Creazione Inc. President & CEO
Nobuaki Kusano
Creazione Inc. President & CEO
Nobuaki Kusano
Nakajima Jukyudo Co., Ltd. President & CEO
Junya Nakajima
Creazione Inc. President & CEO
Nobuaki Kusano
Nakajima Jukyudo Co., Ltd. President & CEO
Junya Nakajima
Nakajima: When I became president, the first thing I thought was, “I want to sell good Japanese products overseas.” I went to the Osaka office of SME Support Japan for advice, but the first thing the person in charge said was, “You’re still making pencil sharpeners?” … That made me angry (laughs). He suggested there might be a market if we supplied cheap, so-called B-grade products. But I felt that wasn’t the right path. Around 2010, Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company, launched its service in Japan, so I attended a seminar intending to list our products. Forty or fifty people were there, and I was the only one who said, “I’ll do it.” After we listed on the site, we did get inquiries, but not the response I’d hoped for… About a year later, I attended a JETRO seminar. Afterward, I approached a staff member named Mr. Kato and said, “We make pencil sharpeners in Osaka and want to sell them overseas. Would you come and take a look?” I wasn’t expecting much, but two weeks later, Mr. Kato actually came. And about a month after that, Mr. Kusano came. I was surprised he’d come all the way from Tokyo.
Kusano: The design advisor I was working with at the time said, “Pencil sharpeners? I don’t think so.” But when people tell me something is “not possible” or “no good,” it fires me up (laughs). A Japanese company producing handheld pencil sharpeners entirely in-house, and specializing in nothing else. I knew I had to see the factory floor, so I went right away.
Nakajima: When I became president, the first thing I thought was, “I want to sell good Japanese products overseas.” I went to the Osaka office of SME Support Japan for advice, but the first thing the person in charge said was, “You’re still making pencil sharpeners?” … That made me angry (laughs). He suggested there might be a market if we supplied cheap, so-called B-grade products. But I felt that wasn’t the right path. Around 2010, Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company, launched its service in Japan, so I attended a seminar intending to list our products. Forty or fifty people were there, and I was the only one who said, “I’ll do it.” After we listed on the site, we did get inquiries, but not the response I’d hoped for… About a year later, I attended a JETRO seminar. Afterward, I approached a staff member named Mr. Kato and said, “We make pencil sharpeners in Osaka and want to sell them overseas. Would you come and take a look?” I wasn’t expecting much, but two weeks later, Mr. Kato actually came. And about a month after that, Mr. Kusano came. I was surprised he’d come all the way from Tokyo.
Kusano: The design advisor I was working with at the time said, “Pencil sharpeners? I don’t think so.” But when people tell me something is “not possible” or “no good,” it fires me up (laughs). A Japanese company producing handheld pencil sharpeners entirely in-house, and specializing in nothing else. I knew I had to see the factory floor, so I went right away.
Nakajima: My first impression of Mr. Kusano was “a sharp, polished Tokyo guy.” He didn’t have long hair back then like he does now (laughs).Kusano: My impression of Mr. Nakajima was “a man with a strong core.” And the factory environment perfectly matched his passion. Because he has a firm core and real passion, he can pursue this level of quality even at a reasonable price. The first time I looked into the sharpener’s hole, I thought, “Wow! Beautiful!” The blade gleamed. It was truly beautiful.
Nakajima: Looking into the hole of a pencil sharpener and calling it “beautiful”… we never think that way (laughs). And after touring the factory, Mr. Kusano said this: “You’ve perfected the making, but have you perfected the telling?” For us manufacturers, “making” is the very core. But he asked whether we were “telling.” It hit me like a bolt of lightning and resonated deep in my heart.
Kusano: How you balance “making” and “telling” is extremely important. Even if you create value, nothing moves forward unless you communicate it. To create a cycle, you have to keep raising the value of both making and telling.
Nakajima: For us, “value” meant “quality.” But he gave me a new realization: “There’s more to it than that.” It really was a “Boom!” moment.
Kusano: I tend to say exactly what I think (laughs). I believe the attitude and mindset of the business owner come first. Mr. Nakajima has a strong core. And there’s know-how that has been handed down from the previous generation. But it hadn’t been put into any formal shape. Even if it exists within Mr. Nakajima and his employees, the question is how to make it visible, to bring it to the surface so it can be communicated. I felt that was my role. I thought, “Teaming up with Mr. Nakajima could be really interesting!” My adrenaline was pumping. I was excited.
