Developing a “Washi Paper Glove” that challenges the possibilities of new materials and shapes
Mizuno has developed various sporting goods. In order to pursue unknown possibilities, Mizuno’s Research & Development Department is also endeavoring to create sporting goods using unconventional materials. This time, they tried making a baseball glove using washi*1paper.
*1 Washi is a kind of traditional Japanese paper, processed by hand using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree,which is registered as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.
The materials and shape of baseball gloves have remained relatively unchanged over the years, and manufacturing them requires a variety of complicated processes. Therefore, even simply making baseball gloves from different materials is expected to be quite difficult. Initially, they considered using recycled fabrics or other materials, but in the end they decided to tackle making a baseball glove with traditional Japanese Echizen*2 washi paper, a surprising material for gloves.
*2 Areas located in Central and Northern Japan
As the first step in this challenge, they aimed to create something that everyone would recognize as a baseball glove, regardless of whether it could be used or not, by manufacturing it with exactly the same processes as a regular glove.
First, they worked on material development. Glove development team members at Mizuno collaborated with Echizen washi manufacturers and craftsmen to improve washi paper so the team could “stitch it,” “turn it inside out,” “layer it,” and “thread a string through it,” which are essential for creating the complex shapes of gloves. Next, the glove manufacturing staff started to work on a prototype by cutting and processing the improved washi paper into the same shape as existing baseball gloves.
Although washi paper itself is flexible, it is still not as strong as natural leather, and various difficulties arose during the manufacturing process, such as the paper tearing at the holes where the paper strings were threaded. Despite these challenges, the Echizen washi paper craftsmen, glove development team members, and manufacturing staff managed to overcome the situation by leveraging their respective experiences, ingenuity, and technologies, as well as combining each other’s techniques. Ultimately, the team successfully created an attractive concept glove made of washi paper. At this point, it is just a concept glove, so there are some aspects that make it difficult to be used in the same way as a conventional baseball glove, but the team believes that with further improvements and ideas, it can be upgraded to a fully functional glove.
What the team was able to reaffirm this time is that they would not face much of a problem and would not have to stick to the materials and shapes currently used if we focused the function of a glove on “catching a ball.” This made the team realize that they could expect future innovations in areas that were previously taken for granted, such as the materials and shape of baseball gloves.
In the future, Mizuno will use the experience and knowledge that the team gained this time and continue to take on the challenge of achieving the goal of eliminating all fixed concepts and visualizing potentials, such as “discovering and developing new materials” and “developing innovative shapes for gloves.” At the same time, Mizuno will aim to communicate its innovation to more people so that they can experience it for themselves.
