*This article is translation of Kengo Yoshida's post on note.com.Kengo Yoshida is a Japanese musician, instrumentalist, plastic artist, and dome architecture researcher. Also known as the developer and godfather of "Patica". After working on "Gourd Market", he is now living off the grid in a forest of Aso in Japan with his partner Nobu.
It was around 1995 when I was confronted with the waste problem.
I participated in a trust movement to protect forests from waste from a final disposal site in the Tama area of Tokyo.
Then I began to think about the seriousness of the garbage problem.
"What is garbage❓" kept ringing in my head.
I learned in 1994 that there was no garbage until the Edo period.
In short, garbage has existed since we started drilling for oil‼️
Garbage.. it is something that is out of the earth's environment cycle.
It's man-made material.
It is something that only humans discharge.
It's a substance that won't go away forever‼️
At that time
Aja Addy, a West African Medicine Man and musician, came to OASIS in Hayama.
He brought an asalato as a gift and gave it to his friends, which I think was the first asalato in Japan.
I got it and kept playing it every day. I was hooked.
I was really into it. Then one day. I had a flash of inspiration from its sound like "Pati"‼️ and "Ka"‼️
Toy makers and musical instrument makers will turn this into plastic!
I got in a hurry. That's when the explosion💥 of inspiration came up of nowhere❣️
I thought I'm the one who have to do it.
Making this the first step of "plastic revolution"
should be a message from Africa. (I thought so on my own, and forced it into a story, and told many people that God is rooting for Patica.
I was a bit of a strange guy.)
One day.. a friend of mine met the president of a plastic processing company at a karaoke snack bar.
My friend showed him an asalato (a musical instrument made of West African nuts) and said to me, "He said, 'Let's make this into plastic'".
Yes.. I've got it! I went to see the president of the company immediately.
And so the first step was taken toward the plastic version.
🟢The conditions at that time were..
- Use recycled plastic‼️
- Once you buy it, you have to keep fixing it and make it last for years‼️
And this project meant to have..
- The theme of "Plastic Revolution"‼️
The original plastic was decided to be ABS because it is a material that can be repaired many times even when it's broken so you just buy it once. There was no other material like that.
A solvent (methylene chloride) is used to dissolve ABS, and ABS itself melts and becomes one piece❗️
It is readily available as an adhesive for ABS❗️
That's the reason to be chosen.
At first, when pachinko parlors replaced their playing machines, there were lump of milky-white ABS resin on the backside, so we collected them.
Two balls with 50mm diameter are connected to one with a string
and you hold one in each hand and shake them..
The balls are filled with pebbles, and it has three shaker sounds with two attack sounds.. This is a two-beat triplet‼️ This is surprising.
Because it's two-handed, you'll have a tremendous combination. And it produces an astonishing rhythm. As a drummer, it was such an exciting thing..
Wherever I go I always played it not only while I was driving, but moving by any vehicles, so I got better and better, and developed various techniques.
My friends were also very into it and addicted to it.
The plastic version project started after we got so into it, so this completely made pages in my life story.
One day.. I received a phone call from the president of the company.
I was asked "Name the instrument cuz we'll be interviewed."
I instantly answered "Patica". It came up like "Pati❗️", and "Ka❗️".
Members of OASIS was the ones who decided to call african version asalat.
In Africa, it's called Keskes, Kesun Kesun or Thelevi..
They called it Batica too, and I thought Batica was also nice.
So I decided to call it PATICA with a plastic "P".
It was me who named it PATICA..
and spells too. Isn't it good❓
I heard that even in Africa some people call it Patica now.
It's finally time to start the Patica story.
It was hard to sell around because there was no thing like YouTube back then.. We demonstrated in many places. TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, all kinds of media picked up on it.
Various companies came forward and did various things.
In the end.. all the companies forgot about the "Plastic Revolution".
I said "God is rooting for Patica" at a meeting, and they thought what a jerk I was😆👍🤣
"You don't know what that means. You will burn yourselves if you badly touch me‼️" I thought to myself.
Finally, they pulled out of the Patica business.
I parted ways with my friends at that time.
Then I went on my own.
I guess it was more about making money than "Plastic Revolution".
Everyone was like that.. and I started to be aware of Germany at this time. Because Germany is very conscious about environmental issues.
But I didn't have a clue.. I decided to wait for the right time.
