"HERALBONY TONE FROM MUSEUM ~Listen to the Museum~" is a podcast that started this spring and focuses on the artists under contract with the welfare experimental unit Heralbony.

Sara Ogawa, an actor, filmmaker, and writer, and Takaya Matsuda, President and CEO of HERALBONY, will act as interviewers, listening closely to the art and touching upon the personality and life story of this "unique artist" that can be seen beyond his work.

Following on from the previous episode, in the second episode, Takaya and his twin brother Fumito talk about the time before the founding of HERALBONY and their goals for the future.

Sara Ogawa (hereinafter, Ogawa): Takaya is usually in Tokyo and Fumito is in Iwate, but what kind of work do you usually do?

Matsuda Takaya (hereinafter, Takaya): It's easier to do a lot of things online now, so we probably have a lot of divisions, with Fumito representing Iwate.

Ogawa: I imagine you often collaborate with various companies in Tokyo, but your head office is in Iwate, right?

Fumito: That's right. HERALBONY started out at the Lumbini Museum in Hanamaki, and we didn't want to forget our origins or our identity, so we kept our headquarters in Iwate.

Takaya: In Iwate, there is a hotel called "HOTEL MAZARIUM" that is produced by HERALBONY. It's a really wonderful hotel. There is also a HERALBONY gallery, we have a store in a department store, the vending machines are HERALBONY art, and we are also doing the uniforms for Iwate's basketball team.

Ogawa: Oh!

Takaya: While based in Iwate, it is expanding into Tokyo as well.

Ogawa: I see. In the previous episode, you mentioned that your visit to the Lumbini Museum in Iwate Prefecture was what inspired you to start your own business, but you both had different jobs before, right?

Takaya: That's right. I was originally at an advertising planning company called "Orange and Partners". I worked for Kundo Koyama, the creator of "Kumamon". Actually, Koyama was a personality on J-WAVE, so I visited here several times as an agency member at the time. Now I'm here speaking here, and I feel really emotional about it.

Ogawa: I see. What about you, Fumito?

Fumito: I originally worked for a general contractor, so I wore a suit and worked in residential sales.

Ogawa: It's completely different from now! But the sales skills and other things I had back then would have been extremely useful. It's hard to start a company and expand it.

Fumito: That may be true. We both started our own businesses after working for a company for four years, but I can say with certainty that if we had started our own businesses straight out of university, we definitely wouldn't have been successful. I think there were many moments when the skills we had as company employees were put to good use.

Ogawa: I heard that HERALBONY originally started as a brand called "MUKU."

Takaya: That's right. We're all 31 years old now, but we started "MUKU" when we were around 25 to 27 years old. We started it as a side job with some fellow creators.

Fumito: That's right.

Takaya: At the time, I had a strong desire to create my own work, but the company had a creative director and an art director, so it was hard to produce something that I could call my own. So I started up the brand "MUKU" with some good friends and video creators to try to produce a variety of things ourselves.

Ogawa: What was it like when "MUKU" first started?

Takaya: It was fun, right? We really did have a Skype meeting every morning.

Fumito: Yes, yes.

We started out with a sense of excitement, not with the idea of ​​"Let's aim for a certain kind of world." We were moved by the works of people with disabilities, but when we searched online, we felt uncomfortable with the current situation where they are only seen in terms of their social contribution values. So, when we thought about how we could deliver their works to society in a better way, we started with ties.

Ogawa: So you started out by making ties. In the fashion industry, you also made socks and jackets, but was there a reason why you started out with ties?

Takaya: It's not about whether it will sell or not, but I was thinking about what kind of things would be really moving if these amazing works were turned into something. If that's the case, I thought it would be incredibly cool if we could develop an item that reconstructs the works using silk, not printing, but weaving. So I thought that if something can be made using silk and weaving, a necktie would be good.

Fumito: We wanted to pay tribute to their wonderful work through the idea of ​​"expressing art through silk and weaving." We wanted to start with the concept of creating a product that goes beyond art through respect for them. However, when we actually tried to make it, other companies told us, "You're trying to do something very difficult." It wasn't about the company's sales, but the fact that expressing the delicate touch of people with disabilities through silk weaving is difficult in the first place.

Fumito: So I asked "Which manufacturer can do that?" and they told me that a manufacturer called "Ginza Taya" might have a chance. I felt a sense of mission that I had to make it no matter what, so I visited their workshop in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, and asked them to make it for me.

Takaya: I also took the proposal to Itagaki Takashi, the curator at the Lumbini Museum in Iwate, who also happened to be the person who changed my life, and he said he'd like to work on it with me.

Ogawa: By the way, how exactly does the contract process work?

Takaya: We select the works together with Hiromi Kurosawa, the chief curator of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. After that, we meet with the person in question, their parents, and the welfare facility, and proceed while confirming their wishes. We place great importance on the process of confirming whether the people involved really want to do it, and even when collaborating with companies, we always check with the artist and the welfare facility first.

Ogawa: It seems like they really have paid meticulous attention to that.

