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Izumisano in Osaka is known as one of Japan’s major towels producing regions.
Gulu in Uganda, on the other hand, is a prominent organic cotton–growing area.
Although these two places are far apart, they became friendship cities in 2017 — and that connection began with a small towel manufacturer in Izumisano called Smileyearth.

His company is now run by a team of just four people, all family members. Smileyearth produces towels using 100% organic cotton from Uganda, without any chemical processing.

We, PREX have had several opportunities to work with them through our training programs. When we first visited Smileyearth during a training session, we were struck by how thoroughly the company considers its environmental impact. That visit only deepened our curiosity, led to this interview.

In this interview, Kojima, Araki, Hazama and Fukuoka of PREX spoke with Tatsumasa Oku (hereinafter referred to as Mr. Oku), who serves as the third-generation Representative Director.

Mr. Oku, 3rd-generation Representative Director. of Smileyearth. At Towel Factory in Izumisano city.
Kojima
Smileyearth is strongly associated with Uganda. First of all, could you tell us how this relationship started?Mr. Oku
Our connection with Uganda began with my father, who ran the business as the second‑generation representative director.When he was a university student, he saw a TV documentary about Africa and wanted to see the continent with his own eyes. He traveled there for the first time and was captivated by the national parks. He even chose African national park conservation as the topic of his graduation thesis.

After entering the workforce, he inherited the family towel business from my grandfather and focused entirely on towel production in Izumisano. At that time, there was no link to Africa through his work.

But around the year 2000, the towel industry went into decline. Izumisano, historically one of Japan’s leading towels producing regions, could not compete with neighboring China, where towels were being manufactured faster, cheaper, and in far greater quantities. Chinese products soon flooded the Japanese market. Because the local industry relied on a division of labor, once one company fell, others followed – and the number of towel producers eventually dropped to less than one-tenth of its peak.

Our company’s suppliers and clients also began shutting down or withdrawing. My father realized, “If we keep making the same things, we won’t survive. We need to do something different.”
Around that time, he traveled to Africa again. Initially he went to Tanzania, but there he learned about a Japanese expert working with farmers to develop organic cotton production in Uganda. So he headed straight to Uganda.

That expert was Mr. Yuichi Kashiwada*, who operated a textile mill using 100% organic cotton grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
Upon encountering organic cotton, which is produced while protecting the environment, my father, who had always been interested in the conservation of national parks in Africa, apparently felt strongly that “it would be wonderful if I could realize my commitment to the natural environment through towel making.” My father loved nature, especially African nature.

Determined, he decided: “I want to make towels using Uganda’s beautiful cotton.”This decision became the foundation of what is now Smileyearth.

*For more information about Mr. Kashiwada, please search for “Yuichi Kashiwada, Father of Uganda”. He was the model for “Factory Manager Matsuda” of “Fuji Shirts” in the African chapter of Toyoko Yamazaki’s novel The Sun That Never Sets. He was affectionately known as “Father of Uganda” by the people of Uganda.

                                                    Mr. Oku’s father (2nd-generation representative director)

Why a Towel Manufacturer Stopped Selling Towels for Ten Years

When my father decided to start making towels using organic cotton from Uganda, he didn’t intend to continue using the same production system as before, because he was working with materials that had been carefully cultivated with a focus on protecting the natural environment.

Around the 2000s, when towel production in Izumisano peaked, the water quality of the Kashii River, which flows through Izumisano, became the worst in Japan. Towel manufacturing uses large amounts of water and relies heavily on petroleum derived chemicals. Wastewater from local factories had severely impacted the river’s ecosystem. This was something my father wanted to change.

After encountering Uganda’s organic cotton, he began building a fully integrated production system within our own factory — a major shift for an industry traditionally based on divided processes among several companies. Because many towel companies were closing due to competition from China, he was able to acquire machinery and equipment from them. It took five years to build a production system that allowed Smiley Earth to manufacture a towel entirely in-house.

But the real challenge came afterward. Developing the technology to make towels with minimal environmental impact took ten years. Committed to doing things properly, my father stopped selling towels entirely to focus on research and development.

He believed, “If we’re not satisfied with the towels ourselves, we shouldn’t sell them.”  As a result, the company did not sell a single towel for ten years.

During that period, with support from Mr. Kashiwada, he imported high-quality organic cotton from Uganda and sold it in Japan to keep the business going. Smileyearth was officially founded in 2008, so its very first activity was actually the domestic sale of Uganda’s organic cotton.

While my father devoted himself to developing low‑impact towel‑making methods, I don’t think he imagined the process would end up taking a full decade! (laughs)

Kojima
Hearing that Smileyearth spent ten years developing environmentally responsible towel making techniques truly amazed us. “I never imagined it would take 10 years,” he said with a laugh, and we were completely engrossed in his story as he continued to explain things with such ease. It still feels almost unbelievable that someone could sustain such a commitment for so long, with no guarantee that they would find the solution they were looking for.

For details on Smileyearth’s eco-friendly towel production, please visit the Smileyearth website.
https://smileyearth.co.jp/nature-towel-factory/ （in Japanese）

https://smileyearth.co.jp/towel-factory/ (in Japanese)

In the next article, we will delve into the relationship between the third-generation representative director , Mr. Oku and Uganda, as well as the specifics of doing business in Uganda.