At that time.. an acquaintance introduced me to DJ HI-C (KIREEK).
HI-C is amazing guy.. He is the overwhelming winner of the world scratch DJ competition.
He connected me to a certain company with a building in Ginza through his backstage.
It was a very impressive company. HI-C and I went straight to the president's office and sat down on the sofa. The company, which is in general plastics business and has several overseas companies that also do plastics processing, took care of everything from making the molds to manufacturing the products.
I saved up all the money to pay for it.
It cost one million yen just to make one mold..
At that time, I was able to get a share of the hemp plastic through a certain channel.
And that's how I made the 30% hemp and 70% ABS plastic Hemp Patica.
That company made hemp Patica a few times.
But they stopped making it after employees complained that it made the plant smell super stinky. It must have been the smell of burning plants combined with the smell of plastic. I think it's better than plastic though.
So I was wondering what to do❓
And then the materials was stopped sharing too. Big shock⁉️
One misfortune rides upon another's back. I was in tears and bee stung😭🐝
Just when you think it's the end, Kengoman decides to make his own hemp plastic‼️ How awesome👍👏👏👏👏👏
I heard a ring in my head, and "If you know it's possible to mix hemp with ABS, then do it‼️"
And then..
I spent a million yen and I have the mold, didn't I❓
I just had to find the hemp material and a processing plant.
Around that time.. I learned about Fumikazu Masuda of Tokyo Zokei University https://youtu.be/tlK5J90E_Lg on TV, who is called a pioneer of plastic, and I was thinking to make an appointment with him.
One day, I handed a flyer of Patica to a student of Tokyo Zokei University who came to an event, and told that I wanted to make an appointment with Professor Masuda. The next year, I gave it to a female professor at Tokyo Zokei University and told her to give it to Professor Masuda.
And then.. the time had come‼️
In the crowd at Earth Day Tokyo (at Yoyogi Park), someone patted me on the back. I turned around and he asked me "Are you Mr. Kengo Yoshida❓." I said "yes", then he said "I'm Masuda of Tokyo Zokei University."
What⁉️ Why.. you visit me.. Such a surprise made me so happy that I felt like falling over.
The professor said, "Please take a look at our seminar's booth"..
I was guided to the booth and saw the various items on display.. He told me many things about plastics.. and listened to me about my various thoughts.
The professor asked me if I would come to his university.
A few days later, I took my dog (Pochi) and Nobu (human) on my motorcycle and went to the university.
I thought I could talk about a lot of things, so I followed the professor and where I was taken to was his classroom.
I was suddenly introduced in front of many students there and I was to be the lecturer for an hour (I was so good at improvising that I transformed into Kengoman the dreadlocks professor‼️👍😆).
Though it was a weird feeling like I was taken in,
there I did..
The hour-long class went by in a blur, as I babbled on and on about plastic and the garbage problem.. I showed instruments and accessories I made from the waste on the spot, the professor and students bought many of them. (Kengoman transformed again into an seller at a festival night stall😆👍)
Next.. we all moved to audiovisual room for a Patica lecture.
(I once again transformed into the "Let's play with Kengoman" a fun rhythm play guy😆👍)
It was a big hit.
After that.. I went to the university office, not the student affairs office, and got 27,000 yen for that day's lecture😆👍(unexpected)
And then.. I went to the cafeteria with the professor and discussed with him over curry.
He introduced me to a plastic processing factory.
And there.. the original hemp plastic was born.
I finally have my own original hemp plastic material.
Now that I have it, I will use Patica to spread it all over the world.
I was so excited to see how many things would be created with hemp plastic.
The flyer for Patica made from hemp plastic is..
It says "Hemp Patica is the first step in Plastic Revolution. By mixing 30% hemp with raw materials, we have achieved a drastic reduction of ABS resin.
Through Patica, we want many people to think about the plastic problem! By spreading Patica, we want to support people researching eco plastics! Let's! communicate PATICA!
However.. I have not been able to meet researchers and developers.
That's how it's been so far..
I was lucky because at least I got the mold.. but we still had to find the right mix of materials.. adjust the humidity and temperature.. test when the prototypes had made.. and so on. Although it was hard because the company was so far away.. we managed to produce a product..
