CONTRI interview
Contributing to the improvement of the global environment with flowers that do not wither "Lasting Flower" [Ark net Co., Ltd.]
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2022.12.16
Contributing to the improvement of the global environment with the lasting flower "Lasting Flower" [Ark net Co., Ltd.] Isn't "flowers" always active at turning points in life, such as celebrations? Flowers have the power to make people happy.
This time, we interviewed Emi Nakamikawa, the president of Ark net Co., Ltd., who has been involved in such "flowers" for over 30 years.
The more I listened to the story, the more dramas that came out, and the interview team of Contori was also moved to tears.
Please feel the passion of President Nakamikawa. Arknet Co., Ltd.
About the business of Arknet Co., Ltd.
You give value just by providing flowers to your customers, but how can you go further and make your customers happy? It means that it was the whole heart.
That's right. After that, there was another episode.
A teenage boy who was on a soccer team died in a car accident. A soccer team member made a soccer ball out of flowers and displayed it next to the portrait of the deceased. He walked with a bouquet to the person who was being beaten.
He finally came to our company at the 20th house. The feeling of being able to go around 20 houses is really amazing!
That's amazing! In the meantime, the flowers will wither. . . It's a race against time! !
Ultimately, the flower withered. He just brought me a picture of the flower. If you look at the picture, you can tell what kind of flower it is, so I immediately went to the market to find this flower. We were moved to tears. I cried when I got this too.
I think there are many people in the world who feel the same way, so I would like to spread the technology of lasting flowers. If you don't, you'll miss the opportunity to leave the flowers in their original state.
For that reason, I want to increase the number of sales channels for Lasting Flowers, so I visit various places and talk about Lasting Flowers.
I definitely want to keep the red rose that Takarazuka threw! There was also a customer called. It's half rotten, but I want you to stop time even in this state. That was the request.
If you make this into a lasting flower, you can really do it in a half-rotten state (laughs).
There will be encounters with people who have "flowers I want to leave" in the future. At times like that, I think we have to be able to make that request come true.
I really hope that happens. When I heard such thoughts, tears came out.
But even if there is such a need, I don't know where it can be realized. If you just look at it, it will wither in a few days.
In order to spread Lasting Flower, I think we need to increase the number of distributors. Currently, we are engaged in a business called "Your Flower Leaves Project", in which we take fresh flowers from our customers' memories and process them for lasting.
Apart from this, we also make gifts with lasting flowers. If I say this, the phalaenopsis producers might get angry, but...
Do you know that Phalaenopsis is difficult to throw away?
When throwing away the Phalaenopsis orchid, it is necessary to disassemble it into four parts.
・withered flowers
・stilts that support the stem
・The base where the phalaenopsis is planted
・vessel
It is necessary to separate and dispose of the 4 pieces disassembled like this. It would be nice if this was one, but if you received dozens of bowls, this would be a lot of work. Phalaenopsis is really hard to throw away like this.
I think that the alternative is the lasting flower. If it is a lasting flower, there is no need to give it water, and it will remain in the same condition as when you sent it.
The color can be pure white, or it can be colorful. I wish I could replace the current Phalaenopsis orchid. It's nice not to have to throw it away. Environmentally friendly.
I also heard that you are working on lasting flowers as a national project. When was this adopted?
It was adopted six years ago.
Are you currently doing lasting flowers as part of a national project?
It was adopted as a national manufacturing project. By promoting the lasting flower business, we aim to provide new services to the world and create employment.
For the next five years, I was obliged to prepare documents and report how things went.
About events that have inspired you
Previously, I heard that the staff had to quit due to the reduction of 3 stores to 1 store due to the coronavirus.
However, as you said earlier, it is a national project, so I wonder if there was a conflict that it could not be stopped.
There was! ! !
Could you please be more specific?
