Three Schools Jointly Offer Special Classes to Nurture Gifu's Future Forests and People "School-Company Collaboration Project 2025" to Begin on May 17

Itakura Factory Co., Ltd (Head office: Mizuho City, Gifu Prefecture; President: Kaori Yoshida; Yamagataya Industry Group), which operates a wood processing factory in Gifu Prefecture, will collaborate with three woodworking educational institutions in Gifu Prefecture: The Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture, "Shinrin Takumi Juku", and "Hida Shokunin Gakusha", to offer students a special The students will also have the opportunity to participate in SDGs classes. In addition, a project in which students take the initiative in developing SDGs products will be launched on May 17, 2025.

Project key visual

Outline of the Schools and Enterprises Collaboration Project 2025

Project period: May 17 (Sat) - July 26 (Sat), 2025

Project Objective: In Gifu Prefecture, which boasts the nation's leading forest resources and woodworking techniques, Through this project, we aim to further enhance the skills of makers in Gifu Prefecture and to create new products that make the best use of local timber. and to create new products that take advantage of local timber.

Participating Organization: 

Itakura Factory Co., Ltd

The Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture (Gifu prefectural vocational school)

Shinrin Takumi Juku (Takumi Juku Co., Ltd.)

Hida Shokunin Gakusha (Educational institution run by Hida Sangyo Co.,Ltd.)

Development theme: Table legs

Tables often attract attention for their precious solid wood with precious grain and beautiful shine, but the legs are often of mediocre design. Therefore, there is a need for companies to increase product value with unique legs. For the students, there are many elements to learn, including devising a beautiful design, ensuring strength, utilizing local materials, and meeting the needs of companies.

In this project, cross-school teams from the "The Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture," "Shinrin Takumi Juku," and "Hida Shokunin Gakusha" will take on the challenges proposed by the "Itakura Factory". Details of the challenge are as follows.

Project name: Project for creating rich forests and people through woodworking

Product development of "table legs" for precious solid wood and other top boards Please draft a product development plan while working with your teammates under the guidance of the teacher to clear the following various points that companies consider when developing products.

Selection of materials with the utilization of Gifu Prefecture timber in mind

Budget for production based on the amount of sales.

Design that incorporates functionality

Manufacturing method to keep within budget and shorten production time

The evaluation of the project will be conducted in the form of a competition in which a panel of judges from schools, - Public Institution, and the private sector will make their selections.

The best entries will be considered for commercialization by Itakura Factory.

During the period of the competition, a two-day and one-night camp will be held three times at each school, during which the design will be conceived, produced, judged, and the results announced.

This project was realized through the collaboration of three schools in the prefecture that consider "exchange among students," "collaboration with companies," and "work experience for students," and a company that considers "addressing environmental issues," "utilizing prefectural lumber," and "fostering engineers for the next generation. The students' many dramas were created as they took on the challenge of developing products in a real-world setting, even though it was a class, making it a memorable experience for the students. Furthermore, the project aims to provide an excellent opportunity to nurture human resources who will lead the lumber industry in the future.

In the first project held last year, two of the proposed table legs were adopted as design drafts and actually commercialized.

<Students working on their designs and producing prototypes.>

1st Project: Production (1)

1st project production (2)

<The first-place winner, "Legs utilizing the qualities of small wood," and the leg that was actually commercialized.>

Legs that take advantage of the quality of small trees

Commercialized leg

<Legs that can be touched with the foot, which came in second place, and the legs that were actually commercialized.>

Legs you can touch with your feet

Commercialized legs

About Itakura Factory

Itakura Factory is a woodworking and furniture factory that manufactures and installs custom-made wooden furniture and store fixtures, manufactures solid wood, building materials and fixtures, and manufactures OEM products. As a "Meiboku (precious solid wood)  Factory" that aims to be the best in Japan in the manufacturing of precious wood, we have one of Japan's top class lineups of precious wood in stock. We also have an integrated production system from sawing to processing, painting, and installation by a team of skilled craftsmen who are connoisseurs of solid wood. In addition, we have delivered custom furniture and building materials to properties not only in Gifu Prefecture, but also throughout Japan and overseas, and have a proven track record of delivering a large number of products. We are also engaged in planning and development of wood products in cooperation with companies throughout Japan.

Itakura Factory Key Visual

Itakura Factory's vision

Itakura Factory is part of the Yamagataya Sangyo Group, a lumber company that has been in business for 100 years. As a lumber company that will live for the next 100 years, we are thinking about what we can contribute to society and what positive impact we can have on the local community. In this context, we are starting this project in cooperation with schools in order to nurture rich forests and people, and for the sake of a sustainable lumber industry in the future. Our company hopes that the students will use their soft ideas to work together to come up with a system that will allow us to give back to the forests, local people, society, and the global environment through work experience that is both a class and an actual economic activity. In addition, as a company, we would like to reexamine the following issues with the students.

What does it mean to make woodworking and furniture making a career?

What kind of products will be accepted by society?

How can we get young people interested in the wood industry?

We feel that the third question in particular has had a positive effect, as one of the students who participated in the first project last year became a woodworker at our company.

Yamagataya Industrial Group's efforts regarding the SDGs

We support the SDGs initiatives for a sustainable world.

We will strive to use sustainable wood resources and end products, and manufacture with a sustainable environmental awareness.

We will actively utilize local timber such as Gifu Prefecture timber for sustainable forest formation.

In the shrinking woodworking industry, we actively utilize traditional materials and techniques that have been used in Japan for a long time, such as precious wood, and contribute to the inheritance of Japanese culture and the development of craftsmen.

In order to more actively promote the use of Gifu Prefecture timber through partnerships, we operate the "Gifunoki net Council," a collaborative team of industry, government, and academia.

SDGs Icon

Company Profile

Company ： Itakura Factory Co., Ltd

Location: 88-1 Inasato, Mizuho-shi, Gifu

Representative Director : Kaori Yoshida

Establishment ： 2018

URL ： https://itakura-factory.com/

Business : Woodworking and wooden furniture manufacturing

Itakura Factory Co., Ltd. was established 100 years after the founding of the group's parent company, Yamagataya Sangyo Corporation (*). It is a woodworking and furniture factory that manufactures and installs custom wooden furniture and store fixtures, manufactures solid wood products, and manufactures building materials, fittings, and OEM products. The factory also has a precious solid wood showroom on its premises, which boasts the largest floor space in Japan.

(*)

Group parent company: Yamagataya Sangyo Co., Ltd

Location: 1-3 Miyamachi, Ginan-cho, Hashima-gun, Gifu

President and Representative Director: Yoshiharu Yoshida

Establishment : 1918

URL: http://ymg-s.co.jp

Business: Distribution of lumber and building materials

For 100 years since its establishment, Yamagataya Sangyo has been dedicated to lumber. With the mission of "conveying the beauty of wood and making people's lives more comfortable with wood" in line with the trends of the times, we offer total solutions for everything related to wood, including logs, lumber, structural materials, interior materials, building materials, special materials, nameplates, and furniture.