Threads and tea: new takes on Japanese tradition with Ichijiku and Ito En

0:11Rona Tison:Hello and welcome to The Entrepreneurs on Monocle Radio, the show all about inspiring people, innovative companies and fresh ideas in global business. On today's programme, we're heading to Japan. First, we'll hear about a business bringing traditional clothing back to life with a contemporary twist. When I shifted from, I have to figure out what I can do with kimono to what should I focus on from here because literally the opportunities are endless. And later, we'll explore how a 60-year-old Japanese company became the world's number one brand for all things green tea.

0:44Aaron Benjamin:You know, we never thought we'd be able to get our products in and now there's a great interest in getting it out into for the mainstream consumer in the United States and beyond because we are now in about 40 countries.

0:55Rona Tison:This is The Entrepreneurs with me, Tom Edwards.

1:07Rona Tison:You're listening to The Entrepreneurs. Tokyo-based luxury fashion brand Ichijiku creates clothing like bespoke suits and bomber jackets from traditional Japanese garments such as kimono and tanmano. Canadian entrepreneur Aaron Benjamin built the business after a chance encounter with these fabrics. Monocle's Ryume Takahashi spoke to him about how he works with artisans and why the label resonates with customers both in Japan and abroad. Aaron began by explaining what makes it stand out. Ichijiku is very unique, so it's sometimes difficult to describe, but we are an art gallery. We are also a luxury fashion brand.

1:51Rona Tison:I don't really know which side we fall on. I tend to think of it more as an art gallery that just happens to make beautiful clothing. And it has been around eight years since Ichijiku began. The kind of origin story was that I had just given up practicing law in Japan, and I wanted to do something completely different, something creative. While I was exploring different aspects of Japanese craftsmanship, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to a woman who wanted to give her kimono collection away and after meeting with her and speaking for many hours and kind of being walked through her collection I ended that meeting with a much deeper understanding of just how beautiful and ornate kimono fabric was I was fortunate enough to be gifted that collection of around 30 kimonos and from there I began the journey that is Ichijiku and it's it's progressed quite a bit since then it's kind of taken on a number of different forms it started very much as this idea of creating just a fashion brand then over time as I began to collect more and more kimono more specifically more kimono fabrics it really kind of transitioned more to the idea of an art galleries So you are a brand that makes made-to-order clothing using kimono fabric, tan mono.

3:19Rona Tison:So how did you arrive at this business model and where did you see the business opportunity in kimono and tan mono? That's probably been the most challenging part of this whole endeavor is that when I initially started, I had this collection of kimonos. And I wasn't sure if I should just resell them as, you know, art pieces that could be displayed at home. I certainly explored that angle. And then it was, you know, do I break these down and turn them into other products? And that's initially how I started with ties and other things like that. It was really a lot of trial and error. I've tried many things from, you know, T-shirts with kimono pockets and stuff like that.

3:59Rona Tison:And eventually I came to the realization that I didn't want to be working with the finished garment, the kimonos, because when a kimono is already made, it's kind of reached that final stage of its life already. So to be then modifying it or turning it into something else just felt unnecessary. And then compounding that feeling was the fact that I also began to realize that I would be able to acquire the tammono, the fabrics, before they became kimono. So, you know, here was an opportunity just to work with fabric itself. And from there, you have these boundless opportunities to do anything. So, you know, again, because you're working with fabric and each fabric role in itself is kind of like a work of art.

4:46Rona Tison:You can turn them into garments. You can turn them into, you can upholster furniture with them. You can do so many different things, turn them into other interior types of accents. From there, really, that was kind of like the eureka moment for me. It was when I shifted from I have to figure out what I can do with kimono to, OK, now there's this world of kimono fabric, of tamono, and really I can do anything. So instead of like, what can I do? It's like, what should I focus on from here? Because literally the opportunities are endless. Now I have to just figure out what makes the most sense and what resonates with people the most.