Nakajima: Mr. Kusano may have been excited, but I wasn’t (laughs). It was such an intense first impression. I knew nothing about what he did or his track record, but this sharp guy came from Tokyo, looked at the factory, looked into the sharpener hole, and said something that completely shook me. “Respect” isn’t quite the right word. How should I put it…
Kusano: It’s more like we’re on equal footing. What’s great about Mr. Nakajima is that he doesn’t just say “I see.” If something puzzles him, he asks “Why?” Because he responds that way, I can throw something back. We can play catch. I found that refreshing from our very first meeting.
Nakajima: Talking with Mr. Kusano, I was struck by the thought, “So there’s this way of thinking!” More than anything, I wanted to see the world he sees.
Kusano: My curiosity was stimulated, and so was Mr. Nakajima’s. That made me want to learn more about the Nakajima Jukyudo brand and the world of sharpening.
Nakajima: That was the start. Through Mr. Kusano, I wanted to learn, to absorb, to be taught. More than respect, it was “I want to do something fun together,” something no one had ever done. Through our own products, I wanted to show the world, together with Mr. Kusano, that “being small doesn’t matter. This is what we do.”
Kusano: On my first visit, I asked a woman inspecting blades, “Don’t you cut your finger when you run it along the edge?” She said, “If it’s properly polished, it won’t cut your finger. Stroking it feels just like velvet.” I thought that metaphor was wonderful. There’s so much know-how like this within the company, and I wondered how much of it we could convey to people through metaphors like that.
Nakajima: Mr. Kusano and Mr. Kato worked hard to convey all this to JETRO headquarters. And that led to the export… what was that program called again?
Kusano: The “Support Program for Discovering Promising Export Projects.” Quite a name (laughs). The department head at the time said, “People hardly use pencils anymore. Can pencil sharpeners really be exported? I don’t think so.” Hearing that fired me up again (laughs). I told her, “They’re one of a kind. If we communicate that value properly, I’m certain they’ll spread both in Japan and overseas. And he’s a business owner with a strong core.” And so we moved forward with the support.
Nakajima: Thanks to Mr. Kusano’s passionate advocacy, we finally reached the starting line.
Kusano: It’s because you make such wonderful sharpeners that things have spread this far.
Nakajima: Thank you. And then, the second time we met, Mr. Kusano dropped a bombshell (laughs).
Kusano: That’s right (laughs). “Why don’t we go to Paris together?” Maison&Objet Paris is like Paris Fashion Week for the design world. I asked if he’d like to exhibit there.
Nakajima: Thanks to Mr. Kusano’s passionate advocacy, we finally reached the starting line.
Kusano: It’s because you make such wonderful sharpeners that things have spread this far.
Nakajima: Thank you. And then, the second time we met, Mr. Kusano dropped a bombshell (laughs).
Kusano: That’s right (laughs). “Why don’t we go to Paris together?” Maison&Objet Paris is like Paris Fashion Week for the design world. I asked if he’d like to exhibit there.
Nakajima: I thought, “What on earth is this man saying?” (laughs). My wife and I just sat there with our mouths hanging open. Our first-ever trade show, in Paris. And one that’s very difficult to get into, with strict screening… We had never done a single trade show!
Kusano: But your eyes were saying “I want to do it” (laughs). You’d studied in the U.S. as a student, so you’ve always looked outward.
Nakajima: Of course part of me wanted to say “yes,” but we didn’t know how to communicate our products at that level, and in a place like that, could we really…? That question loomed so large… And back then I didn’t even like France (laughs). Things got tough from there. Mr. Kusano and Mr. Kato talked passionately with JETRO on our behalf.
Kusano: We applied for the joint booth at Maison&Objet Paris 2013, and in my mind, we definitely had a winning chance. I don’t fight battles I’ll lose (laughs). The product is solid, and specialization is a strength. The unique selling point is clear. Because you’re clearly differentiated, if you feature that and build on it, it will resonate with the right people. It doesn’t need to be mass market. Niche is fine. For the display, we used color to make things easy to understand. We also brought in something I always value when handling a product: harmony with the space. When things are put away, they get used less often. The question is how to make them something you’d leave out on your desk. The product’s form was already well balanced, so we added harmony with the space, which hadn’t been considered before. We also made a cube containing 252 pencil sharpeners. The idea was to do something fun with color and the cube. The cube wasn’t just a gimmick. It represents NJK’s manufacturing strengths: precision molding, precision blade polishing, and precision blade setting. One look at the cube tells you that.
