A beloved stuffed animal is irreplaceable. But over the years they suffer wear and tear, and the damage can be severe. The attachment their owners...

Former pro skateboarder Shimizu Aoi set out to become an artist in his second life. As he searched for a medium to work in, he was caught by the...

Lumber that's too short or too narrow can be hard to sell. Offcuts are usually discarded or end up as woodchips. But Tanaka Ryosuke and Miyachi Yoh...

Chef Murota Takuto's restaurant is tucked away in a quiet corner of trend-setting Shibuya. Uniquely, he insists on using wild game, culled as...

Fashion designer Sawayanagi Naoshi uses only all-natural materials to make clothing that can be safely decomposed by microorganisms in the soil. His...

"They're not trash cans, but resource bins," says Murakami Yuki. His love of making goes back to childhood. And at college he developed his own...

Manicurist Arimoto Naomi makes colorful nail tips. But behind the beautiful patterns is plastic trash from nearby beaches. Fashion-inspired...

Echizen City in Fukui Prefecture is a major center for washi paper production. There, papermaker Igarashi Masami created "Food Paper," combining...

Ito Naofumi is a watchmaker in southwestern Japan. He's also a rather unusual artist. With old watch parts, he brings frogs, horses, dragonflies and...

A downtown Tokyo pencil maker offers a unique product. Clay made from sawdust. Working to find a way to make use of the waste generated in the pencil...

Japan loves baseball! Many young people here dream of being a pro player. But baseball gear, particularly gloves that differ depending on the...

Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, is home to verdant farmland. Seki Masafumi was born there. At the dyeing studio he runs with his wife Yuko,...

Yamamoto Atsushi makes things with old bicycle parts. Tires, brakes, valve stems, many parts make up a bicycle, but they're difficult to reuse....

In this era of cheap, mass-produced products, Nihei Toru sells restored old furniture at his shop in a verdant mountain village north of Tokyo....

Yamaguchi Ayumu runs a small Tokyo distillery. He uses sake lees left over after brewing sake from rice. These often go to waste, but they impart a...

Culinary researcher Yokoyama Takako lives in a mountain region. She cans and ferments local produce to make it through the depths of winter; work...

Takasago Masami generates almost no plastic waste. Composting instead of plastic bags for food scraps, or doing dishes with a cloth instead of a...