5:26Rona Tison:And that ended up being the suiting because suiting is, it's been around for ages. It is, everybody understands a suit or a blazer. It's very, very easy to kind of wrap your head around. And then eventually I ended up doing bomber jackets, which are also, you know, a very traditional type of garment, very easy to wear for men and women. So the concept for me has always been, as things progressed, it's always been about accessibility, making things that anybody can enjoy, whether they're a man or woman or, you know, wherever they fall in terms of kind of the gender spectrum, anybody can appreciate these garments.

6:04Rona Tison:and outside of, for example, just the kind of the fashion side. You know, if you want to use a roll of fabric to make a chair like the one that I'm sitting on right now or anything, really, you can pick up a fabric and then turn it into anything yourself. How do you build a relationship with artisans and suppliers in Japan? That's been one of the biggest challenges is not only establishing the relationship but just finding the right partners. So just because you find a production facility that can create, for example, suit jackets, it doesn't mean they're going to be able to do a good job, especially given the constraints around using kimono fabric, which is very narrow, one of a kind.

6:48Rona Tison:The patterns are often quite complex and there's a very limited amount of fabric, so you can't really screw up. So that's one challenge. So finding the right partners is one and then obviously building those relationships. that part just takes time and then on the sourcing side it's a mix you know I'm constantly just searching the country for unique collections of tammono so that's not so much a relationship focused discussion it's more just me kind of being out there and being aware of what's out there and I guess having relationships with people who will say hey you know there's this kimono shop that might be closing down do you want to see their collection or I know this person they have a beautiful collection of of tamono you know would you like to see it so making sure that people know that ichijiku exists and that i'm always kind of out there hunting for beautiful fabrics or beautiful collections yeah so really having relationships with the kimono industry as a whole so that i can you know if somebody wants to create a custom piece we can do it if they want to modify an existing piece we can do it and also just again to to develop relationships with young and up-and-coming kimono makers or existing kimono makers, fabric makers, because the industry is struggling right now.

8:03Rona Tison:So to give them more avenues to create and to sell as well. Who are your main customers? Do you have many clients from outside Japan? Over time, the demographic has shifted here and there. But for the most part, it's been majority non-Japanese. companies, when I was beginning to kind of build more during COVID, it was very much expats living in Japan because not many people could come to Japan at that time. Once all of the kind of entry restrictions were lifted, then that shifted to, I would say the majority now, maybe 70, 80 % are people who are coming to Japan to visit who want something special.

8:48Rona Tison:So it's a lot of kind of high net worth types. How do you approach promotion and marketing? Generally, it's a word of mouth concept. So I believe that the pieces speak for themselves. So the more people who have them, the more people who wear them, the more people will see them and compliment them and end up reaching out to me to create one for themselves. So it's all about just getting these pieces on as many people as possible. And word of mouth has been the single biggest driver of business, of clients for us. And then as an extension of that, we work a lot with luxury travel agencies, luxury hotels.

9:31Rona Tison:Most of our clients are coming through them. So they're being introduced by them. And at the Bulgari Hotel, we will soon be offering a way to experience Ichijuku products. I can't really discuss the details yet because we're just kind of finalizing that. But there will be a touch point at the hotel itself where people will be able to experience Ichijiku products and will probably reach out from there as well. So different kind of levels of engagement with these partners. But overall, it's still, I think I feel safer to say word of mouth. Thank you. This will be the final question. Why did you choose the name Ichijiku for your brand?

10:10Rona Tison:It is fruits in Japanese, right? Ichijiku is a fruit. For those who aren't aware, it means fig in Japanese. So there are businesses that are named after fruits that have done very well. I mean, look at Apple. I thought, you know, in my mind, this silly concept, this silly brand name Ichijiku, maybe one day it could be the most famous passion brand in the world. And over time, after really kind of doing a lot of soul searching and thinking of different names, even the people that I was asking, you know, the people who were familiar with Ichijiku, half of them really liked it. Half of them said, yeah, you know, maybe you should change it.

