Adal's debut exhibition is showcased at Milan Design Week

(Image credit: Stone Designs and Michael Geldmacher)

For more than 1,000 years, Yatsushiro, a small city wedged between seas and mountains in southern Japan, has been synonymous with one material: igusa, a type of rush used to make tatami mats. Today, the number of farmers has hit critically low levels – prompting one Japanese furniture company to create a dedicated brand that uses igusa in all its interior pieces, in a bid to revitalise the hard-hit industry.

Adal Look into Nature uses igusa across the spectrum – from chairs and screens to chaise longues and containers – with the earthy warm of the natural woven material balanced with clean and minimalist designs. The brand, which exhibited for the first time this year at Salone del Mobile in Milan, aims to create contemporary products that harmonise the relationship between humans, nature and the spaces they inhabit.

Adal Look into Nature and the revitalisation of the igusa industry in Japan

Blue armchair — The Boku armchair embodies the perfect blend of East and West and is characterised by a clean, minimalist design signed Stone Designs. Manufactured with a metal and beech wood frame it has an upholstered seat and backrest in igusa providing a “warm embrace” and offered in various finishes

Kenji Hadama, global business director, explains to Wallpaper*: 'Japan’s oldest book, called the Kojiki, referred to the igusa industry, so we know it is at least 1,300 years old. But the industry has shrunk, due to cheaper imports, artificial alternatives and more Western lifestyles. 'Thirty years ago in Yatsushiro – where almost all of Japan’s igusa is made – there were 4-5,000 farmers. Today, there are around 250 – and only 50 of them have someone who can take over the business when they pass away.

'So within five to ten years, Japan’s igusa industry may disappear entirely. Our mission is to support this industry and help keep it alive. Our company can’t make tatami mats but we can make furniture using igusa and we want to spread this culture all over the world.'

brown table — Sakyu Table features a frame in varnished steel to match the chairs and a beech wood top to emphasise the overall harmony

Based in the southern city of Fukuoka, Adal is a contract furniture company dating back to 1952, which first launched its Look into Nature collections featuring igusa interior products in Japan five years ago.

Igusa – a material which is strong, aromatic, deodorising and durable – is the main protagonist. Adal has created two new contemporary tatami mat weaves – Ami and Musubi – available in a minimal modern palette of seven shades for its furniture products.

Adal Look into Nature at Salone del Mobile 2024

This year, Adal Look into Nature showcased new igusa furniture pieces created by German designer Michael Geldmacher, including the Sakyu chair, with a varnished steel frame and a smooth flow of igusa weave wrapped holistically around the seat and backrest; as well as an accompanying table. Spanish studio Stone Designs also created Boku, an armchair with a clean metal and beech wood frame, whose curving lines contain igusa in a design described as a 'warm embrace'.

Describing how he was immediately drawn to the warmth of the igusa as a contemporary interior material, Geldmacher tells Wallpaper*: 'I love the idea behind Look into Nature that dedicates this collection to bringing igusa into a new context beyond Japan. In addition to the beauty of the material, it’s all based on a very important cause.'

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Danielle Demetriou is a British writer and editor who moved from London to Japan in 2007. She writes about design, architecture and culture (for newspapers, magazines and books) and lives in an old machiya townhouse in Kyoto.

Instagram - @danielleinjapan