Nakajima: Mr. Kusano suggested, “Why not encase the pencil sharpeners in acrylic?”
Kusano: Thousands of companies exhibit at Maison&Objet Paris. Pencil sharpeners are small, so I was thinking about what kind of device would make them easy to find, and how to achieve it by subtracting rather than adding… and I found a hint in the shipping area of NJK’s factory. The way they were packed into boxes was so beautiful and satisfying to look at. But paper boxes can’t convey depth. They look fine from above, but not from the front or sides. When I thought about how to show this cleanly, without visual noise, the answer was transparent acrylic.
Nakajima: Just as he called the sharpener hole “beautiful,” Mr. Kusano always sees things from a different perspective. We inevitably focus on quality and appearance, and never think about how a product looks when placed in a space, as he just described. That’s the difference in the art of communication and in editing ability. There may be other approaches, but at the 2013 joint booth, he guided us to the best way to present our products at Maison&Objet Paris.
Kusano: I’ll say it as many times as it takes: the quality of the products is excellent. They sharpen easily, beautifully, and enjoyably. The functional side is more than covered. What remains is how to get people to pick them up and use them more often. For that, you want them on prominent shelves in popular shops that people visit with a purpose. In Europe, the trade show where the people behind those kinds of shops gather is Maison&Objet Paris. On top of that, the “J Style+” section where Mr. Nakajima exhibited is followed by good design-focused buyers. I’d also calculated that those buyers would draw others in, making matchmaking easier. They’re looking for new and more unique things, so I thought about what kind of twist would work, and the answer was the cube.
Kusano: I’ll say it as many times as it takes: the quality of the products is excellent. They sharpen easily, beautifully, and enjoyably. The functional side is more than covered. What remains is how to get people to pick them up and use them more often. For that, you want them on prominent shelves in popular shops that people visit with a purpose. In Europe, the trade show where the people behind those kinds of shops gather is Maison&Objet Paris. On top of that, the “J Style+” section where Mr. Nakajima exhibited is followed by good design-focused buyers. I’d also calculated that those buyers would draw others in, making matchmaking easier. They’re looking for new and more unique things, so I thought about what kind of twist would work, and the answer was the cube.
Nakajima: The results exceeded our expectations. Responding to Mr. Kusano’s ideas and exhibiting together, I thought, “So this is another way to communicate! Amazing!” Talks with companies that matched JETRO’s goals progressed smoothly, too. That said, we didn’t immediately decide to exhibit again…
Kusano: I think Mr. Nakajima sensed new possibilities at Maison&Objet Paris, but once he was back in Japan, he was so busy that the excitement gradually faded. Even so, we agreed to exhibit again the following year. Since he’d already exhibited in a joint booth, I figured a solo booth would be fine this time. But I told him that to get a good spot, he’d need to submit a solid application. I couldn’t push too hard, since he was so busy (laughs). I thought that even if it didn’t work out the first time, it might turn out for the best in the end.
Nakajima: Back then I didn’t know how to make presentation materials, and we didn’t have a catalog. There was so much I didn’t know, but Mr. Kusano never gave me the answers. That’s important, isn’t it? When someone gives you the answer, it becomes mere “work.” You stop thinking. I made a presentation in Word with photos pasted in. It looked pretty cheap (laughs). When I showed it to Mr. Kusano, he said something like, “Well, it might work?” Then came the disappointing email… “Oh, so that’s how it is. We didn’t get in.”
Kusano: I think Mr. Nakajima sensed new possibilities at Maison&Objet Paris, but once he was back in Japan, he was so busy that the excitement gradually faded. Even so, we agreed to exhibit again the following year. Since he’d already exhibited in a joint booth, I figured a solo booth would be fine this time. But I told him that to get a good spot, he’d need to submit a solid application. I couldn’t push too hard, since he was so busy (laughs). I thought that even if it didn’t work out the first time, it might turn out for the best in the end.
Nakajima: Back then I didn’t know how to make presentation materials, and we didn’t have a catalog. There was so much I didn’t know, but Mr. Kusano never gave me the answers. That’s important, isn’t it? When someone gives you the answer, it becomes mere “work.” You stop thinking. I made a presentation in Word with photos pasted in. It looked pretty cheap (laughs). When I showed it to Mr. Kusano, he said something like, “Well, it might work?” Then came the disappointing email… “Oh, so that’s how it is. We didn’t get in.”
Kusano: Rejection is rare, but joint and solo exhibitions are different. That’s when something switched on in Mr. Nakajima.