And so the Patica story continued. Isn't that great❓ (Big thanks to Professor Masuda)
I managed to do something, didn't I? Up to this point. Up to this point.. actually.
But you know what.. It was after this point that I decided to write this note.
I suddenly couldn't get in touch with the company.
I've got a few phone numbers, but they're all disconnected.
I had a bad feeling about this.
So I looked them up on the internet and.. My hunch was right, they went bankrupt.
And now.. I'm like "What should I do❓"😔
Normally, this would be the end of the story.
But I've been looking around on the internet and found out.. it seemed the bankrupt company was transferred to a different person without modification.. and with someone else as the president of the company
so they are still in existence with a different name.
I immediately called the new company.
And I asked for an estimate of how much it would cost to have them make the molds from scratch and make the hemp Patica materials again.
The other day I got a reply and when I opened the envelope, I was surprised⁉️ to see that is very expensive😞
It includes the cost of the mold.
I don't have enough money.
So the company makes the mold and then divides it by the first lot.
The company calculates on the assumption that they make at least two pieces, so if I ask for one piece, they have to tie up the machine for twice as long.
Are you with me❓
That's why I can't say anything too strongly about it😔
I told them that they would lose the order.
And I told about what I have done so far.. the concept.. how the global environment is getting worse every year..
and spoke my thoughts about the "Plastic Revolution".
When I looked up this company on the internet
I found the statement of the president who stood up for the environment, and told him that I nicely got how he felt.
And so it went..
The president gradually opened up in the conversation, which made me happy.
I said, "I'll think about it a little bit," and hung up the phone.
In the next phone call
🟡I'm thinking of talking to him that it should be a different line of work.
I think I'll say, "Why don't we work together for the environment?"
"We won't make money, but we will make good for the environment"..
"Well, if we don't start the 'plastic revolution,' no matter how much money we have, it's not going to work."
Now I have about 200 sets of hemp Patica orders a year from Germany.
The music shop is called "Dan Moi".
They seemed to plan to sell Patica to the world..
They asked me "Would you give us a discount if I placed an order for 10,000 sets❓"
I told him, "Whether it's 10,000 sets or 1,000,000 sets, no matter how much the number increases, the wholesale price will remain the same.. The current price is the cost of materials, processing, and assembly. Cuz we can't use ultrasonic welding machines for assembly and it's done by hand."
That's what hemp Patica is.. Hey, that's the truth.
In the first place, I would be inundated if I received an order for 10,000 sets.
I'd have to start a "Hemp-Patica home industry club" (I think that would be fun too👍).
So.. the product itself is out of current date.. You see❓
Maybe God is rooting for it.
🟢Hempati will save the world‼️
The world begins to change and a revolution in mindset starts by people involved in Hempati.. new alternatives to plastics will be created.
The world's landfills will have less waste.. reducing environmental impact..
A new economy will emerge where the environment business will profit‼️
I want to share the message and concept from Hempati and the history of it
and think about the future together on Twitter with my readers.
Anyway.. I had to remember the timeline and change the order many times while writing,
it was so hard to add a lot.
And now one more thing to add🤭.. I remembered something I forgot to write.
Hemp Patica was made of 50% hemp and 50% ABS resin along the way, which was a drastic material revolution.
This got well again👍 We finally reduced the use of petroleum raw materials to half, that we did‼️
From now on, we are aiming for 100% biodegradable Patica that will return to the nature.
What will happen❓ What will we do about it❓ That's the way it is😞 Kengoman's thinking.
So far, the number of people who enjoy Patica seems to be increasing little by little, and sales are leveling off.
Maybe it will become a culture just like Kendama.
Rhythm on it is the best, and to learn right hand-left hand combination it's the best to do when you are a small child.
It will develop a sense of rhythm naturally👍
When my kids were in elementary school, they used to ride unicycles with Patica in hand, and it was a big hit at school.
It was like a circus👍
Now it hit me...
I'm thinking of talking to Dan Moi in Germany too.
🟡 I'm going to say, "it should be a different line of work."
I'm thinking of asking him, "Would you like to work with me for the environment?"
I wanna say, "We're not going to make money, but it will be lucrative for the environment."
"Well, if we don't start a 'plastics revolution,' no matter how much money we have, it won't matter."
I.. would like to connect with the world with concepts🙇
I look forward to working with you.. Thank you.
Kengoman 2022 12 1
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