The small town of Furudono is best known for its 400-year-old cherry blossom tree and its pleasant setting in forested mountains in southern Fukushima Prefecture.
The small town of Furudono is best known for its 400-year-old cherry blossom tree and its pleasant setting in forested mountains in southern Fukushima Prefecture.
Very few people know that it is also responsible for a large slice of the Lacoste-branded clothing in the stores of Japan's big cities. Okabe Sewing operates one of only two factories making Lacoste products, featuring the iconic green crocodile logo, in the country.
When the March 11 earthquake hit and the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, just 60 kilometers away in Futaba district, began leaking radiation, that production came to a shuddering halt.
Though Okabe's plant did not suffer great damage in the earthquake itself, 23 Chinese workers who were the mainstay of the production team all returned home after the nuclear accident.
Many of the 45 sewing machines, arranged in three neat lines in the main production hall, were standing idle just as production was supposed to be gearing up for the start of the summer season. Production at Okabe dropped by a third and delivery of finished product fell far behind schedule.
Tokyo-based Fabricant Co., the firm entrusted with making and marketing the Lacoste brand in Japan, was in a tight spot but stood by Okabe.
Fabricant President Hirokazu Masaki said: "We were able to support the disaster-stricken area that way."
Since April, Okabe has hired new Japanese employees and production levels have gradually recovered.
It is the only Lacoste facility in Japan capable of producing "business polo shirts" designed to be worn in office environments. Fabricant introduced the shirts in 2007, but they have been receiving increased interest this summer because of the campaign to cut businesses' use of air conditioning in response to the threat of power shortages following the quake. Sales are projected to surge 50 percent.
The collars of the business polos are stiffer than those of regular polo shirts and can be worn with neckties, but stitching them is harder than regular dress shirts because the material used is much softer.
"We searched nationwide for more than a year but Okabe Sewing was the only company able to do it," said an official at Fabricant in charge of production and procurement.
Eiichi Okabe, president of Okabe Sewing, said, "I want to repay customers who have waited patiently across the country with a product that is better than anything we have produced to date."
One selling point will be the "Made in Tohoku" label on Lacoste's polo shirts. The brand's other factory, owned by Fabricant itself, is located in Yokote, Akita Prefecture.