Nakajima: At the time, rather than shock, it was more like… “Oh, so we can get rejected.” Well, it was a shock (laughs).
Kusano: When we made the cube for the joint exhibition, Mr. Nakajima moved quickly and really wanted to do it. But at that point, he still had doubts about presentation, didn’t he? He understood it was necessary, but if he was going to spend time on something, he’d rather spend it on the products. Which is only natural.
Nakajima: I think the 2014 result is what made me realize that “how you edit and present things is what matters.” When I asked, “Mr. Kusano, you knew we’d be rejected, didn’t you?” he said, “Well, I thought it might be difficult.” Normally, you’d get angry: “Why didn’t you tell me?!” (laughs). But in a good way, I thought, “I see. So that’s not how it’s done.” I learned from it, and I wanted, with curiosity, to understand even one more thing that Mr. Kusano knows.
Kusano: Looking back now, being rejected once and having a year off was extremely valuable. At the 2013 joint exhibition, the pencil shavings got a fairly good response, though we hadn’t yet named them “Pencil Flake.” Creative-minded people showed interest. So for the 2015 solo exhibition, we decided to feature two things: the cube and Pencil Flake.
Nakajima: Including Pencil Flake was fine, but the challenge was how to present it. Being beautiful isn’t enough.
Kusano: Here too, we could express the sharpener’s performance. With a high-precision sharpener, you can make shavings this long and this beautiful. It shows very clearly how easy it is to sharpen. A sharpener that can’t sharpen well could never make flakes. And they’re thin and translucent. That “thinness” is very Japanese. Pencil Flake can express all of that.
Nakajima: When we were making the presentation materials, Mr. Kusano said, “First of all, these aren’t ‘shavings.’ Let’s give them a name.” Once they have a name, they’re no longer garbage. We decided to communicate “mottainai,” the spirit of not wasting, and of cherishing things. This connects to TSUNAGO, which we’d been planning since 2014.
Kusano: Their forms really are beautiful, so we came up with several names and settled on “Pencil Flake.” We registered it as a trademark, too.
Nakajima: And we decided to firmly communicate the spirit of mottainai through it, together with TSUNAGO.
Kusano: “The spirit of mottainai.” I think this is truly NJK’s philosophy. At first, Mr. Nakajima worried that adding the word “spirit” might sound too heavy. But in France, philosophy is a required subject in high school. Even if it feels a little heavy in Japan, we decided it was better to communicate it clearly as a philosophy. That’s how we settled on “the spirit of mottainai.” When I heard about TSUNAGO, I thought it was wonderful too. Nakajima: In 2013, after Maison&Objet Paris, I got a phone call from an inventor. He said, “I hold a patent that lets you join two short pencils together so you can use them to the very end. Would you use it to share the Japanese spirit of mottainai?” Not “because it’ll make money,” but “please spread mottainai.” Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, had popularized the word “MOTTAINAI,” but he passionately insisted, “It has to be done with a pencil sharpener.” He had been handcrafting them from wood, but after seeing Nakajima Jukyudo, the only pencil sharpener factory in Japan, on TV, he asked us to turn his idea into a product. He didn’t say “let’s sell it,” but “please spread it.” I could feel his passion, so I went to hear him out. But there were many problems. First, how to make it suitable for mass production. Second, whether we had the money to invest in an expensive mold. Third, how to sell it.
Kusano: “The spirit of mottainai.” I think this is truly NJK’s philosophy. At first, Mr. Nakajima worried that adding the word “spirit” might sound too heavy. But in France, philosophy is a required subject in high school. Even if it feels a little heavy in Japan, we decided it was better to communicate it clearly as a philosophy. That’s how we settled on “the spirit of mottainai.” When I heard about TSUNAGO, I thought it was wonderful too. Nakajima: In 2013, after Maison&Objet Paris, I got a phone call from an inventor. He said, “I hold a patent that lets you join two short pencils together so you can use them to the very end. Would you use it to share the Japanese spirit of mottainai?” Not “because it’ll make money,” but “please spread mottainai.” Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, had popularized the word “MOTTAINAI,” but he passionately insisted, “It has to be done with a pencil sharpener.” He had been handcrafting them from wood, but after seeing Nakajima Jukyudo, the only pencil sharpener factory in Japan, on TV, he asked us to turn his idea into a product. He didn’t say “let’s sell it,” but “please spread it.” I could feel his passion, so I went to hear him out. But there were many problems. First, how to make it suitable for mass production. Second, whether we had the money to invest in an expensive mold. Third, how to sell it.
