Mitsubishi Paper Mills, Ltd., Shikibo Ltd. and Shinnaigai Textile Ltd. of Japan announced on August 3, 2004 that they had launched a new line of clothing called Kariyushi wear, specialty shirts of Okinawa Prefecture, made of new material from sugarcane fibers. The companies jointly developed a technology to extract fibers from sugarcane, one of the main crops of Okinawa for use in clothing.

This development is part of a project in Okinawa to promote the use of sugarcane. Mitsubishi Paper provided the technology to separate the cane into pith, rind and the most outer part including wax. Shikibo provided the technology to process the rind into fibers for clothing, and Shinnaigai Textile spins the fibers into yarn. By integrating their technologies, the three companies succeeded in developing a material that has air-permeable, antibacterial and deodorant effects.

Using the new yarn, the companies made a prototype of the Kariyushi wear. ("Kariyushi" means happy in the Okinawan dialect.) The printed shirts carry a sugarcane motif and are made of 92 percent cotton and 8 percent sugarcane fiber. The shirts are named Love Cane and being sold on the Internet for a limited time.

Within only a month after the launch, the shirts already had found a good public response and some businesses hope to include the shirts in their product lineups. To gear up for full-scale manufacturing, the companies plan to lower the production cost as well as improve the manufacturing environment.



Posted: 2004/12/16 04:05:56 PM
Japanese version

TAG Eco-product/Business , Ecosystem , Food/Water , Manufacturing industry