Fermented hot bath nifu received the Minister of the Environment Award at the 7th EcoPro Awards.
*Table Company Co., Ltd.*
Press release: September 4, 2024
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Fermented hot bath nifu received the Minister of the Environment Award at the 7th EcoPro Awards.
*Fermented Onsen Nifu, which carries out forestry operations such as thinning abandoned forests, and upcycles unused resources such as forest residues into materials for beauty purposes, won the Minister of the Environment Award at the 7th EcoPro Awards. did. *
Fermented hot bath nifu won the *7th EcoPro Award* operated by the Sustainable Management Promotion Organization.
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We operate a hot bath salon called “Hakko Onsen Nifu,” which uses only fermentation heat without using electricity or gas. We support the beauty and health of women living in the city.
For fermentation materials, we have built a system that allows us to utilize forest residues and thinned wood from abandoned forests, which have become an issue in mountain forests.
This includes the “promotion of carbon neutrality” through the regeneration of abandoned forests and coniferous forests,
“improvement of water source cultivation function,” and even “recovery of biodiversity.”
This is a business based on the concept of the 2030 Nature Agreement. In addition, used materials are upcycled in agriculture, livestock farming, etc., creating a new cycle.
By utilizing unused resources hidden in the mountains and forests, we are promoting circular activities that make both people and nature beautiful and that everyone can enjoy.
Fermented Onsen Nifu currently operates nine stores mainly in Tokyo. It is used by approximately 50,000 customers annually.
Branches and leaves of cypress piled up beside the forest road. By purchasing biomass at a higher price than from biomass power plants, we are able to work with businesses that carry out forest thinning and other forestry operations to have branches and leaves that do not weigh much be transported directly to the sawmill. An unused part of a cypress tree that is discarded in a valley. After thinning, the unused parts that are left in the forest and have no useful value are transported out to be used as materials for fermentation baths.
An untouched cypress forest.
In abandoned forests where necessary treatments such as pruning and thinning have not been carried out after planting, we perform clearing and thinning, and then transport the felled trees from the forest. Many sawmills are closing down due to declining business conditions and lack of successors.
Since there was no sawmill in Yoshino Town that could process forest residue, we acquired an out-of-business sawmill, worked with local residents to revitalize it, and were able to utilize the forest residue as materials for fermentation hot baths.
Hinoki leaves are a valuable resource rich in essential oils. Thinned wood and forest residue collected from mountain forests are sorted by part and processed into materials ideal for fermentation hot baths.
Upcycle unused resources into materials for beauty purposes. Depending on how it is processed, forest residue can be transformed into materials useful for beauty and health.
The trunk, branches, and leaves are sorted by parts, the degree of dryness is adjusted, and then crushed, and finally blended and shipped.
⚫️ “*A circular activity that ferments forest residue to make both people and nature beautiful”*
This activity will later promote reforestation, restore the beautiful and airy nature of the mountain forests, and become a circular business model that will make everyone happy, leading to the conservation and regeneration of biodiversity and nature positivity. Masu.
Circulation activities that everyone will enjoy starting from Yoshino Forest When women living in the city use this service for their own beauty and health, the mountain forest environment becomes beautiful and healthy, which in turn leads to the revitalization of the region. In addition, materials that have finished their role in the
fermentation hot bath (powder such as forest residue) are reused in agriculture, livestock farming, etc., creating a new cycle.
* [EcoPro 2024 event summary] *
Exhibition name: EcoPro 2024: https://eco-pro.com/2024/
Date and time: Wednesday, December 4th, 2024 – Friday, December 6th, 2024, 10:00-17:00
Venue: Tokyo Big Sight East Hall
7th EcoPro Award: https://sumpo.or.jp/seminar/awards/index.html#award SuMPO: https://sumpo.or.jp/