To start, we used crowdfunding to finance the mold. It also served to win over core fans who resonated with this world-first pencil sharpener, and to build a fan base. From there, it was featured in the Nikkei newspaper, and Tokyu Hands said they wanted to carry it even before launch. We also decided to apply for the “Osaka Brand” certification and began promotions to build awareness before launch. One of the conditions of the Osaka Brand application was that we had to start selling right after Maison&Objet Paris. Once sales began, we were completely overwhelmed, with 400 to 500 order emails a day. After NHK featured us, it jumped to 4,000. My wife cried out, “Make it stop!” But getting that many orders in such a recession… We resolved to give it everything we had! Reluctantly, we temporarily stopped taking orders, and then we were flooded with inquiries asking when products would be delivered. It was a tough six months.
Kusano: The philosophy of mottainai and Pencil Flake share the same roots. It’s because of that precise technology that Pencil Flake exists and TSUNAGO was born. Joined pencils and Pencil Flakes may look different, but their roots are the same.
Nakajima: I think this is where the foundation of the NJK brand was laid. It felt like everything had fallen into place.
Kusano: When we went back to Maison&Objet Paris, people at the venue reacted with, “You’re back again!” “You really came to Paris again with nothing but pencil sharpeners!” (laughs). It wasn’t criticism. Everyone was delighted. I saw even more possibilities there.
Nakajima: Right, “Only sharpeners?!” (laughs). I remember hearing that two ladies in their sixties said in French, “The Japanese are crazy. Exhibiting at Maison with nothing but pencil sharpeners. Truly crazy!” Kusano: Yes (laughs). It seems the other exhibitors were looking forward to seeing us, too.
Kusano: Branding is “how you create economic value and social value, in other words culture, centered on your corporate philosophy.” So while we continued with Maison, I invited him: “Mr. Nakajima, why don’t we go to Milan together?” I went to Milan Design Week for 20 years, up until 2019. It’s the pinnacle of design events worldwide, and each brand’s individuality and philosophy are clearly expressed in its own space and environment. I thought it would be better for him to feel it firsthand than to hear about it.
Nakajima: We went to Milan twice, and Mr. Kusano was like a fish in water, thrilled and excited, his heart racing (laughs). It was incredible. He was having so much fun, walking and walking and walking. My legs were like lead.
Kusano: Branding is “how you create economic value and social value, in other words culture, centered on your corporate philosophy.” So while we continued with Maison, I invited him: “Mr. Nakajima, why don’t we go to Milan together?” I went to Milan Design Week for 20 years, up until 2019. It’s the pinnacle of design events worldwide, and each brand’s individuality and philosophy are clearly expressed in its own space and environment. I thought it would be better for him to feel it firsthand than to hear about it.
Nakajima: We went to Milan twice, and Mr. Kusano was like a fish in water, thrilled and excited, his heart racing (laughs). It was incredible. He was having so much fun, walking and walking and walking. My legs were like lead.
Kusano: Streets, parking lots, showrooms, canals, warehouses. The whole city becomes the venue, and each brand shows its individuality. First, the panel at the entrance presents the brand’s philosophy. If there isn’t one, it might be a copycat brand.
Nakajima: Mr. Kusano has been many times, so his commentary was really in-depth.
Kusano: A geeky commentary, right? (laughs)
Nakajima: It was incredibly interesting. Every display was something I’d never seen in Japan.
Kusano: It truly is about spatial proposals and cultural creation. Take a furniture brand, for example. Beyond the craftsmanship of the furniture itself, there’s a theme consistent with the brand identity, linking everything from the venue’s interior to the landscape and blending beautifully into the cityscape.
Nakajima: Come to think of it, Japanese temples and shrines are actually like that too.
Kusano: Exactly. In Milan, we talked about the importance of branding, what philosophy means, and spatial and interior qualities: in what city and what shop a product is sold, how it’s sold, and in what city, what home, and what room the buyer will use it. Through those conversations, we came to share the same vision. That makes it easier to make proposals, too.
Nakajima: Going to Milan helped me better understand how Mr. Kusano sees things, and I learned a lot. The direction of NJK’s branding clicked for me too.
Kusano: It’s about what to subtract. The year before we went to Milan, I proposed, “Let’s eliminate color.” In our first year as a solo exhibitor at Maison&Objet Paris, we offered a range of colors, but then people ask, “Don’t you have this color?” or “I want that color.” But color isn’t the essence. Color isn’t necessary for sharpening beautifully. So we eliminated color and went with just clear, white, and black.
