Ishinomaki Laboratory: A Furniture Company with a Deep Social Mission

David Schalliol: The Ishinomaki Laboratory origin story has been told many times, but I wonder if you could share just a little of its founding.

Tomomi Hashimoto: Ishinomaki Laboratory co-founder Keiji Ashizawa had a client in Ishinomaki whom he visited in April 2011 to help with recovery efforts. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, he helped with tasks such as clearing mud, which was everywhere. Later, as he continued returning to Ishinomaki, Keiji’s support shifted toward repairing damaged items that were still being used, such as doors—restoring what could be repaired. This became the starting point of Ishinomaki Laboratory’s DIY activities. Keiji met Takahiro Chiba while working part-time to help with the shop’s recovery. Chiba, a sushi chef by profession, had always been good with his hands and was skilled in DIY, so when it came time to establish Ishinomaki Laboratory as a community workshop, we asked Chiba to take on the role of workshop manager. With Keiji heading design in Tokyo and Chiba heading production in Ishinomaki, the basic organization was established.

DS: At the time, you also created new spaces in the rebuilding city. Do you have a favorite you can share?

Keiji Ashizawa: The first example is IRORI Ishinomaki. We rented and renovated the space so it could be used both as a workshop venue and as a small public gathering place. Today, it has become one of the representative public spaces in Ishinomaki’s old town area, and it also operates as a café. I personally discovered this location, negotiated with the owner, and undertook both the renovation design and the DIY renovation work, with help from friends in Tokyo and the Herman Miller team.

Another example is the creation of the Fukkō Bar (“Reconstruction Bar”). At the time, it was extremely rare for ground-floor shops to reopen in the post-disaster context. Together with members supporting Ishinomaki Laboratory and Gohta Matsumura—now the representative director of the public corporation Ishinomaki 2.0—we brought the bar back to life. It continues to operate today as a popular bar. For both of these projects, I contributed to the design as well as the DIY work.

DS: Now nearly fifteen years later, what do you see as the design philosophy and social mission of Ishinomaki Laboratory? How do the two relate?

TH: In the beginning, the furniture produced by Ishinomaki Laboratory was based on a few key principles: using 2”x4” wood donated after the earthquake, creating products that serve a functional purpose in post-earthquake life, and maintaining simple, beloved designs. Simplicity and functionality mean that the furniture blends into any space while meeting our customers’ needs. We consider Ishinomaki Laboratory furniture as something that can accompany people through both disaster recovery situations and ordinary daily life.

Recently, through our collaboration with Karimoku Furniture, we have introduced a flat-pack series called “Maker Pack” to further incorporate ecological features into our products. The wood used in this series comes from Japan’s satoyama forests, which are ecologically managed secondary woodlands, and is also largely comprised of wood that is considered waste. For example, some wood may be awkward remainders from commercial projects or have marks from insects or birds. After making use of this waste wood, the flat-pack approach further helps reduce CO₂ emissions from transportation. We are constantly focused on being a furniture brand that is present in society and close to people’s lives.

DS: Keiji, thinking back to the beginning and that interest in creating what Tomomoi called “simple, beloved designs,” could you please explain your design of the first Ishinomaki Labs product, the Ishinomaki Bench?

KA: First and foremost, I believed the bench needed to have true structural integrity. Whether placed in a disaster-affected area or in any other public setting, an outdoor bench must be strong and enduring. To me, creating something that can be used for many years is one of the most meaningful contributions a designer can make—both to the people who provided the materials and to those who built it. Above all, I wanted it to be something the community could continue to use for a long time.

The second consideration was beauty. I felt strongly that it should not appear as just another piece of DIY furniture placed there by chance, but rather as something designed with the community’s identity in mind. And if it was to remain in the town for years to come, I believed with conviction that it must also be beautiful.

Designing something that embodies both durability and beauty is, in truth, a difficult challenge. Yet, by a stroke of good fortune, the core design came together during the train ride from Tokyo to Ishinomaki. It felt like a small miracle.

DS: How much dialogue is there about the design and manufacture of the products?

TH: Generally, design and production are roughly divided. The design comes first, and then we make it at the workshop. However, after a design is received by the workshop in Ishinomaki, suggestions from the workshop are incorporated into nearly all products. Adjustments are made in consideration of machinery constraints and production methods, where the workshop might say “This part should be improved.” While the design comes first, after the workshop makes the piece, we decide flexibly. This flexible process might be why Ishinomaki Laboratory's furniture has such versatility, blending smoothly into any space—it reflects the production process itself.

DS: Thinking of flexibility and collaboration, I’m fascinated with “Made in Local,” your collaboration with workshops around the world. What was the impetus for establishing the program?

TH: As furniture manufacturers and workshops from around the world expressed interest in Ishinomaki Laboratory’s story and products, we realized that rather than exporting furniture from Japan, it made more sense to use local materials to create furniture in these regions. This approach, rooted in Ishinomaki Laboratory’s beginnings in community-based recovery efforts after the earthquake, allowed us to have regionally connected activities that made economic and ecological sense. In the “Made in Local” initiative, the fact that the program is operated by workshops within their communities and that the furniture is made primarily using local timber mirrors exactly the kind of community-building activities we have engaged in since our beginnings in Ishinomaki.

