500 DAYS UNTIL EXPO! CONTRIBUTING TO THE SDG’s BY CUTTING REEDS TO BE USED AS FABRIC FOR UNIFORMS FOR THE 2025 KANSAI EXPO

 

We went to cut reeds to Lake Biwa.

We had announced from the very beginning that the uniforms for the Kansai Expo 2025 would be made of fabric made from reeds, and we went there to experience the process.

 

On December 2, we were blessed with fine weather with occasional rainbows, and about 170 people, including parents and children, from various organizations and ministries participated.

 

The morning was invigorating and pleasant.

 

We all started the day with a few warm-up exercises to relax our stiff bodies a little bit.

 

After warming up, it was time to harvest reeds!

 

The reeds I saw for the first time were growing straight up into the sky and were much taller than adult people were.  They had very strong stems and took a territory of 2,000-square-meter lakeshore green space.

 

Holding a sickle in my right hand I enter a group of reeds, grab it with my left hand and slide the sickle against the root in a few sawing motions to chop the plant down. In such a manner, you can easily cut a stem as thick as two splittable chopsticks.

As I got used to it, I started mowing two or three reeds at a time.

It was quite a fun and exciting experience, and I found myself mindlessly going ahead with it.

 

Did you know?

In the same places where reeds grow there is a plant that looks quite the same which is called “ashi”. 

The difference is that reeds have hollow dead stems, while ashi is filled with cotton-like material.

It is difficult to tell the difference just by looking at these two plants.

Reeds are hollow and easy to process, but ashi is solid and difficult to process, so it should be sorted. 

Sorting was a hard task, and after harvesting, I applied for help to a member of the Biwako Takashima Reed Preservation Society. But by the end of the process, I was able to tell the difference by myself

 

Once harvested, the reeds are bundled, tied together with strings and stood up (round stand). 

 

When the reeds have been processed into fabric by a local Takashima city company, it will be cut and sewn to make uniforms for Expo.

Yoshi fibers are highly absorbent and deodorant, therefore they are recommended for uniforms.

 “Myaku-Myaku”, an indispensable character at the Kansai Expo, participated as well.

A commemorative photo session was held after the harvest and became very popular.

 

 

It has been a long time since the term SDGs was coined, but I felt that each of these efforts was a step towards reaching the goal of making the world a better place to live all people around the world work so hard on.

To continue with even a small initiative and to spread it from one person to another is what I feel a really important thing to do.

 

From the window of the car on my way home, I saw a rainbow over Lake Biwa on a clear winter day.

It was as if I had been rewarded for getting up early in the morning.