Nakajima: In Milan, I saw many corporate installations. Seeing installations unlike anything in Japan, I realized the installations themselves communicate the brand in an easy-to-understand way. That’s what I felt.
Kusano: Installation art, where the entire space is the work. Going to Milan brought art closer to Mr. Nakajima. And from there came the question of how pencil sharpeners can contribute to cultural creation.
Nakajima: If we hadn’t gone to Milan, I don’t think my thinking would have developed as far as contributing to cultural creation.
Kusano: As we worked on branding together, I wanted to define the attribute that describes NJK. Stationery that contributes to cultural creation, tools that create culture… hence “Bunsougu.” It sounds good, and in English it becomes “culture creation.” It just fits. It’s also consistent with everything we’d done up to then. We decided on it quickly, in 2017, around the time we returned from Milan.
Nakajima: By putting forward a word like that, we could organize things systematically, and I felt we’d built a pillar that keeps us from wavering.
Kusano: Even before that, we’d been working to clarify our target audience: creators and creatively minded people, education-minded people, and collectors. Not only them, but they are our core audience.
Nakajima: Normally you’d make your target broad, and for a stationery brand especially, aiming at the mass market would boost sales and be good for the company. But that’s not what we’ve been doing. And I felt that following the same path as everyone else would make it hard to convey what makes us special, so I had Mr. Kusano propose a solid brand identity.
Kusano: As we worked on branding together, I wanted to define the attribute that describes NJK. Stationery that contributes to cultural creation, tools that create culture… hence “Bunsougu.” It sounds good, and in English it becomes “culture creation.” It just fits. It’s also consistent with everything we’d done up to then. We decided on it quickly, in 2017, around the time we returned from Milan.
Nakajima: By putting forward a word like that, we could organize things systematically, and I felt we’d built a pillar that keeps us from wavering.
Kusano: Even before that, we’d been working to clarify our target audience: creators and creatively minded people, education-minded people, and collectors. Not only them, but they are our core audience.
Nakajima: Normally you’d make your target broad, and for a stationery brand especially, aiming at the mass market would boost sales and be good for the company. But that’s not what we’ve been doing. And I felt that following the same path as everyone else would make it hard to convey what makes us special, so I had Mr. Kusano propose a solid brand identity.
Kusano: Putting that philosophy into words has led us to even better customers. What made me especially happy was Sennelier, the long-established art supply shop in Paris that Picasso is said to have frequented. In their street-facing window, they displayed Pencil Flakes made with NJK sharpeners. Around that time, Pencil Flake started getting buzz on social media, and a German stationery maker even began making them themselves. A copycat, you might say (laughs). But cultural creation plays an important role by branching out like that and becoming universal. In that sense, we’re making a contribution. On top of that, Bonvini, a stationery shop in Milan with over 100 years of history, held a workshop using TSUNAGO.
Nakajima: They sell their own letterpress-printed illustrations, and TSUNAGO was included in them!
Kusano: There’s also the famous MoMA Design Store and the Vitra Design Museum in Germany. Well-known places reached out to us. Mr. Nakajima never goes out to make sales pitches himself.
Nakajima: I just let them tell us they want to buy (laughs). I’m grateful that our presentations appealed to people at such famous stores. JETRO had told us those are stores that rarely buy. I felt that what we’d been doing all along was right. It’s not that sales exploded, but I felt that NJK was being recognized as a “Bunsougu brand.”
Nakajima: In 2017, when we were invited to exhibit at an event at E-ma, Mr. Kusano suggested, “Let’s make pictures with flakes.” My wife and I said, “There he goes again with his interesting ideas,” but we prepared anyway, and our daughter made a sample. As soon as we started, a girl in second or third grade came over and said, “I want to do this!” It was a shock. We’d been worrying about what to do if no one came (laughs). I thought, Mr. Kusano has done it again.
Kusano: Mr. Nakajima didn’t embrace Pencil Flake right away. He’s not someone who does things he isn’t interested in (laughs). First, he photographed Pencil Flakes every day and kept posting them on Instagram. Reaching 1,000 followers would prove there was real interest. He felt it was working, and decided to try it at Kami Fes, the paper festival.
Nakajima: At Kami Fes, people of all ages took an interest in Pencil Flake. What surprised me was a girl of about two who came to try it. She couldn’t do the parts that needed strength, so she had her father squeeze out the glue and sharpen the pencils. She kept at it for an hour and a half.