10:46Rona Tison:And eventually I just, I went back and I started to explore whether there might be a way to uncover some kind of hidden meaning within Ichijiku. And eventually I was able to come up with this, there was like a kanji, Ichi being one, Jiku being like axis, or I interpreted that kind of as a way. so I decided to keep Ichijiku and add that hidden meaning of one axis or one way because as the concept developed over time it had really been all about this my stubbornness in wanting to do things a very specific way a lot of people would give me advice you know if you want to do a fashion brand you need to be using models all the time you have to be creating new collections every season and all of this.

11:38Rona Tison:And that had never resonated with me. It never really made sense to me. Conceptually, I understood what they were saying, but all of those aspects of fashion, I didn't really like. And I just wanted to create very simple, one-of-a-kind garments and focus more on the fabric. So it was at that time really that I decided that I would shift more to be this concept of an art gallery. We want to do things our own way. We think it's the right way to do it. And we're going to be very stubborn and very kind of Ichijiku in the way that we think. That was Aaron Benjamin, the founder of Ichijiku. You can find out more by heading to Ichijiku.world.

12:27Rona Tison:You're listening to The Entrepreneurs. Rona Tison is the executive advisor for Ito-En, a global tea company established in 1966 in Japan that's best known for pioneering unsweetened, ready-to-drink green tea. With deep roots in both Japan and the US, Rona has been with the business since its early push into America, helping introduce authentic Japanese tea to a new market. A speaker and tea ambassador, she recently took part in the Japan Society's Living Traditions series, speaking on the future of matcha and its global growth. Our Laura Kramer caught up with Rona about changing consumer tastes, the global boom of green tea amid the wellness trend, and how the company is supporting the next generation of tea farmers.

13:11Rona Tison:Rona began by telling Laura about her start in the company.

13:15Aaron Benjamin:I'm half Japanese, my mother's Japanese, so I grew up and spent a lot of time overseas. I lived in Tokyo and Okinawa. So every summer I would be in Tokyo visiting my Japanese grandmother, my relatives. Tea is such an inherent part of the culture in Japan. My grandmother would always say, Mama, you know, oceo dozo. So nothing started without us until she made a little cup of tea for us. You know, it was very close to my heart and, you know, I had the opportunity and having the bicultural experience when Ito Wen decided to come to the United States in 2001 to really cultivate a tea, authentic green tea culture, I was in, you know, I felt very passionate about it.

13:59Aaron Benjamin:So when I was somebody who never drank sweetened Cokes and beverages, and so I really appreciated the clean tasting, you know, Oyo Tej. So it was very exciting for me. So I have been with the Ita Wen since inception here. We started with just a couple of people in the office, and now We have expanded throughout the United States, and it's been really exciting and rewarding for me to see the appreciation, the awareness today, and the evolution of where we are today with Ito N.T. and so forth. So in terms of my role, being half Japanese and American, I kind of understand both cultures. I've been able to always advise there and be sort of a barometer.

14:47Aaron Benjamin:I've been very hands-on with the company early on. I mean, literally putting cases of tea and being at events and sampling and so forth. So I have today become sort of an ambassador for tea. and I do speak at various events and have been very involved in the tea world. You know, Ito Wen was actually recognized by Fortune for one of the top 50 companies changing the world, and that was for our sustainable practices and really kind of nurturing tea farmers, ensuring that there is, you know, a sustained tea farming in Japan. So this is something that the company has been very involved. So I've been a very part of that.

15:30Aaron Benjamin:I've on the advisory board for the Global Tea Institute at UC Davis, you know, various tea associations. And so I sort of have been very involved in the world of tea. Early on, it was very much of like having people taste, sample and trying to get, you know, the products into the stores and retail level. And so it's been exciting to be able to see that growth. And, of course, we have a growing team and a growing interest in demand. And one time it was a hard sell to get matcha products into retailers. And today we're getting calls by buyers from all over the country that they'd like to have the unsweetened teas as well as the matcha products.

