Our online seminar, "Milan Salone Report," held recently, received registrations from over 1500 customers over two days. Thank you for your participation. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for watching in real time. I also visited Milan, Italy, to inspect the Milan Salone. In addition to experiencing the latest furniture and interior designs, I made many discoveries by actually walking around the city of Milan, not just in the exhibition halls.
Walking through the streets of Milan, you notice that it's a completely different landscape from Tokyo, where you usually walk, with many historical buildings remaining. Buildings that were probably built hundreds of years ago are still used as a matter of course today, and are integrated into people's lives as residences, cafes, shops, and offices. New buildings that appear occasionally among them look surprisingly fresh. The reason why so many old buildings remain in Europe is said to be because they are built using sturdy materials such as stone, brick, and concrete, and because there are not as many earthquakes as in Japan. There are also systems and laws in place to protect historical buildings. However, what I felt when I actually walked around there was the existence of cultural values that cannot be explained by these reasons alone. What was particularly impressive was the trams that run through the city. There were new vehicles, but there were also old vehicles that had been in use for many years (with rusty exteriors that clearly showed they had been used for a long time) that were still in active service. Seeing them being carefully maintained and accepted as part of the city's landscape, I felt that the idea of "continuing to make use of the old" that goes beyond the constraints of laws and systems is deeply rooted in people's lives.
Japanese cityscapes are somewhat different. A history of development centered on wooden architecture, responses to natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, and rapid post-war urban development have fostered a culture of "scrap and build," where rebuilding is the norm. Walking through Tokyo, you see new skyscrapers and redevelopment projects constantly progressing, the city being continuously updated. Of course, this isn't about which is superior. In recent years, renovation and the utilization of existing buildings have spread in Japan, and the concept of "stock utilization" is steadily gaining traction. On the other hand, in Europe, a culture of continuing to use old things while giving them new value remains strong. It seems to me that these differences in people's values are reflected in the differences in cityscapes and lifestyles. Furthermore, this way of thinking is attracting attention from the perspective of reducing environmental impact. Renovating while utilizing the building's structure reduces resource and energy consumption compared to new construction. The idea that long-term use itself is valuable may become increasingly important in the future.
Our approach to furniture making also aligns with this philosophy. At our company, we focus not only on the visual design, but also on the structure and internal specifications to ensure long-lasting use. We also offer maintenance and reupholstering services for many of our products, and we frequently receive repair requests from long-time customers. Just recently, we performed maintenance and repairs on a product delivered over 20 years ago. Seeing it in use again after all these years brings us immense joy. Walking through the streets of Milan, I was reminded of the importance of not just following trends, but of creating furniture that is loved for a long time, whose value deepens with continued use. We will continue to create furniture that our customers can use with peace of mind for many years to come. (Development Department, Watanabe)