Takaya: Yes. In that sense, we think it's important to have the copyright belong to the artist, not to buy it outright. For example, we could pay the artist hundreds of thousands of yen at first, and then we could manage the copyright and distribute it to agencies and other organizations. That might be profitable as a business, but it doesn't allow us to go through the process of sharing values ​​with the artist and their parents and moving forward together. After all, we are strongly conscious of wanting to be companions, not to support, and conversely to be the ones being supported.

Ogawa: I see.

Takaya: How happy the artist is, and how much their family wants it. That's really important, and money is just a kind of result. Sorry, that was a long story...!

Fumito: I really want to talk about this properly.

Ogawa: Yes, that was very interesting! When did "MUKU" come about, and then HERALBONY come about?

Takaya: When "MUKU" was about to enter its second year, I started to realize that this is what I wanted to do. When "MUKU" was featured on an NHK TV program, I was contacted by a mother who was expecting a child with Down's syndrome. She said, "I was really hesitant, but I decided to have the baby." Shortly after that, our neckties started selling like hotcakes. I felt like the two wheels of what was needed and the activities I wanted to do were overlapping. So, I suddenly decided to start HERALBONY, and I called Fumito in the middle of the night. I remember saying, "I've decided to quit my job. You should quit too."

Fumito: Yeah, that's true.

Takaya: So, as HERALBONY we feel a sense of responsibility for the mother's decision to give birth, and as HERALBONY we want to create the foundation for that child to live a happier life.

Ogawa: Since opening the first HERALBONY store at Kawatoku Department Store in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture in August 2020, the HERALBONY brand has been further strengthened. Starting with ties, you now have a wide range of products, including interior goods and miscellaneous goods. Each and every item is of high quality.

Takaya: We think it's important to deliver art to society in a truly better way. Art by people with disabilities is often viewed with negative eyes, so we want people to think that when they buy a product from HERALBONY, it's a truly wonderful product, and that's why we put a lot of effort into the manufacturing process.

Ogawa: How many writers do you have under contract now?

Takaya: As of July 2022, we have contracts with 153 authors. Most of them are intellectually disabled, but recently we have some who live in the US and Thailand.

Ogawa: Amazing! What was the reaction of the artist himself and his parents?

Fumito: I receive loving letters every day from parents and welfare facility staff, and I remember one that said, "Until now, I thought my son was just a nuisance to society, but now for the first time I feel proud of him." HERALBONY is displayed in prime locations such as Ginza and Osaka, and the system is set up so that people who see the works think they are "beautiful," which further reduces purchasing behavior, so I think that people with disabilities will be able to see a different view than they have seen before. I would be happy if HERALBONY could create a virtuous cycle that makes it easier for artists with intellectual disabilities to live in the community.

Ogawa: Is there anything you would like to do or a vision for the future with Heralbony?

Fumito: HERALBONY's mission is "Let your uniqueness shine", but I think this "uniqueness" will expand to a much more meaningful meaning. It won't just be uniqueness specialized in art, but it could be people with physical disabilities, food, or sports. I want HERALBONY to change into a place where all kinds of uniqueness shines.

Ogawa: What about you, Takaya?

Takaya: I hope that we can create a society where the word "HERALBONY" can be mentally translated to mean something like "anyone can participate." If that happens, then if you see "HERALBONY Swimming School" written on a wall, you'll know that anyone can attend. After all, even when my brother wants to take up extracurricular activities, he is turned down because of his autism. I hope that "HERALBONY" will go beyond just art by people with disabilities and expand to mean something that anyone can participate in, giving birth to a world where that is possible.

Fumito: How many years from now?

Takaya: My goal is 20 years from now! I want to create a radio station that's just as good as J-WAVE (laughs).

Ogawa: Before we knew it, we were rivals (laughs)!

Takaya: No, no, I'd rather do it with you (laughs).

Ogawa: But it's really wonderful. At first, the word "HERALBONY" appeared in your brother's notebook and no one knew what it meant, but it became the name of your company, and maybe it will grow into a more widespread concept.

Takaya: I hope that happens.

Fumito: I'd be happy if we could create something together with everyone listening to this.

Ogawa: From next time, the artist himself will be joining us and we will have the chance to dig deeper! I'm looking forward to finally meeting the artist.

Takaya: Yes! J-WAVE is located in Roppongi Hills, so people who usually live in welfare facilities are actually there, and I really wanted to see the scene where we could record together. I'm happy that we can create this wonderful scene together from now on.

Text by Tomoyo Akasaka/photo by Jozo Suzuki

Based on the concept of "imagining the history of an unconventional artist through his art," this program listens closely to the art and touches upon the personality and life story of one "unconventional artist" that can be seen beyond his work.

The two MCs are Sara Ogawa, an actor, filmmaker and writer, and Takaya Matsuda, CEO of HERALBONY. Each episode focuses on a writer under contract with HERALBONY, and welcomes intellectually disabled writers, their families and welfare facility staff as guests.

It is available every Sunday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

You can also enjoy back issues for free.

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