16:19Aaron Benjamin:So to see that evolution has been very rewarding. and I've been on since early inception of the company, and the growth, I think, of just overall appreciation for Japanese teas. It's such a fulfilling position that you have, and you can tell your passion just listening to you talk about it. It's exciting. I wanted to talk, actually, I wanted to touch on the point you brought up about sustainability because many tea-growing regions are seeing, of course, younger people, fewer of them are entering tea farming. And I wondered from where you're sitting, what do you think it's going to take to inspire the next generation to carry on and to carry this forward and to go into this as a livelihood?

17:07Aaron Benjamin:Well, it's interesting. And I think, you know, it takes, for example, what Itoen has been doing in Japan is really trying to encourage, you know, young farmers and also being supportive of the community and industry. And so initially, I think a lot of, as you mentioned, potential farmers were actually moving into the city and wanting to take on more, let's say, example technology and so forth. But they're seeing a lot more of the beauty and appreciation of tea farming in Japan. So a company like Yutowin has been able to really help support and work that their livelihood, so we do contract out with a lot of the farmers to ensure that their crops and teas would be purchased and there would be a livelihood for them.

17:58Aaron Benjamin:You know, I think it's sort of supporting them and giving them also an understanding of that beautiful heritage that Japan has. Kind of the craftsmanship, the artisanal aspect of growing tea is something that, you know, is the legacy of Japan. So we have been very involved in that. And I think that as young people are seeing around the world, the appreciation demand, I mean, even in Japan right now, for example, the ceremonial matcha, they've had to put the limit because they're seeing all these foreigners coming in and it's in those precious commodity they must go home with. So I think they're having a lot more pride in what they're doing.

18:44Aaron Benjamin:And, you know, most recently when we had a panel discussion and there were two tea farmers that were on the panel, one of the women, which was exciting, she was one of the daughters from a tea farm and she moved back. She was in banking and decided to come back to the family tea farm. And she talked about, of course, you know, there are challenges, but great pride in wanting to continue the legacy. And because there is such a global growing demand. I mean, I myself was surprised. I was actually at a tea and coffee women's conference in London, the Ball Basin, and, you know, that there were people from, in particular, a woman from Warsaw.

19:25Aaron Benjamin:And she said, my goodness, you know, we're having a shortage of matcha. And I was sort of flabbergasted. I thought, oh, even in Warsaw? So, you know, in terms of sustainability, it's something that is obviously very important for a company like Toin, who has been very much all about green tea, as well as we're seeing the global appreciation and embracing and that you really do need to continue having the availability of green tea. So this is something that, you know, on kind of all levels, something we've always been proud of. We're kind of a vertically integrated company. So from soil management all the way to the cultivation, harvesting and so forth.

20:06Aaron Benjamin:You know, a lot of it's being able to support that. I think education and there is a lot of great pride now with the Japanese. and the woman who was talking about whose return to her family tea farm had commented that, you know, there's an aging group of farmers today. However, there's sort of a gap she had stated. There was a time when they all sort of left. And then now there's sort of a younger generation of tea farmers coming into the industry. So it's a positive thing that younger people are getting to be drawn. And a lot of it, I think, the appreciation being out more in tune with nature and realizing that what they're producing is also being appreciated on a global beyond just Japan.

20:56Aaron Benjamin:So there's a lot more pride being taken in their culture. And again, back to the UNESCO, you know, being recognized for having such a intangible cultural heritage. And I think that's something that a lot of younger people are starting to understand and appreciate. I would imagine, too, that with all this global demand and the growth for it, of course, tourism, that's a given to Japan. But I wondered for you and from where you're standing, if that also opens up some partnership opportunities or potential collaborations, what does that look like? No, very much so. And it's interesting because, you know, just an example, the matcha is such a versatile product.

