IKEUCHI ORGANIC and Daichi Kamino's craftsmanship, seen through their common thread of being "outcasts"
Text: Yuki Yoshida
There must be something in common between IKEUCHI ORGANIC, a towel manufacturer in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, and professional runner Daichi Kamino.
...Because there is something solid between IKEUCHI ORGANIC and "people who love IKEUCHI ORGANIC," and it feels like both parties are heading in the same direction.
Why did IKEUCHI ORGANIC decide to create something with Daichi Kamino?
We spoke with IKEUCHI ORGANIC's CEO, Keiji Ikeuchi, and public relations officer, Takeshi Mutaguchi.
Representative Keiji Ikeuchi
Takeshi Mutaguchi Image provided by: IKEUCHI ORGANIC Co., Ltd.
IKEUCHI ORGANIC, which claims to be "the safest and most precise towels in the world"
── First of all, please give us a brief introduction about yourself.
Representative Ikeuchi Keiji (hereinafter referred to as Ikeuchi): I'm Ikeuchi, the representative. I joined Panasonic and was there for about 12 years, from the launch of the audio brand Technics. After that, I returned to my family's towel business in Imabari, where I continue to work to this day.
The previous founder passed away just before I returned home, so I ended up acting as president without any succession, but now Abe, the third generation president, is in charge, and I'm in a relaxed position where I can just make whatever I want.
── Thank you. Mr. Mutaguchi, please.
Takeshi Mutaguchi (hereafter referred to as Mutaguchi): I joined IKEUCHI ORGANIC seven years ago. Before that, after graduating from university, I worked at a film company, TSUTAYA, and most recently at Amazon. Having spent a long time in the IT field, I had a strong desire to create tangible products and deliver them directly to customers, so the timing and connections were just right and I joined the company seven years ago.
Currently, in addition to public relations, I am also in charge of sales, overseeing the website, stores, sales, etc. I am also in charge of marketing. I am a certified towel sommelier, which is a qualification that all our employees must obtain.
Ikeuchi: I don't have one.
Mutaguchi: Ah, that's right, just the representative (laughs).
When the Imabari Towel Industrial Association renewed its branding, it created a towel sommelier system. You can become certified by taking a test that teaches you about the origins of towels and how to recommend them to customers.
The collaboration began two years ago after repeated meetings at the Hakone Ekiden.
── What prompted you to collaborate with "RETO"?
Mutaguchi: It all started when I got to know Takagi-san, the manager of "RETO". When Takagi-san came to the store and bought something, he left his business card. Later, a staff member shared it with me, and I remember being surprised that "He's the one who manages Kamino Daichi!" So I got in touch with him, and it turned out that Takagi-san had originally purchased a towel from our e-commerce site and still had it.
Also, I'm a big fan of ekiden (long-distance relay races), and in fact, whenever my alma mater was selected to participate in the Hakone Ekiden, I would occasionally donate our towels. Through this connection, I was in contact with athletes from my alma mater, and it seems that that's how Takagi-san heard about IKEUCHI ORGANIC.
So, we started communicating after he visited our store, and he really liked IKEUCHI towels, so that's how the current discussion began.
We had been meeting for about two years, and there was talk of collaborating on towels, but at the time Kamino-san had a sponsorship contract with a sports manufacturer, and we thought it might be difficult to suddenly collaborate in terms of the conditions, so although we had been communicating with each other for a while, it took quite a long time.
After a while, we started talking again about working together, and just as we had just released our own Athlete Support program, we started talking about doing something together, and things progressed smoothly.
── Earlier, you said that at some point in the process, "the conditions for collaborating seemed difficult," but what specifically were difficult about it?
Mutaguchi: It's definitely the sponsors. Kamino-san is a superstar, so he mainly has sponsors. We can't afford to spend a lot of money, so it's a hurdle to make a contract just for towels. This isn't just for Kamino-san, it's the same for all wrestlers. So, there are also other manufacturers to consider, and somehow it seems like it's difficult for both of us to do something together, so it's been put on hold for the time being.
