“Bambooful” was adopted by the Japan Tourism Agency as a ‘Model Project for Creating a Virtuous Circular System Contributing to Sustainable Tourism (FY2022)’. It is a collaborative initiative developed and overseen by Satsumasendai Tourism & Products Co., Ltd. and Senmyo Farm (Fujimoto area, Satsumasendai City). Re:public was responsible of the comprehensive planning, management, and execution of the project.

Satsumasendai City has one of the largest bamboo forest areas in Japan, and while there is a significant number of people engaged in bamboo forest management, the industry faces a shortage of staff due to depopulation and an ageing demographic. Local issues such as landslides and animal-related nuisances further complicate the situation.

The objective of this project was to involve designers and design students from overseas to learn and experience the rich wisdom, technology and lifestyles rooted in the region, and to explore ways to leverage the abundance of bamboo found in the abandoned forests – elevating them into high-value content/ material. Through this process, the project sought to regenerate the natural ecosystem.

The Bambooful programme of 2022 offered both a medium-term residential programme of six days and a shorter half-day programme. In 2022, nine participants from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and two from the Melbourne School of Design, Australia, took part. In the medium-term programme, participants began by touring bamboo forest management sites and exploring various bamboo-based infrastructure, including lumberyards, sawmills, and bamboo craft workshops. They were then divided into groups to engage in hands-on spatial design projects utilising bamboo for the remaining four days.
At Re:public, we are committed to pursuing strategies to maintain the commons, fostering new relationships and forms of engagement between people and nature in the satoyama regions, where population decline continues to accelerate. We welcome academic and educational institutions interested in collaboration to reach out to us for further information!