The industry that has been hit hard by Corona is the food industry. The flower industry is linked to the demand in the food and beverage industry. It's a flower industry with a food and food industry. If the restaurant can't open, naturally the demand for the flower industry will also decrease. However, only the food and beverage industry received subsidies from the government. I think there was compensation for taking time off from work, but the flower industry didn't exist at first. There was no security at all, and there was no request for leave from the local government.
The party will be cancelled, the wedding will be cancelled. It was already tragic. If I said that I wanted to quit the lasting flower business, I would be told that if I wanted to quit, I would have to return the money, because I had invested money to build a factory. Even if you ask me to return it, I can't do anything. If you stop, you can't even return it. I couldn't stop after all.
How did you overcome that?
Anyway, I went with tears in my eyes. I opened the store after a lot of hardships, and some of the staff have been there for nearly 20 years. A decision that must be made to keep the company alive. I have to pay rent every month without any sales. I can't borrow money, and the country won't take care of me. . . You have no choice but to cut down your old age savings.
It's a struggle between "decision to quit" and "I have to do something". I really couldn't help but cry.
Even in the flower industry across the country, there are many places that have stopped. Even if I hadn't stopped, I would have struggled and cried. It still is. Now imported flowers are not coming in as much as I thought before. This is due to the effects of the war and the depreciation of the yen. In that case, Japanese flowers are used, but the age range of the people making flowers is getting older, and it is happening that they will retire and stop making flowers.
Then the supply of flowers will be less, so the price will go up. About twice as much now as before. It went up to about 4.5 times on Mother's Day. . .
If the purchase price goes up, will you present the slightly raised price to the customer?
Customers can't afford to pay higher prices. Suppose a person who has purchased flowers for 3,000 yen so far asks for flowers for 3,000 yen again. If the purchase price is doubled, the volume will be halved.
Will the customer be satisfied? So, in the end, we have no choice but to serve. All the flower shops are still crying.
It's a tough situation. . .
Even so, you still continue, what kind of driving force is there?
It's a tough situation. . .
Even so, you still continue, what kind of driving force is there? Sometimes it is to respond to customer requests, and sometimes it is for future dreams. I think this lasting flower is a "space age flower".
Can you grow flowers on the space station? Don't you think it's pretty difficult when you think about it? I think it would be cheaper to bring this nearly raw lasting flower from the earth instead.
That's amazing! You're looking at it on a cosmic scale! !
It can also be used for promotion celebrations in the space station and farewell parties when returning to Earth. Maybe even have a wedding. In that case, I would definitely use flowers. We believe that this lasting flower can meet such needs.
Also, I want to help people in the flower industry who are crying because of the corona virus. I have to keep buying fresh flowers at steep prices, and if they don't sell, I put them in garbage bags and throw them away. What's more, you'll have to pay an industrial waste disposal company to pick it up. I think it's to use lasting flowers to reduce it even a little.
You can also combine lasting flowers and fresh flowers. I think it doesn't have to be 100% fresh flowers. If even 20% or 10% of them change to lasting flowers, the profit margin will probably increase and the disposal rate will decrease. I want people all over Japan to know this, spread it, and make it popular. This is my dream for the future.
I think that not only the flower industry but also other industries need to work together.
Would you like to work with us on this sustainable, lasting flower business? I'm trying hard to talk to the president of various companies.
Among them, I received a voice from the president of the welfare industry that operates an employment support facility. Working at an employment support facility is not a very pretty job. Therefore, it was a request to let the people working there do a more beautiful job.
Touch flowers through work. You can work with a good feeling.
Other than that, I think there are companies that are looking for something that can contribute to society, even though it is completely different from their own business.
I would like to expand to more places like that.
It means collaborating with such a company.
It means collaborating with such a company. We are planning to teach all the techniques of this lasting flower developed by our company exactly as they are. I would like to expand the SDGs flower business with people who want to do it together, rather than just our company.
Of course I will tell you everything. I will also give lessons so that I can do it. I would like you to talk about all the notes and be able to make it.
Instead of keeping the know-how you have cultivated inside yourself, you are spreading it all over Japan!