A unique “Made in Local” collaboration in the United States is with Brightmoor Makerspace (BMS), a community space in northwest Detroit that is an incubator for creative enterprises. BMS was founded on the idea of providing vocational training for young people in the local community. Just as Ishinomaki Laboratory worked to build a community in Ishinomaki in the wake of recovery, we saw a connection in how BMS builds community through vocational training for youth. Keiji and Chiba actually traveled to BMS to give lectures on how DIY and hands-on making at Ishinomaki Laboratory supported the local community. Unlike other “Made in Local” initiatives, Ishinomaki Laboratory does not collect royalties from BMS. Instead, the focus is on supporting a new generation of woodworkers to learn production and business skills through the design, manufacturing, and promotion of the brand.

DS: Brightmoor is an investment in a US city that is also rebuilding after a different kind of disaster. How much do you connect with other cities also rebuilding after disasters, natural and human-made?

TH: In 2024, devastating wildfires in the Valparaíso region of Chile killed more than 100 people and displaced tens of thousands. Soon after the cleanup began, we received a request from a company that recycles wood in a sustainable way to help with the recovery by facilitating the community’s production of the AA STOOL. The stool’s designer agreed, and we provided the plans. The company then made the stools together with local residents in a workshop. By using the stools as chairs or placing flat surfaces on them to serve as tables, people were able to live their daily lives with greater stability. You can see more about how the stool was used in this video.

Another example is that after the deadly 2024 earthquake in Noto, Japan, we considered ways to provide sustainable support rather than just temporary aid. We assessed if it would be possible to make use of the local Noto Hiba wood species, which is a kind of cypress notable for its natural resistance to rotting, and then introduced the wood into one of our collections as a way to support long-term recovery efforts there.

DS: Ishinomaki Laboratory also operates Ishinomaki Home Base, a coffee shop, community space, and guest house not far from the workshop in Ishinomaki. Can you share more about establishing the space and how it connects with your social mission?

TH: In July 2011, one of the first uses for Keiji’s Ishinomaki Bench was building it with Ishinomaki high school students to provide temporary seating for an outdoor film festival. Afterwards, the benches were repurposed to be a gathering place for people in the city, since so many gathering places had been destroyed. Learning from that experience, we believe that spaces where people gather provide a sense of fulfillment and strengthen the community. On a micro scale, this continues to motivate our production of Ishinomaki Bench, which provides a small place for people to sit together.

Expanding on those ideas, Ishinomaki Home Base was created to contribute to the development of the community. About ten years after Ishinomaki Laboratory was founded, we decided to create Ishinomaki Home Base as a place for communication and a new community space for locals. The first floor is a space where workshops can be held and visitors can experience Ishinomaki Laboratory furniture. On the second floor, there is a communal kitchen and four guest rooms designed by architects and designers associated with Ishinomaki Laboratory (TORAFU ARCHITECTS, Naoki Terada, DRILL DESIGN, and Taiji Fujimori Atelier), where people visiting Ishinomaki can stay.

DS: Keiji, as the architect of Ishinomaki Home Base, can you explain how you incorporated Ishinomaki Laboratory’s mission into the physical design of the building? In other words, how do the design of the building and the materials you selected relate to the goals of Ishinomaki Laboratory?

KA: The original mission of Ishinomaki Laboratory was to contribute to the revitalization of the city. That is why we actively borrowed spaces in the disaster area to host workshops and create open spaces. When the time came to formalize the business, we handed those spaces over to other organizations.

When we were given the opportunity to design this building—Home Base—I recalled that original mission. I wanted it to become the best guesthouse in the city and a place where people could experience Ishinomaki Laboratory firsthand. At the same time, I wanted to ensure that even if we moved to another location in the future, this place would continue to function. That is why we aimed for an extremely simple structure, coupled with a comfortable and beautiful space.

We chose timber construction, naturally, because it resonates with Ishinomaki Laboratory’s approach to simple, wood-based design. The room interiors, café counter, and built-in kitchen were all made by Ishinomaki Laboratory. I wanted to demonstrate that, with the right skills in making things, one could create a space and design on the scale of Home Base. Of course, today it also functions as a place that expresses the identity of the Ishinomaki Laboratory brand.

DS: Tomomi, you mentioned that designers provided distinct designs for each of the guest room. Why did you take that approach?

TH: Ishinomaki Laboratory has close relationships with a variety of designers and architects, and we wanted guests to feel closer to our brand by having our collaborators design each room. We imagined that visitors would enjoy staying in these rooms and experiencing the work of each designer. In March 2020, the designers gathered at the construction site of Ishinomaki Home Base for a meeting, which is a very Ishinomaki Laboratory way of approaching things, actually meeting in person in Ishinomaki. During that visit, we discussed not only the concept of the building itself but also how the space would actually be used in concrete terms with the designers. It was at that time that the name “Ishinomaki Home Base” was also decided. The process of aligning our ideas on the concept and how the building would be used in practice became the foundation for each designer to design their own room.

DS: Is there a main lesson that you have learned from your experiences with these deep community connections, like Made in Local and Ishinomaki Home Base?

TH: Since the earthquake, we have learned that “doing things yourself (DIY)” doesn’t mean “doing it alone.” Making the community great is just as important as creating great furniture.

DS: As Ishinomaki Laboratory expands into a global furniture brand, how do you take these lessons in mind as you imagine what the company will become?

TH: Our furniture was born from the recovery efforts after the earthquake. Through experiences like the early reuse of the Ishinomaki Bench, we have learned that furniture can create connections among people and strengthen the community. We will never forget that the essence of furniture is not only in its design and functionality but also in the way it inherently connects people and communities. We want to apply these lessons as we continue to develop Ishinomaki Laboratory’s furniture as a representation of these values.

Ishinomaki Laboratory Furniture in Use