Successful Startups Prove Traditional Kyoto Culture Can Power Innovation
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For many, Innovation and startups aren't the first things that spring to mind when they think of Kyoto. Japan's old capital is usually associated with temples, shrines, cherry blossoms and geisha. But one Frenchman came here, took a simple, old-fashioned idea and turned it into a $2 million business. For more and more people, Kyoto is a city of opportunity, where the traditional and cutting-edge can come together to spark new businesses.
Sparking a bento box boom
"Stay hungry, stay foolish," reads a slogan on the wall of Thomas Bertrand's third-floor office in a small building near Kyoto City Hall. The Steve Jobs quote has inspired entrepreneurs around the world, but few have done what Bertrand has done. He moved from his native France halfway around the world to Japan, learned Japanese and set up a company selling lunchboxes inspired by traditional Japanese bento, which are trays or containers holding foods such as fish, rice, noodles and vegetables. On the ground floor of the building, a retail shop showcases some of the bento boxes he sells: some look like cartoonish ninja or geisha, some have traditional Japanese wave motifs and others look like sleek silver capsules. There seem to be bento boxes for every taste.
"Kyoto can be a leading town for startups because there are so many students and active young people here," says Thomas Bertrand, president of Bento&co.
Established in his apartment in 2008, his company Bento&co now has 18 employees and revenues of about $2 million. Through its online sites, it sells more than 500 varieties of bento box, including its own designs. The firm sells boxes—not food that goes inside them—as well as kitchenware products, and it believes these are economical and good for the planet. Bento&co sells to people around the world. Bertrand gives part of the credit for his success to Kyoto itself.
"Kyoto can be a leading town for startups because there are so many students and active young people here," says Bertrand. "It's easy to hire talented Japanese and people from overseas. We can work hard and relax easily. It's also very simple to do day trips to Tokyo on the Shinkansen bullet train."
Like many people from abroad, Bertrand came to Japan to fulfill his interest in Japanese culture, which he had had since childhood. He began studying political science at Kyoto University in 2003. He began a blog about life in Japan that soon drew thousands of readers. He noticed massive interest in the blogosphere in bento, including kyaraben ("character bento"), which food arranged and decorated to look like characters from anime or manga. Since there were hardly any companies distributing Japanese bento boxes overseas, Bertrand decided to sell some himself, beginning with a rudimentary website in French and 50,000 yen worth of inventory. Over the next few years, sales surged and he added multi-language support and shipping options.
"The culture of bento is not just about putting food in a box," says Bertrand. "Cooking is good for your health and your brain. You have to think about it even more, because you can't cut things once they're in there. And it's always better to put your food in a nice box."
Established in 2008, Bento&co now sells more than 500 varieties of bento box as well as kitchenware products, and has revenues of about $2 million.
Since the company ships about 50 to 100 parcels a day, it has to prepare many shipping labels. Filled out by hand, this is a cumbersome, time-consuming task. That's where the idea for Bertrand's other company, Ship&co, came from. Launched in 2016 and out of beta since early 2019, it is billed as Japan's first cloud-based shipping system. It's centered on an API and a web app that can automatically generate shipping labels for major shipping companies using customer data from e-commerce sites. As a one-of-a-kind business, it's become an important B2B service for the startup, which has established ties with major corporations and expanded to Singapore.
"If we're successful overseas, the big Japanese venture companies could become interested in us," says Bertrand. "It was challenging to get other firms' APIs for this service, but I had perseverance, good connections and could negotiate in Japanese. If you're patient and have a different cultural background, it might be easy for you to find business opportunities in Japan."
Crafting new business opportunities
An additional reason why Kyoto is an ideal place to set up a business is that it's been a design powerhouse, setting the standard for taste in Japan for centuries. Another Kyoto entrepreneur innovating these traditions is Yuki Mizuki, CEO of Time and Design. It's a design company that works with craftsmen in and around Kyoto while facilitating international exchanges through design. With a background in product and graphic design, Mizuki spent 10 years in automotive interior design jobs in Japan and the U.S. before returning to her hometown of Kyoto, where she decided to focus on craftsmanship.
"My goal is to make crafts more ubiquitous and to make more and more collaborations," says Mizuki.
Mizuki established Time and Design in 2016 to bring the crafts of Kyoto to a broader customer base and to bring together design- and craft-minded people from around the world. One of the local crafts companies she works with is a fabric-dying business where her cousin works. It produces drapery for Buddhist temples, but like many traditional crafts companies, its business has diminished over the years, with staff falling from 30 to only three people.
"My cousin's company is 100 years old, which is startup-level in Kyoto," says Mizuki. "But a big issue for these traditional industries is succession. I know a 13th-generation head of a company who is considering closing the business because there's no one who wants to take it over."
One part of Time and Design's business model is to produce custom designs for crafts companies. These include everything from cushions and lamps to drapery emblazoned with traditional Japanese design elements. There are many design opportunities for crafts in Kyoto, she notes, because it has more government-recognized crafts than any other prefecture in Japan. One example of the many possibilities is using a traditional Kyoto weaving technique known as Nishijin-ori to give carbon fiber products additional strength, flexibility and beautiful design.
Time and Design participates in tours to crafts spots in Kyoto for clients from abroad who are interested in design.
Mizuki has built a significant following on social media, sharing her Kyoto craft-related videos that introduce local craftspeople. Through these connections, she has brought design fans from overseas on tours to meet people working in crafts in Kyoto. She features in tours by U.S. partner KyotoKimono.com; the fact that they sell out proves the popularity of Kyoto's traditional crafts . Mizuki works out of a home atelier as well as a shared office space at Kyoto Research Park, a multi-building space supported by Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture and local industry that is home to hundreds of small businesses. Mizuki now wants to build a new space that she envisions as a hub and product design showroom where designers from overseas can meet craftspeople from Kyoto and work together on new projects.
"We have world-class designers in Kyoto. It's a brand that attracts many creative, unique personalities from around the world, "says Mizuki. "My goal is to make crafts more ubiquitous and to make more and more collaborations."
To learn more about Bento&co, click here.
To learn more about Ship&co, click here.
To learn more about Time and Design, click here.
To learn more about Kyoto-style business, read Yuzo Murayama's Heritage Culture and Business, Kyoto Style.
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