Kusano: The great thing about Pencil Flake Art is that both the technique and the subject are completely free. Create whatever shape you imagine. That said, there are techniques, like squeezing out glue and sprinkling flakes on top, or using powder.
Nakajima: In 2017, when we were invited to exhibit at an event at E-ma, Mr. Kusano suggested, “Let’s make pictures with flakes.” My wife and I said, “There he goes again with his interesting ideas,” but we prepared anyway, and our daughter made a sample. As soon as we started, a girl in second or third grade came over and said, “I want to do this!” It was a shock. We’d been worrying about what to do if no one came (laughs). I thought, Mr. Kusano has done it again.
Kusano: Mr. Nakajima didn’t embrace Pencil Flake right away. He’s not someone who does things he isn’t interested in (laughs). First, he photographed Pencil Flakes every day and kept posting them on Instagram. Reaching 1,000 followers would prove there was real interest. He felt it was working, and decided to try it at Kami Fes, the paper festival.
Nakajima: At Kami Fes, people of all ages took an interest in Pencil Flake. What surprised me was a girl of about two who came to try it. She couldn’t do the parts that needed strength, so she had her father squeeze out the glue and sharpen the pencils. She kept at it for an hour and a half.
Kusano: The great thing about Pencil Flake Art is that both the technique and the subject are completely free. Create whatever shape you imagine. That said, there are techniques, like squeezing out glue and sprinkling flakes on top, or using powder.
Nakajima: When I saw that girl so completely absorbed, with such an intense look on her face, I thought, “Wow, Mr. Kusano, you’re amazing…” I felt it even more than at Maison. “Mr. Kusano is amazing.”
Kusano: Japanese education tends to set rules like “draw neatly” or “the sky is blue.” When I was in elementary school, I colored a face orange and was scolded: “Faces are skin-colored!” In junior high, I drew an eye on a wrist and was told, “That’s creepy. Redo it” (laughs). That’s not how it should be. Everyone is a creator, so draw however you like. What’s great about Pencil Flake Art is that it’s “do whatever you like.”
Nakajima: When I saw that girl so completely absorbed, with such an intense look on her face, I thought, “Wow, Mr. Kusano, you’re amazing…” I felt it even more than at Maison. “Mr. Kusano is amazing.”
Kusano: Japanese education tends to set rules like “draw neatly” or “the sky is blue.” When I was in elementary school, I colored a face orange and was scolded: “Faces are skin-colored!” In junior high, I drew an eye on a wrist and was told, “That’s creepy. Redo it” (laughs). That’s not how it should be. Everyone is a creator, so draw however you like. What’s great about Pencil Flake Art is that it’s “do whatever you like.”
Nakajima: At first, I thought it might be worth a try, but the response was far bigger than expected. Even you didn’t expect that many people to come, did you? (laughs)
Kusano: True (laughs). I also thought it might take a little longer for you to feel that strongly about it, but you sensed its potential sooner than I expected. So I thought, next is Tokyo. In 2018 and 2019, we held workshops at Shibuya Loft and Ginza Loft. At Loft, more than 100 people came over two days, and in Shibuya, 60 to 70 percent were visitors from overseas.
Nakajima: Mr. Kusano called out to passersby in English, and about 20 percent came because of that. I gradually got into it too (laughs).
Kusano: At first, the Loft floor staff asked, “Will people really come for something like this?” “Something like this” (laughs). “With these scraps?” (laughs). But once we got started, they were surprised: “So many people are coming!”
Nakajima: It got quite a lot of attention. It was hard work, but fun.
Kusano: First and foremost, there’s Mr. Nakajima’s attitude, and everything built on it, including Maison. And because we built relationships with all kinds of people through the E-ma and Loft events, it has led to ongoing retail spaces, including the later one at Loft Ginza.
Nakajima: Mr. Kusano called out to passersby in English, and about 20 percent came because of that. I gradually got into it too (laughs).
Kusano: At first, the Loft floor staff asked, “Will people really come for something like this?” “Something like this” (laughs). “With these scraps?” (laughs). But once we got started, they were surprised: “So many people are coming!”
Nakajima: It got quite a lot of attention. It was hard work, but fun.
Kusano: First and foremost, there’s Mr. Nakajima’s attitude, and everything built on it, including Maison. And because we built relationships with all kinds of people through the E-ma and Loft events, it has led to ongoing retail spaces, including the later one at Loft Ginza.
