The Beginning of SOLAHANPU (Designer's Story)

Sola, the designer of SOLAHANPU, has loved investigating the structure of things, making 3D crafts, and drawing since she was a child, and has had a strong curiosity about "creating" something . At the same time , she has the personality to act quickly when she gets an idea, and from her mid-teens she had a strong desire to see the world outside of Japan and broaden her horizons .

When I was around 20 years old, I happened to have the opportunity to live and work in France, and even though I couldn't speak a foreign language , I had always wanted to learn about other countries, broaden my horizons, have many adventures and experiences, and improve myself . Although I had no overseas experience at the time, I decided to take this opportunity to go abroad. I then concentrated on saving money for about four months and finally flew to France. In the end, I missed out on the job and the opportunity to settle down, but my desire to continue seeing other countries remained strong, so I began traveling around Europe, America, and Asia with nothing but the clothes on my back .

At first, I would return to Japan for short periods, work for a certain period, save up money, and then go abroad again . But eventually, I was able to find work in other countries , and I began alternating between work and travel. I experienced a variety of things, including fishing and camping in the Alaskan wilderness , spending days in Germany eating only cheap bread to save money, teaching Japanese in Hong Kong , and nearly being robbed in Italy and the United States . Through these experiences, I learned English, Chinese, and a few other languages ​​through hands-on experience, interacting with local people wherever I went.

During the few years I was traveling, I lived on the bare minimum, so even when I could afford it, I would stay in youth hostels (at the time, multi-person rooms called dormitories in Western countries cost about US$ 15-25 per night ), and when I couldn't afford it, I often had to sleep outdoors. In these survival-like situations traveling around various countries, I gradually developed the awareness and skill to minimize my luggage, and I started to travel with just a small assault backpack and my wallet.

The reason why I had to carry such a small amount of luggage was that at the time I was not financially well off and I didn't know when or where I would be able to sleep, so if I had a lot of luggage it would be difficult to move around and it would be difficult to manage my luggage so that I wouldn't lose it, so it just came naturally. Regarding wallets, some people say that it is better to carry valuables separately when traveling abroad, but in my case I chose to keep them all in one place, keeping my passport and everything else in my wallet and securing it with a wallet chain. I often slept with my wallet in my pocket, and sometimes slept with it in my trousers in places where safety was not guaranteed . - The less luggage you have the easier it is to move around and manage -I think this fits with the concept of "danshari" (decluttering). However, because I have extremely little luggage (too minimalist) , immigration officials have aroused suspicion and I have been questioned several times, asking, " Are you a spy? " , only to be released after they confirmed there were no problems. Regarding places to stay, I have also stayed in facilities (called shelters in the US) run by governments and various organizations for people who cannot secure work or housing in various countries.

About 10 years later , I was in China. One day, something happened that made me think about what the meaning of life is in a limited time , and I felt a strong desire to actively pursue the things I love and want to achieve . At the time, I was unable to find a wallet that I was satisfied with, so I decided to create a brand that would produce products that I designed myself, combining the designs for wallets and bags that I had always had in mind, and this became the prototype for SOLAHANPU .

However, when it came to actual production , I realized it wasn't as easy as I'd thought . At first, I created sketches and dimensional drawings of the product, selected materials and parts, and searched for factories via the internet and through connections to commission production. However, they required a minimum lot size of several thousand units, or refused to accept the request because they didn't think it would sell . Even when a factory was willing to take on the project, they faced all sorts of problems: the dimensions and shape were completely different from the specified ones, the materials and parts were changed without permission, delivery dates were extended, and even when I finally saw the completed prototype, it was completely different from what I had imagined. I repeated this process over and over again, but time just kept passing, and it was about two years after I started that I finally produced my first product of a quality that could be sold to customers . However, various production issues remained unresolved, and I gradually shifted to making things myself .

My original love of three-dimensional crafting and drawing came in handy, and I also learned CAD and other design software, as well as craft sewing and pattern making, by referring to what I saw in factories and by teaching myself, and acquired the skills to make prototypes and produce small quantities.

In 2016 , Tenuis, the first slim wallet in Japan, was featured in well-known media outlets such as Lifehacker and Gizmodo, and quickly became well-known. Later that year, the successor version, Tenuis2 , was released as part of the first online campaign, and received support from over 300 people, becoming a springboard for increased activity in Japan.

At the time, production was still carried out by only a small number of artisans . As production volume continued to grow over the next few years, we sought out partner factories, but were unable to find any capable of producing in Japan, and we once again moved our production to overseas factories. However, even though these overseas factories were able to carefully produce prototypes , once full-scale production began , they would ignore our requests and produce sloppily, use materials other than those specified, or remain completely unaware of the progress no matter how many times we asked. We also experienced complete failure to respond to requests even after the contracted deadline had completely passed. No matter how much we tried, we reached our limits in terms of quality and delivery time , and ultimately came to realize once again that the quality and manufacturing system we sought could only be achieved in Japan . Although we had been searching for a Japanese production factory since around 2010 , due to the complex production process of SOLAHANPU products, we were unable to find a factory in Japan that met our technical and technical requirements for a long time. In this regard, there is a clear distinction between those that can and cannot produce, whether in Japan or overseas. However, after many twists and turns, since 2023 , we have finally established satisfactory production in Japan, centered around our own artisans and workshops.
 
We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported SOLAHANPU over the years. We would like to continue our creative activities and design of products that combine functionality and beauty. We will humbly accept any feedback we receive from our customers, reflect on our actions, and strive to grow SOLAHANPU even further and be accepted by more people.