21:39Aaron Benjamin:So now it's being introduced into what started as a very, the centerpiece of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony is being incorporated. Obviously, a lot of different beverages and food products, savory, a lot of sweet. I'm sure you've seen some of the matcha Kit Kats that are out there. But so it is a versatile product and there are different qualities of different matchas that are being applied. But, you know, back to our Itawentis, the Oyocha brand. Today we have, I don't know if you're a baseball fan, but the L.A. Dodgers, we have the Shohei Otani, who has really made history here in American baseball.

22:21So he today is our global ambassador for Oyocha brand, which was sort of a way to introduce our Oyocha beyond not necessarily just sports, but, you know, with his sort

22:37Aaron Benjamin:of global presence that there'll be more respect and understanding of what we're doing in terms of our green teas. so it has been you know very exciting to see that we're able to expand and communicate and we're seeing more and more retailers on shelves as well as food service wanting to have a clean tasting healthy beverage and you know fortunately we definitely I think really kind of symbolize that. So it has been for me having come on early with Yitohan when it was usually what no sugar and today they're like oh thank god there's no sugar. So we're seeing that more and more on the shelves and in places that you know we never thought we'd be able to get our products in and now there's a great interest in getting it out into you know mainstream I hate to say this but for the mainstream consumer in the United States and beyond, because we are now in 40 countries globally.

23:40Aaron Benjamin:You're in 40 countries now, you said. What are you looking forward to? You know, of course, when I first came on, it was North America and we had offices in New York and then have moved to Dallas, Texas at this time. And so we are in across the country and different natural. We first started in, I'd have to say, the natural food store, because that sort of was the initial interest and now and then specialty gourmet shops and today now we're across board in terms of mainstream retailers supermarkets which has been wonderful so it's more accessible and we of course are available online we also have a distribution in Canada so that has been a market for us and we're looking of course in Europe or in Southeast Asia and so forth.

24:30Aaron Benjamin:We just opened the office in Dusseldorf and soon in London. But also we're looking, you know, let's say South America. I mean, I think, you know, it's a big world out there. So, you know, I think in terms of step by step and through our kind of sales strategy and the demand, and we do get so many inquiries in different countries, you know, wanting to bring in our tease, which is always a compliment. So, but, you know, you have to think of in terms of the logistics, because you talk about COVID, one of the biggest challenges we had, of course, was supply chain. So you want to ensure you can have a, how would you say, an easy avenue in getting your products to, you know, your customers.

25:15Aaron Benjamin:So during the time of COVID, we had major issues and getting products from A to B, containers and ships. And then, of course, a lot of times you have to face things like labor issues at different ports. Those are things that are obviously business challenges and not just only for, you know, a lot of companies experience that. We are excited to continue bringing, you know, the awareness of what we do, our history, our expertise. teas and you know we do also beyond green tea as well oolong is a big popular tea as well and jasmine tea is one as well so you know under Ocho brand although the green tea is our main product we have a wonderful the oolong is definitely amazing and ironically Ito Wen actually had brought oolong into Japan initially from China.

26:12Aaron Benjamin:So, you know, in Japan, oolong has become quite popular as well. And I would just have to say there's just a whole palette of different various teas and we kind of look forward to just bringing quality. I think that's something that we are very proud of is sort of our expertise in ensuring that the taste and the quality level is high. And I think every company likes to boast that, but I would have to absolutely say when given time for tasting, we really do have the expertise in delicious tasting tea.

26:48Rona Tison:That was Rona Tison, the executive advisor and tea ambassador for EatOen. You can find out more by heading to eaton.com.

27:08Rona Tison:And that's all for this episode of The Entrepreneurs. We'll be back at the same time next week. The programme's produced by Laura Kramer with audio editing by Jack Dewars. Listen again and find out more about the show at monocle.com. That's where you can subscribe to Monocle magazine and ensure you're reading more about better businesses every month. You can also follow us and catch up with the archive wherever you get your audio. If you'd like to get in touch with the team, do email Laura. She's on lrk at monocle.com. I'm Tom Edwards. Goodbye and thanks for listening to The Entrepreneurs.