Japan outstands with technology in Asian textile world

Japan is considered a forerunner in the Asian textile and apparel industry and a pioneer in areas such as fabrics innovation, dyeing and finishing technique, fashion design, textile machinery development and more. Its technological advancement had been spurred since the late 1980s when the country started repositioning itself in the globalized textile and apparel supply chain.

Over the following years, Japanese apparel manufacturers and retailers moved and established their manufacturing bases in other Asian lands so as to minimize production costs from the 1980s. As a consequence, the domestic textile and apparel industry was no longer a foreign-currency earner and the country recorded an import surplus in the category of textile and apparel. Domestic textile and apparel entrepreneurs thus turned to high value-added fields to stay competitive in the global supply chain.

Differentiating with active R&D

Synthetic fiber maker Toray Industries Inc, for instance, is now a specialty fabric innovator and maker. One of its recent development is a kind of special sportswear fabric designed for the use in the outer space, in collaboration with sportswear wholesaler Goldwin Inc and Japan Women’s University. The project first started last year as the three parties worked together to develop clothing for space on behalf of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The fabric is characterized with anti-static, fire-resistant, heat-retaining and anti-bacterial properties. Toray and Goldwin planned to set up a research institute this year and commercialize the product in about a year.

Another Japanese fabric innovator, Mitsubishi Rayon, is known for creative manmade fibers. In the recent Expofil fair at the Première Vision Pluriel in February, the fabric maker showcased a range of products with special properties: anti-pilling (Vonnel H6 Series), anti-static (Corebrid-B), super fine denier fiber (Miyabi) and Funcle, a flat cross-section fiber. Its main markets are knitting (flat-bed and circular), hosiery, hand-knitting yarns and technical uses. The company, among other fibers, annually produces 120,000 tons of acrylic fibers, of which 90% are exported.

Externally, Japan promotes export and encourages economic integration in the Asian region and the West through the establishment of economic partnership agreements (EPA) and/or free trade agreements (FTA) with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, Chile, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand and Vietnam.

Moving to a greener world

Sustainability is another buzzword for Japanese manufacturers and they have made considerable efforts in terms of technology.

This January, Teijin Fibers Limited, a Japan-based global polyester polymer, fiber and textile company and Swany America Corp, a leading manufacturer of ski gloves and mittens, announced the launch of a closed-loop recycling program for used polyester ski gloves.

Swany America planned to use Teijin Fiber’s Eco Storm, a recyclable, waterproof and breathable material made from recycled fibers, for new gloves in its 2009–2010 winter lineup. Swany also agreed to collect and recycle used products through Teijin Fibers’ recycling system, called Eco Circle.

Customers are invited to mail their worn-out ECO-X gloves to Swany America using special envelopes supplied at the time of purchase. The gloves’ polyurethane palms can be cut off at Swany Warehouse in Johnston, New York and recycled domestically. The remaining polyester parts, such as shells, insulation, waterproof and breathable inserts and hollow core inner linings, can be sent to Teijin Fibers’ Matsuyama plant in Japan, where they can be chemically decomposed and converted into new polyester raw material at a recycling facility.

Japanese dyers are also known for their ecological commitments. Emiko Katayama, director of Showa, for instance, presented the company’s eco-friendly dyeing technique at the recent Première Vision Pluriel.

Ms Katayama said: “It has been 10 years since we started employing yarns without chemical products, and over the past four years we have developed a real organic offer. Not only with organic cottons harvested by hand, but also wools. But our know-how resides above all in environmentally friendly dyes. We are the first to have succeeded in applying the cord dyeing process to vegetal products like khaki or indigo. This technique is particularly ecological, because the fluid that is used is completely recyclable, and the variety of color attained is equal to that of chemical dyes. In terms of bleaching, the process isn’t organic because we use ozone, but that is a much less polluting product than chlorine.”

Eco fabrics, on the whole, have become a hot product area for Japanese producers. Yuko Watanabe, International Coordinator for JFW-Japan Creations, described sustainability is inevitable in the industry. “The textile business has been greatly affected by the slowing economy. As promoters of quality functional and eco-friendly textiles made in Japan, we are looking to develop our business on a global scale,” she said at the recent Interstoff Asia Essential in Hong Kong held in mid-March.

Additionally, Japan has also developed and marketed internationally advanced textile machinery from various producers such as Murata Machinery, Shima Seiki, Tajima and Toyota.

Aside from embracing technology, however, it is a known fact for fashion gurus that Japan is also known for respecting its traditional culture, and some Japanese fashion designers are good examples. Hanae Mori, Issey Miyake, Kenzo and Yohji Yamamoto, for instance, have earned their fame in both the West and the East with their unique styles, often inspired by Japanese aesthetics and cultures, for example, iconic cherry blossoms and elegant kimono fabrics.

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Source: Adsale Industry Portal 2456.com