◆About the Japan Service Awards
The Japan Service Awards, launched in 2015 and now in its fourth year, is Japan’s first award system for innovative and outstanding services. The awards are given to services that are leading the way in service sophistication and industrial development, providing sparkling new value or realising new ways of doing things that have never been done before.

◆Service Name
Arita porcelain from a manufacturing industry to a service industry Rebuilding a traditional industry through town-based handicrafts by Kouraku Kiln.

◆Service overview
Establishing a product service system that can respond to diverse needs and fluctuating demand by reconstructing the superior technology of Arita porcelain, which has a 400-year history, and the town’s in-house handicraft industry. Creating new markets and sales methods that are not solely via traditional trading companies. By opening up the kiln itself, collaborations with artists and companies from home and abroad are realised, and the kiln is also utilised as a tourism resource and contributes to the revitalisation of the region through events such as ‘treasure hunting’, where general tourists are invited to come into contact with Arita.

◆Evaluation points
(1) Re-establish town-based handicrafts by organising the processes in which skilled craftsmen work and those in which ordinary people such as part-timers can work, and by cooperating with employment support facilities. A production system that can flexibly respond to product needs and demand fluctuations at various levels has been achieved.
(2) The town-based handicraft system has made it possible to use a made-to-order system, develop original products with beer companies, restaurants and hotels, and sell overseas in collaboration with artists at home and abroad. The company has also developed original products for beer companies, restaurants, hotels, etc., and has achieved overseas sales in collaboration with artists from Japan and abroad.
(3)The company has also been involved in the creation of new value co-creation one after another, such as organising “Treasure Hunting”, an event to search for treasures and buy as many items as possible in the warehouse.

◆Comments from CEO Takanobu Tokunaga
We are very honoured that our company’s daily efforts have been recognised with the Minister of Regional Development Award. As a long-established Arita-yaki potter, we will continue to deepen the exchange of information with companies in other fields in the town and devote ourselves to the future so that we can link our traditional industry to the next generation.

◆4th Annual Japan Service Awards: list of awards
https://service-award.jp/result04.html

https://service-award.jp/result_detail04/creation02.html#ttllink

For enquiries about this press release, please contact:.
Attn: Shinozaki, shinozaki@kouraku.jp.net