Nakajima: Right. In spring 2019, Loft Ginza renewed its floor and decided to devote a corner to carefully selected products. We used the same display approach as at Maison: the spatial proposal and the cube. We exhibited and sold at the Ginza store in April and May 2019.
Kusano: Apart from major stationery makers, I think there are almost no stationery brands that are given the chance to propose an entire space. That’s what a “Bunsougu brand” can do. Nakajima: The Loft buyer came to Paris twice and experienced the space firsthand. They had asked if we could do it when the space was renewed. Maison was where those encounters happened.
Kusano: Then, in 2020, you took part in DESIGNART.
Nakajima: For DESIGNART, we decided to do something different as a Bunsougu brand. It wouldn’t lead directly to business, but we wanted to show people the aesthetic experience of “sharpening a pencil” as contemporary art. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic, but about 50 people came. From the outside, people might think we were just making pencil shavings look artsy. But we took part because we wanted to share a new perspective with the world. It was a great experience.
Nakajima: The spirit of mottainai behind TSUNAGO and Pencil Flake is the foundation of the NJK brand. That’s why I was so frustrated that TSUNAGO didn’t win the iF DESIGN AWARD. I thought it would. But TSUNAGO put too much emphasis on function. I think we didn’t communicate its design strongly enough.
Kusano: It’s also that TSUNAGO’s concept was almost too strong. 8[eit] has an acrylic case and two blades. It’s a simple design unlike anything seen before, expressing the Japanese beauty of minimalism. Minimal, and at the same time, it lets you appreciate the sculptural beauty of Pencil Flake.
Nakajima: The spirit of mottainai behind TSUNAGO and Pencil Flake is the foundation of the NJK brand. That’s why I was so frustrated that TSUNAGO didn’t win the iF DESIGN AWARD. I thought it would. But TSUNAGO put too much emphasis on function. I think we didn’t communicate its design strongly enough.
Kusano: It’s also that TSUNAGO’s concept was almost too strong. 8[eit] has an acrylic case and two blades. It’s a simple design unlike anything seen before, expressing the Japanese beauty of minimalism. Minimal, and at the same time, it lets you appreciate the sculptural beauty of Pencil Flake.
Nakajima: The production cost turned out higher than expected, so I asked Mr. Kusano, “Do you think we can sell it for 10,000 yen?” And he said, “Hmm… let’s go for it” (laughs).
Kusano: I wanted to see how far we could push the price under the NJK brand (laughs). TSUNAGO had a stronger concept than 8[eit], but with 8[eit], we put more effort into the photography and packaging.
Nakajima: In late January, an email arrived from iF DESIGN AWARD 2020 saying “Congratulations!” and I immediately contacted Mr. Kusano. I was overjoyed. “We won this incredible design award!” I was happy that what we’d been doing all along was recognized. “We did it!” Now I’m a designer too! …Well, maybe not (laughs). This award was won by Team NJK, so we have to put out even better things. I felt that rather than making things that seem likely to sell, we must keep giving shape to concepts like this.
Nakajima: Our new product for 2023 is “211.” It uses two materials: the body is aluminum and Rice Resin. Rice Resin is a resin made from rice, an effective use of rice that would otherwise be thrown away. After all, mottainai is our concept.
Kusano: Rice Resin supports the SDGs, and aluminum is recyclable too.
Nakajima: We want to contribute to the SDGs through mottainai and reuse.
Kusano: The theme of contributing to cultural creation through pencil sharpeners has stayed consistent, from our past products to our new ones. This is the mission (corporate philosophy) Mr. Nakajima and I decided on together before exhibiting in the most demanding zone, “NOW!”, at Maison&Objet Paris 2018.
Nakajima: Our new product for 2023 is “211.” It uses two materials: the body is aluminum and Rice Resin. Rice Resin is a resin made from rice, an effective use of rice that would otherwise be thrown away. After all, mottainai is our concept.
Kusano: Rice Resin supports the SDGs, and aluminum is recyclable too.
Nakajima: We want to contribute to the SDGs through mottainai and reuse.
Kusano: The theme of contributing to cultural creation through pencil sharpeners has stayed consistent, from our past products to our new ones. This is the mission (corporate philosophy) Mr. Nakajima and I decided on together before exhibiting in the most demanding zone, “NOW!”, at Maison&Objet Paris 2018.
Nakajima: We decided on it at the monthly “brand meeting” the two of us hold, because we needed to establish our brand identity. This mission underlies everything we do, and it will never waver.