For someone who has never played sports, the sensibility of athletes is beyond imagination.
── Could you each tell us the significance of IKEUCHI ORGANIC collaborating with Kamino? Why Kamino?
Ikeuchi: I've never played sports in my life. I hated gym class the most. And the epitome of a sportsman is an athlete, right? I have no idea what athletes think, so it's beyond my imagination how they feel when they use towels.
I happened to meet someone like Mr. Kamino about 25 years ago, and he also ran in Hakone. I had the opportunity to hear him say something like, "I wish I could greet the final moment of the race with my favorite towel." I was very interested in the idea that Mr. Kamino must have a completely different sensibility from us, so I decided to do it.
Mr. Kamino, you're really picky (laughs). We met the other day and talked, and it seemed like you were concerned about things that I wouldn't worry about. I'll talk about that later.
── Of course, please do.
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── Could you also tell us, Mr. Mutaguchi?
Mutaguchi: I've always loved the Hakone Ekiden, so much so that I would go to Hakone to cheer them on. When Kamino ran, I was watching him on TV in real time, and it made a strong impression on me, and I thought he was a truly amazing athlete.
When I met Kamino-san the other day, he said that he wasn't such a great athlete in high school. I had read an article about it, but I thought it was great that he improved so much through hard work. He's a man of overwhelming hard work, someone who can break new ground. I can still remember the sight of him climbing the mountain in the fifth section, and that's one of the reasons he's one of my favorite athletes.
Also, when I first met Takagi-san, I was told that he really liked IKEUCHI ORGANIC and spoke to me with great enthusiasm, which was a big factor.
We don't simply want to ask them to collaborate because they're famous athletes, but rather we are looking for people who like IKEUCHI ORGANIC's philosophy and products, so it was a big part of that that made them a good match with Kamino and Takagi.
── That's right. When I look at the brand site and "Ikeuchi na Hitobito," I get the impression that you really value the essential aspects.
Mutaguchi: The people who appear on "Ikeuchi People" are professionals from a variety of industries, including chefs, owners of beauty salons and hotels. We have people from all walks of life appearing on the show, regardless of their industry, but one thing they all have in common, including our CEO, Ikeuchi, is that they're all mavericks.
-- A heretic...!?
Mutaguchi: It's not the conventional way (laughs). We don't stick to our own industry, we network with people from other industries, and we look at things from the customer's and fan's perspective rather than from our own. So we have an impact on the world by working well with the industry as a whole, not just from within the industry but also from outside.
I think Kamino-san has a lot of that in him too. Ever since I met him, he's been selling "RETO" merchandise, and I thought he was somehow different from other athletes. I don't think he's simply selling merchandise to increase profits, and I somehow get the feeling that he has some kind of philosophy, like wanting all runners to use better products, and that's another big point.
── So you're looking to see if your values match.
Mutaguchi: That's right. First of all, we need to make sure that our customers share our corporate philosophy of "maximum safety and minimum environmental impact," which means that they want to continue using good products for a long time. It would be a problem if we just replaced them and threw them away, so IKEUCHI ORGANIC's cotton is organic, and only 1% of cotton is harvested, so farmers carefully hand-pick it... so we need to make sure that they treat it with care. We need to make sure that they understand the context of our products.
Also, people who can experience the quality of the product for themselves. You can really tell if someone likes it just by looking at it.
It has strength, willpower, and incredible power.
── Could you tell us your impression of Kamino and the influence he has had on you?
Ikeuchi: Until now, we'd only met online, but the other day, when I actually met you, Mr. Kamino, you had absolutely no unnecessary features. I was staring at you intently (laughs). I live a life where my body fat percentage is about 30%, and it's been like this since I was born...
When I asked him, "What do you usually eat?" he said, "Food has nothing to do with me." It's hard to believe, since I've been hungry ever since I was born (laughs).
Kamino-san doesn't say anything, but he does some incredible training on a regular basis. No matter how much I ask, he doesn't say anything.
── Is that so?