I think it's good to spread it not only in Japan but also in the world. The president, who is working with people in Cambodia, should also bring the factory to Cambodia. There is also a story.
I would be happy if it spreads not only in Japan but all over the world. By the way, I'm not very good at English, so I would be happy if companies doing business related to overseas could spread it.
Nice!
Flowers are a presence that is close to people's important scenes.
that so! You can make such a one-of-a-kind gift using lasting flowers. This is liquor, but you can crush the flowers into small pieces and attach them to the bottle.
When I gave it to those who had a birthday the other day, they were happy to shed tears. I was really happy to hear the words "I was really impressed too".
It is wonderful! It may go back a little, but I heard that you have been involved in the flower industry for 30 years.
Ever since I was little, I have loved flowers, and I was the kind of child who would always have a picture book in hand. He joined the gardening club when he was in the 5th grade and became the director when he was in the 6th grade. I thought it was my job to put a single flower on the teacher's desk (laughs).
I bought it with my New Year's gift.
Why bother with the money you got yourself? ?
That's right. I would go to a seed store and buy seeds with my pocket money, and since there was a field, I would sow the seeds there. Even when the sun went down and it got so dark that I could only see my hands, I did it. So, I thought that I would naturally go to the flower industry, but at first I got a completely different job.
Thirty years ago, flower shops were hereditary. The main reason for this is that the “bidding” to purchase flowers was done in a hand auction method. I express the amount of money I want to buy with my hands, but even if I express "1", is it 10 yen? Is it 100 yen? Is it 1000 yen? This is a tacit understanding.
You can't enter such a place if you don't know it at all, right? So, a flower shop is a place where parents teach their children how to compete and send them to buy. Because of this trend, it was difficult to enter from other industries.
At first, I was in the beauty industry, working in esthetics and nails. At that time, it was called nail beauty. There was no such word as "nail". From there I entered the flower industry.
What was the turning point that led you to enter the flower industry?
Marriage is the trigger. At first, I worked with an esthetician on the flowers, but when she was working on the flowers, the thorns of the roses would get into her hands. Also, if you touch the flowers all day long, your hands will become black and rough.
Esthetics is a job that touches people's bodies, so I thought she couldn't do it with such hands. She had to choose between the two, but she chose flowers in the end. After all, you must like a clean job.
Flowers are to interact with an unspecified number of people. Nails are only for privileged people. It's fun to do, but when I think about the spread of customers, I thought that flowers would be more interesting.
Future vision
30 years on this road. I heard a lot of great stories.
May I ask you about your vision for the future?
Even if the word "Lasting Flower" is not a buzzword, it would be great if it spreads around people so that they know it.
Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us today.
I would like to share the story of Lasting Flower with my friends and family right away!
It was so wonderful! !
A word from the contr editorial department
Thank you for giving us this precious opportunity. I would like to once again thank President Nakamikawa for his passionate words.
I am convinced that the lasting flower business that President Nakamikawa is working on is of great social significance.
And by making this wonderful technology open and spreading it with many people, I can feel the magnificence of the project to improve Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, the world, and even the universe. I was.
By all means, I would like to contribute as much as possible as a contestant, so thank you.
Profile of Emi Nakamikawa
Born in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture. He now runs a flower shop in Utsunomiya City.
He has developed a technique for preserving flowers in a state similar to fresh flowers, named it "Lasting Flower", and is making every effort to spread it. His feelings for flowers have been with him ever since he was in elementary school, and those feelings haven't changed even now. He is not bound by the common sense of the industry, and also works on art that combines flowers and balloons.
His motto is "The color is the sky", "The role of life"
【Company Profile】 Arknet Co., Ltd.
Company name Ark net Co., Ltd.
Representative Emi Nakamikawa
Location 13-3 Esoshima Honcho, Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture
TEL 028-684-6238
FAX 028-684-6233
Business content Production and sales of flower gifts, lasting flower gifts, balloon gifts
Bridal flower balloon design, production and sales of balloon art
Operation of flower design school and balloon art school
