TYPE-VII Kouzoshi project

A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, which creates various projects or “ABLEs” through encounters with different fields and industries, announces the “TYPE-VII Kouzoshi” project in partnership with Sansai.

Sansai is a member of the Sanwa Seishi Group in Tosa City, Kochi Prefecture. Utilizing locally grown Tosa “kouzo,” or Tosa mulberry trees, the company uses a paper-making technique handed down from the Edo period (1603-1868) to create dynamic initiatives to connect with a new generation.
Since 2018, the Sansai company has been developing a completely new method of creating “kouzowashi” (kouzo paper), adapting the technique of “washi” production (Japanese paper) that is based on the strong conviction of the company’s founder, Toyoaki Morisawa, that “kouzo is the ultimate fiber.”

Standard roll paper that is generally available is made mainly from Manila hemp that is torn into slits and twisted to create washi thread, but Sansai makes washi thread through a newly developed manufacturing technique that strains and processes kouzo fibers directly into thread form.
This method deploys a ground-breaking, integrated manufacturing system that streamlines the process from growing kouzo to processing the raw material using original machines, and completes all manufacturing steps within the Sanwa Seishi Group, through to the fibers becoming thread.

Sansai’s passion for “kouzoshi” (kouzo thread) resonated with the A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE team and led them to start working on a collaboration in late 2020. The TYPE-VII Kouzoshi project introduces the first ever process in the world to weave a piece of cloth from a single “kouzoshi” whilst passing on these traditional making techniques to the future. Enjoy and experience the craft and passion of those involved in “kouzoshi”-making from TYPE-VII project.

Also, from Friday, January 5 ISSEY MIYAKE KYOTO | KURA will hold an exhibition focusing on “TYPE-VII Kouzoshi project.” Please click here for details.

From Sansai
“This project between A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, led by Mr. Yoshiyuki Miyamae, and Sansai started through a series of dream-like coincidences, as if guided by a single thread. The passion of the founder and others involved for the raw material of washi and kouzo, brought about a miracle.
When the A-POC ABLE team came all the way to the farm and manufacturing floor in Kochi, as well as to the weaving factories in Yamanashi, we felt their passion and were able to share our own devotion and strict dedication to the project. The sensation of seeing the kouzoshi turning into fabric for the first time is forever engraved in our hearts. We are proud to be able to announce this project that creates fabric from a single delicate thread together with the A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE team. We hope that many people will see their first kouzoshi fabric and share this joy.”

Sansai
Sansai is a member of the Sanwa Seishi Group that has making “washi” for over a hundred years. Within the group, there is an integrated system for manufacturing raw materials into finished products, and Sansai handles planning, sales, and publicity. Sansai hopes to bring happiness to customers’ daily lives by proposing new ways of living with “washi” and nonwoven fabric. The development of “kouzoshi” as a form of manufacturing offers true value and the ability to reignite the steadily declining tradition of kouzo to a future generation.