ETOE Co., Ltd. develops underwear for the last time in one's life Tokyo Metropolitan Enterprise Location Consultation Center website on February 13.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Enterprise Location Advisory Center interviewed Emi Watanabe, President, and Hena Nagamoto, Senior Managing Director, of ETOE Corporation, the developer of the last pair of underwear in their lives, and published the interview on its website on February 13, 2024.

The name of the company, ETOE, is derived from the initials "E" of the two, which represents the collaboration between Mr. Watanabe and Ms. Nagamoto in planning and designing and creating the patterns.

Facing the dead as professionals, we develop underwear for the last days of life.

ETOE is a start-up company that handles everything from underwear planning and design to manufacturing. As underwear professionals, we are taking on the challenge of entering a field that no one has ever looked at before. The company's first product is "Last Lingerie," a line of underwear that is worn at the end of one's life. The product has attracted a lot of attention since its development, and many people have been waiting for it to be completed.

In this interview, we spoke with Emi Watanabe, President, and Hena Nagamoto, Senior Managing Director, about the impetus for starting the company, the development of Last Lingerie, and their vision for the future.

Starting an independent business at the beginning of the year with the best partner

The company will be founded in April 2020. It was on New Year's Day of the same year that Mr. Watanabe came up with the idea of starting his own business.

After the vacations, I asked Nagamoto, who was a colleague at the company, if he would like to join me. Nagamoto, who was a colleague of mine at work, agreed with me and we decided to give it a try. I had more than 15 years of experience in the industry as an underwear designer and Nagamoto as a patterner, so I was not worried about going independent. Above all, we can challenge ourselves to do what we want to do. And personally, I wanted to spend time with my children.

As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter where I belong as long as I can do the kind of manufacturing I love. I had no hesitation in going independent with a partner I had worked with for so long. I also had the expectation that I would be able to work flexibly and with a high degree of freedom in terms of hours." (Mr. Nagamoto)

They set up an office in Kitasenju, near Mr. Watanabe's home, and started their business. The company mainly contracts with manufacturers to produce women's underwear, from planning and design to pattern making and manufacturing, according to their needs.

We initially thought our business would be from planning and design to pattern making, but since the second year, we have gradually changed the business and increased the number of members. Currently, there are five members, including the executive director. We can plan any kind of underwear. That is our strength.

Diving into the funeral industry and taking on the challenge of creating underwear that has never existed before

In addition to our regular business, we also took on the challenge of a new field of underwear, and our first original product was "Lust Lingerie. We asked him about the development process.

I have never been able to forget the sight of my grandfather in diapers at his funeral when I was a child, and when I looked into it, I found that it still remains the same today. So, will Japanese people be wearing diapers for the rest of their lives? If it were me, I would absolutely hate it. I thought, "I have to make it here. When we displayed samples at a facility in Yurakucho for research, the response was quite positive, and I was encouraged that there were people who needed them. However, although we have a lot of information on women's bodies, we do not have any data on the bodies of the deceased. So, we went to funerals with a northerapist and collected information by looking at the bodies of the deceased up close. We revised the samples over and over again, and it took us about two years to complete the project.

To be honest, I was not very enthusiastic about the project at first. I wasn't familiar with death and was afraid of it. But as I came into contact with grateful bereaved families at funerals, I changed my mind and thought, 'We will make underwear that looks beautiful and is easy for the coffin-maker to put on.

We received many inquiries from the general public after receiving the award. One time, when I told a caller about the planned release date, he was disappointed and said, 'We can't make it in time for .......' I will never forget that, so I hurried to put the product to practical use as soon as possible.

ETOE's Last Lingerie won the Excellence Award in the Adachi Ward Business Plan Contest in 2022. With the grant they received, they accelerated the development of the product and finally commercialized it in May 2023.

■Advantages of Tokyo Location: Generous support for startups and many opportunities

ETOE currently has an office in a start-up support facility operated by Adachi Ward (until the end of January 2024). One of the advantages of being located in Tokyo is the generous support for startups and the many networks and opportunities that are available.

When I started my business, I had a hard time finding a cheap place to rent for my business, but fortunately, a year later, a space became available at this start-up support facility, and I was able to move in," he says. The location and environment are perfect, just a five-minute walk from Kitasenju Station. In addition, the incubation manager meets with us once a month to check on our situation and give us advice. We are originally professionals, but we are amateurs when it comes to management, so it is very nice to have someone to talk to," said Mr. Nagamoto.

When we developed Last Lingerie, we took advantage of the Adachi Ward curriculum, which supports the creation of new products. Also, when I decided to enter the funeral industry, I used the matching system of Adachi Ward and was introduced to funeral directors who were willing to cooperate with me. From there, our network grew and various people lent us their support, perhaps because of Adachi Ward's downtown character and warm-heartedness. The challenge for the future is how to market Last Lingerie. I think it will be difficult to come up with a strategy because it is a product that has never been seen before. So we have applied for the A-MAP program, which supports startups in their business growth, and we plan to receive support over an eight-month period.

Another advantage of the Tokyo location is the easy access to transportation.

Most of our customers are in Tokyo, but most of our products are made overseas. From now on, overseas business trips, which used to stop due to the Corona disaster, will also increase. It is one of the advantages of being in Tokyo that it is easy to conduct business negotiations in Tokyo, and also easy to get to overseas production bases from Narita or Haneda.

Lastly, we asked about future challenges and prospects.

Mr. Nagamoto answered, "I would like to promote awareness of the Last Lingerie product, and I hope that in 10 to 20 years, more people will be wearing underwear instead of diapers when they leave for their trip. We have also encountered a variety of people through this development. In the future, I would like to make underwear that addresses the concerns of people receiving nursing care, people with disabilities, and others. I think we can do this because we are a small company.

Company Profile

Company name: ETOE Co.

Location: Room 1612, 16F, Tokyo Art Center, 1-4-1 Senju, Adachi-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Emi Watanabe, President

Establishment: April 2020

Business Description: Planning, design and production of various apparel textile fabrics (mainly underwear)

Website : https://etoe.co.jp/

E-commerce site: https://etoe.base.shop/

What is the Tokyo Metropolitan Consultation Center for New Business Location?

The Tokyo Metropolitan Corporate Location Advisory Center provides free consultation for companies and sole proprietors in search of a "location" to establish or expand their business. We will ask you about your desired conditions and make a simultaneous inquiry to private real estate businesses that handle offices, stores, factories, business sites, etc. We will also make an inquiry to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and ward and city governments.

We also provide information on public property information and support systems of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and municipalities in Tokyo.

(The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Consultation Center for New Business Location is operated by the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, Tokyo Metropolitan Government.)

Articles

Interviews with companies that have located and are active in Tokyo and persons in charge of corporate support at the municipalities are posted on the website of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Consultation Center for Investors in Business Location.

URL: https://ilsc.tokyo/voice/039.html