holding tightly to Masako, our Head of Design’s arm, shouting about whether our whole team were safer on the 3rd floor or in the road with us. (It was like in a movie, I was waiting to see the tarmac open in front of us).

The team were under their desks when we got up there. It went on and on, all afternoon, all evening, and the next day there were constant tremors.

We are the lucky ones. The people who run our Japan website are seriously affected. Two shops stocking People Tree have disappeared, over 6,539 people have perished and 10,354 are still missing. Hundreds of thousands are homeless, hungry and cold in shelters. Transport networks are in chaos.

Everyone is being so brave dealing with their own shock and grief, getting food where it is running out, and working around power cuts. We’re also dealing with news about nuclear accidents “don’t forget to buy a raincoat in case it rains radiation Safia!”

There is a 70% chance of more earthquakes in the next days, and despite all this, we’re all trying to plan so that People Tree can survive. The people of Japan are amazing!!

My back is as hard as a plank of wood due to stress. I hope you will want to help Japan in some way…thanks for all your messages of support too!

People are asking me is there any way to help other than donations? As People Tree UK and People Tree Japan are part of the same company, and Japan is in turmoil at the moment, it helps to buy from People Tree UK as that way we can help Japan in the difficult months ahead. You’ll also help the Fair Trade movement survive in Japan and help sustain orders to Fair Trade groups too!

You can support the British Red Cross (which we are doing through a 10% donation of People Tree UK sales) and our office is also supporting Second Harvest (2HJ) which is a food bank helping here in Japan. Link below:

http://www.2hj.org/index.php/get_involved/donate_money

2HJ distributes donated food, all of which is good for consumption, but would have been disposed of otherwise. The organisation is gearing up for emergency relieve right now to the direct victims of the earthquake and tsunami. However, their efforts are already looking further down the road, and they are committed to support victims also on the long run. For that they are as we speak building a network of distribution points across the affected area, which will not disappear once the earthquake is out of the news.

20 years old!

Our 20 year Birthday Party in photos.

Over 250 gathered to celebrate People Tree’s coming of age and their huge contribution to making what is arguable one of the largest Fair Trade, Social and Environmental movements in Japan and the world. I guess we should celebrate our 10th in the UK too!

My first firend in Japan Higashi, ex-Manager of GAIA eco-shop

My first friend in Japan Higashi, ex-Manager of GAIA eco-shop

20th anniversary - We love Valentines and People Tree party

Founders - Kaoru, Safia and Naoko

First ever 100% organic chocolate fountain in Japan

Jack and Fay of Tengu foods

Sugiyama Naoko and Rika support People Tree with their amazing media skills

People Tree team hard at work behind the bar too!

Over 200 people gathered to celebrate

Safia stood out in her green dress

People Tree is a community of friends, customers, activists, artists and intellectuals

Thanks for all your support as always, Saf xx

People Tree Japan turns 20!

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How INCREDIBLE to see 2 metre tall flower bouquets delivered at the party from business partners and friends! The party was SOOOO lovely!!

People I hadn’t seen for years and staff from years back all came to say “hi” and I cried when I saw some of them remembering, the joys and hard work we shared. Roko was there – I remember 16 years ago she used to slip under her desk for ‘a break’, think up a good idea, and pop up again! She is utterly brilliant and we are so lucky to have such talented and committed people working at PT and global village over the years!

Stockists from all over Japan came, people who have spread Fair Trade and built a strong movement in Japan. Models came and gave speeches…lots of speeches from friends and fellow activists and artists about us and our shared history.

The band GeneZ were amazing and we danced! The Fair Trade, organic chocolate fountain was the first ever in Japan and we dipped strawberries and Fair Trade bananas in!! ….that and wine is all I had all night.

Even my first friend in Japan came: I met Higashi 20 years ago when he ran Gaia, the ecology and organic food shop, (I used to travel 45 mins across town with my shopping trolley to buy a week’s groceries) Thanks Higashi san, thank you also to co- founders: James, Kaoru, Naoko and an amazing team that helped grow the People Tree community – and helped me grow a lot too!

I promised myself that I wouldn’t cry and I kept it together for my talk, but I had two panda eyes at the end of the night! Thanks for a great party Team PT Japan!! YOU ROCK!!

Slow Fashion – fairy lights and feathers in Shibuya

Show time - fairy lights and feathers

to promote sustainable and Fair Trade fashion in spring we’d never imagined that it would galvanise so many university students in Japan and UK.

Akari and the incredible team!

School of Fair Trade and People Tree intern Akari Kuga did an amazing job with other students, Natsuki and Akiko to organise a Slow Fashion extravaganza near Shibuya in Tokyo. They invited Baba (former designer of Dress Camp who is the first Japanese designer to win a competition between FIT and Parsons in New York), and me to discuss fashion and what it meant to us.

Tama Art School students show their work

They also organised three fashion shows, together with Tama Art University students and ‘xChange’ to promote fashion made out of sustainable materials and to promote clothes swapping, followed by the People Tree Youth Collection endorsed by Emma Watson. There were 80 people PACKED into a gallery in Shibuya – that is how we kept warm!

The new future: Slow fashion

Chinese garment factory workers

There was a presentation about Chinese garment workers conditions of young women the same age as the university students gathered – where workers do an average 14 hours working day – Fast fashion really began to catch on in Japan about 5 years ago, resulting in 2.3 million tons of clothing which is disposed of each year – of which only 10% is ever recycled or reused. Making second hand clothes and charity shop shopping cool is the challenge in Japan – There’s no culture of it as in the UK where we all buy from Charity Shops.

2.3 million tons of garments are thrown away each year

People Tree youth collection, endorsed by Emma Watson

Motomi and me

Motoomi Baba

There was a panel discussion with me and Baba Motoomi. He’s a real artist, we talked about fashion and what it means to us. Predictably we were poles apart – Motomi talked about how you have to live and breathe fashion to suceed in it – and I talked about the real cost of Fashion. I’m intrigued by him and his designs – so I decided to see his collection later that week.