Ikeuchi: But he said he runs 30km every day. He said he adjusts his schedule based on the weather and his own physical condition, but everything he told me seemed like it was in a different world from mine. I listened intently.
── I heard you drank quite a lot together.
Ikeuchi: Well, not so much alcohol as food. All the places we wanted to go to were closed, so we couldn't have a proper lunch, and so we decided to eat dinner. It seemed like only Takagi and I were drinking, and while we were drinking, Kamino only had one soda (laughs). But he didn't mind and went along with it.
── (laughs).
Mutaguchi: I've met her twice in person, and when I met her for the first time, I simply thought, "She's the person I saw on TV" (laughs). The impression I got from seeing her on TV was the same. From a fan's perspective, I knew it was Kamino-san, and I got the impression that she was more delicate than I expected, but that she must have incredible strength hidden within her.
When I actually spoke to him, he was a really nice young man, polite like an athlete, but I could really sense his own willpower. Especially when he turned serious, I could sense his strength, or rather, his strong will. But when we were talking, he was very calm.
He's also a very good talker. I think he's a player who is good at conveying his thoughts and has great communication skills.
IKEUCHI ORGANIC's towel support program supports athletes
── You mentioned this a little earlier, but could you tell us about the towel support program? Why is IKEUCHI ORGANIC so passionate about supporting athletes?
Mutaguchi: I learned something while talking to athletes: they don't use good towels at all. As Kamino-san mentioned in my interview, not many people are particular about their towels. However, there are a certain number of people who are dissatisfied with them, and their complaints are things like, "When I wipe my face, it gets lint" or "It doesn't absorb water at all," as if they've completely overlooked the most basic of towel basics. I was shocked by this current situation (laughs), and that's what prompted me to think that this had to change.
I also think that the influence of sports is huge. When I was in elementary school, I played baseball and was a Seibu Lions fan, and I had the opportunity to shake hands with a Seibu Lions player and have him knock me down the ball - an experience I still remember. I think that athletes can inspire us, and I feel that they have a huge influence on people. If athletes use good towels, I think that many more people will become interested in IKEUCHI ORGANIC towels.
The reality is that not only athletes, but many people still do not use good towels. Using one good towel may not change your life drastically, but I believe it will change little by little. I am working with the desire to encourage athletes to use good towels as well.
Ikeuchi: Athletes can only compete at that moment. I heard this the other day about you, Mr. Kamino, but there is a limit to the number of marathons you can run during your career. It's not like you can challenge yourself 20 or 30 times, but you have to perform at your best at the moment of the actual race. You're not the kind of person who can just quit today and start again tomorrow.
So, I don't want to let something as trivial as a towel bring down my spirits, so I just hope that I can do something to raise my spirits even just a little. Hehehe.
A towel that will lift your spirits even just a little
── Finally, please say a few words to Kamino's fans and athletes about your thoughts on this collaboration towel.
Ikeuchi: I think athletes use towels when they take a short break, and I wanted to give them a texture that would lift their spirits at those times. And if the towel smells of sweat, it's even more of a letdown. I wanted a towel that wouldn't give off an odor no matter how much sweat you sweat, and that would lift your spirits, and that would absorb sweat in a pleasant way.
Mutaguchi: I think many people will be using IKEUCHI ORGANIC towels for the first time, so I would like them to first try wiping away a lot of sweat with them and experience how absorbent they are and how odorless they are.
Also, I really want all athletes to use at least one towel each (laughs), and we have a variety of products in addition to towels, such as towel blankets and ponchos, so I hope this will be an opportunity for you to get into the IKEUCHI ORGANIC towel world.
(Afterword)
It's strange how when you come into contact with IKEUCHI ORGANIC towels and get to know the philosophy of the "IKEUCHI people," including the president, you naturally find yourself drawn into the world of towels.
IKEUCHI ORGANIC and Daichi Kamino.
This collaborative towel, created through serious consideration by two ideological "outcasts," will surely bring about improvements and updates to the daily lives of many people.
