News room

ITOKI CORPORATION (Head office: Joto-ku, Osaka City, President: Matsui Tadashi, hereinafter referred to as "ITOKI") has concluded a contract with Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture (Mayor: Miyajima Masanobu, hereinafter referred to as "Kofu City") to manufacture and sell the "stretcher-cum-long bench" owned by Kofu City.

On February 26th last month, ITOKI signed a contract granting Kofu City the non-exclusive license to use the "stretcher bench," for which the city holds patent and design rights. As a result, ITOKI will manufacture and sell the "stretcher bench" in Japan from February 26th, 2014 to March 31st, 2017.

The "stretcher/long bench" was invented by city employees themselves, from the concept stage to obtaining patent rights, while taking into consideration disaster prevention measures and the use of materials from city-owned forests in connection with the city's move to a new government building (operations began in May 2013). This is a rare and original initiative even among Japanese local governments.

The circumstances that led to this contract between ITOKI and Kofu City are as follows: ITOKI's "Econifa" business, which has been running since 2009, uses its unique technology to turn domestic timber into "refined design durable consumer goods," and is an initiative that aims to realize a high-quality recycling-oriented society using timber by contributing to increasing CO2 absorption through the conservation and revitalization of domestic forests and increasing the amount of CO2 fixed through the use of timber. Both parties agreed to make effective use of this "Econifa" initiative and the patents and design rights held by Kofu City to create products that are useful to society, and to spread them to facilities nationwide as disaster preparedness.

By touching wood, you can feel closer to the forest and this product will add a relaxing touch to your space. At the same time, this new lobby bench also functions as a disaster prevention product that anyone can use in the event of a disaster or other emergency, and will contribute to promoting the use of domestic timber.

By utilizing ITOKI's planning and proposal capabilities and nationwide sales network to widely disseminate information about Kofu City's initiatives and products, we will create a new example of public-private collaboration to revitalize industry.

Kofu city has developed a changeable lobby bench using wood from city-owned forests in collaboration with the Yamanashi Prefectural Industrial Technology Center. This product incorporates disaster prevention functions into the familiar form of a "bench" used in public spaces, proposing a new concept for everyday safety and security, where a comfortable bench that makes use of the texture of wood can be transformed into a stretcher in the event of a disaster or emergency.

With an appearance that suits any location, it blends naturally into everyday life, while still providing sufficient functionality in emergencies such as disasters or illnesses.

In addition, by linking the sustainable use of forest resources with local manufacturing, this product not only contributes to the health of forests but also to the revitalization of industry.