“Yakushima through things and people” - The Future Written by YAKUSHIMA BLESS

The shop is bathed in the hues of white. With the fragrance of incense, this shop is filled to the brim with items.

Mr. Kaneda explains, “My wife’s grandmother opened the Takeda Pavilion in 1903. They focused on forestry with the Yakusugi Cedar. As time went on, they started to focus on selling items made by the cedar.” The YAKUSHIMA BLESS, which opened in 2019, is a new take on the Takeda Pavilion.

Mr. Tomohiro has a history of working as a concierge at a local luxury hotel. He met with his wife, Sachiyo while she worked at the Takeda Pavilion. He stepped into his new career after their marriage. He states, “It was challenging to work in a new setting, but we really had to step up from the Takeda Pavilion to scoop up more customers”. As a result, he focused on “the environment” as a new challenge.

“The Yakusugi Cedar is involved in other companies around the island, but they never focus on the environment. Instead of selling items, I wanted to pay respect to the environment and its supplies by creating with the island”.

YAKUSHIMA BLESS’ focus on the environment becomes evident by learning about the Yakusugi Cedar.

Ever since the Yakusugi Cedar was designated as a gift in the Edo period, it was cultivated throughout the 50’s and 60’s. However, as public opinion shifted, in 2001 these activities were banned. They continued cultivating stumps, but that also ended in 2019. Since then, the Yakusugi Cedar disappeared from the market.

“Including the Takeda pavilion, all of the companies related to the Yakusugi cedar are on the verge of extinction. I didn’t want to waste the precious tree. I wanted to create something truly worthwhile, delivering it to the customers”, states Mr. Kaneda. The couple made their aspirations a reality.

“We don’t mass-produce. We aren’t located in Ginza. We only make items exclusive here. This is something we talk about”, says Mr. Kaneda.

Their criteria for an environment friendly item is simple. It’s either good or bad for the environment. Rather than focusing on the production-side, they decide whether the item is necessary for living. Will the item help make the environment better? Mr. Kaneda ponders as he grabs a soap.

“This soap has no additives and was made by Li mei. Yakusugi Cedar chips are soaked in camellia oil, with gold powder and amino acids that enrich the skin. Using cold press production, it is good for people with skin problems. It’s also good for the environment because they are biodegradable”.

“He makes this” said to Mr. Kinoshita, referring to the Yakushima Memo Pad. The Yakushima Memo Pad is made using cedars trees grown from saplings and grafts from the Yakushima Ground Cedar. The tree is a great substitute for the Yakusugi cedar.

“Usually the cedar trees are cut down in 50-60 years, but maintaining a healthy tree requires it to be trimmed throughout its lifetime. These products are made using the twigs and branches that are cutoff while trimming.”

The memo pad reuses bamboo that was removed to thin out the forest. Along with the wood grain design, the paper can be reused infinitely and was nominated in the Kagoshima New Souvenir Contest in 2021.

All of the items featured in YAKUSHIMA BLESS are not only environmentally friendly, but also have an interesting background story. The Yggdrasil Incense, made with Yakusugi cedar, was created by the Tokyo-Grasse, an Aroma/Incense brand. To replicate the smell of Yakushima, they had representatives come in to “smell” the island.

“We tried to replicate the change in smell caused by changing weathers, and that thin veil like feeling when stepping into a narrow road”. YAKUSHIMA BLESS is only made possible by the great artists that make our products. We don’t have a huge variety of items on our shelves, but each item is a one-of-a-kind product.

Looking at a piece inspired by the Yakusugi Cedar placed in the window still, Mr. Kaneda told us “This is a bandana on display”. This is the “Harmonia”, made by Nozomi Tsuruta. This art piece was hand sculpted on a sheet of Yakusugi Cedar, and took a year to complete. It shows the positive feedback lifecycle of life.

“Even though the bandana is not made with Yakusugi cedar, it help raise awareness of the island and the cedar trees. People say the Yakusugi cedar is going away, but will that finish its story? The answer lies in the bandana”.

YAKUSHIMA BLESS was born from my wish to give back to this beautiful island. To bring this idea to life, we walked around the island looking for ideas. What Ms Kaneda’s mother said moved her heart.

“I want Yakushima to stay the way it is”, she said. That’s the ultimate goal for all of us; to preserve this beautiful island for generations to come, and to keep drinking the clean water that the island provides us.

“Passing down the cultures of Yakushima through people and objects”. This was the concept for YAKUSHIMA BLESS

Ms. Kaneda mentions how great the responses from the locals were. “They told us that felt the same way, and that our opinions represented the island as a whole This made me happy, and gives me motivation to keep the business running.”

Although we want to promote the Yakusugi cedar through fun activities, we also want tourists to be considerate of the limited availability of the trees. Therefore we created this small kit where our customers can experience taking care of the tree (through polishing) and appreciate its value, while enjoying creating items such as small vases and incense holders.

Mr. Kaneda states, “Even though the cedar fragments are small, they all have different expressions.” He mentions how his customers tend to take their time to pick which one to take home.. After polishing the piece that they brought back, it feels as though they’ve brought back a part of the island along with them.

Mr. Kaneda believes that even people living in urban areas with less interest in SDGs and being eco-friendly, can realize the importance of these concepts by visiting Yakushima. “We hope that YAKUSHIMA BLESS can contribute to these changes as well”.

The travel industry has been supporting the island’s economy for years, but things may have to change now due to the focus on SDGs.
“By influencing others to be more eco-friendly, we can make a larger difference on the environment. We hope that with more shops like YAKUSHIMA BLESS, we can promote that Yakushima is in fact a SDG friendly island which will help preserve the island in the long term.