LOOM has been promoting the "Sakura Project," an initiative born from "KIBOU" (Kibou), which aims to plant 3,000 cherry trees in Minamisanriku Town by the time the children born in the year of the earthquake reach adulthood 20 years from now, making Minamisanriku the number one cherry blossom viewing spot in Tohoku.
The reason I felt this way is that after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and due to the nuclear power plant issue, many Western fashion brands temporarily closed their stores in Japan and fled to their home countries, which shocked me as someone involved in the global fashion business.
As someone involved in the fashion industry, I felt a strong urge to do something for the disaster-stricken areas. It was at that time that I got in touch by phone with a friend in Kesennuma, a disaster-stricken area, who I work with..
The friend said to me, "Kagami-san, everything was washed away by the tsunami, but the cherry blossoms in my garden have bloomed. I'm sure the cherry blossoms will bloom again next year, Kagami-san." I replied, "They will definitely bloom," but at the same time, a thought occurred to me: cherry blossoms are a symbol of "KIBOU" ( hope ). I also remembered a story I saw in the anime "One Piece" while I was in Paris for work: "The Miracle Cherry Blossoms Bloom in Winter." In this story, cherry blossoms were also depicted as a symbol of "KIBOU" ( hope ).
Cherry blossoms are also known as trees of repose. I began to wonder if I could plant cherry trees in the disaster-stricken areas, to offer hope for their future recovery and to offer repose for the souls of the deceased. Perhaps my wish resonated with people, as through a personal connection, I met people from Minamisanriku, a town that suffered extensive damage from the tsunami.
The people from Minamisanriku I met told me that silk kimono fabric produced in Minamisanriku was exhibited at the Paris World's Fair, when France first built its fashion pavilion, and won a gold medal. It turns out that the director of the fashion pavilion at that Paris World's Fair was Jeanne Lanvin, founder of Lanvin, the Paris fashion brand with which I have been associated for many years. This mysterious connection seemed to me like Jeanne Lanvin was telling me, "Yukari, help with the reconstruction of Minami Sanriku."
I decided to launch a cherry blossom tree planting project using "KIBOU311" as a keyword. Through encounters with various people, the "KIBOU311" project became a reality.
In 2012, I was serving as the representative of the Japanese branch of Dormeuil, a French fabric trading company. When I shared my passion and the idea for the "KIBOU311" project with Dominic Dormeuil, the representative of Dormeuil's headquarters, he empathized with my feelings and decided to create a special bunch (fabric sample) called "KIBOU311" using Tropical Amadeus, Dormeuil's signature fabric, in 2012, the year Dormeuil celebrated its 170th anniversary and 100 years since arriving in Japan. He agreed to donate 1 euro to planting cherry blossoms for every meter of fabric sold. This initiative was aimed not only at Japan, but also at the global market.
The photo below is a scene from the party celebrating Dormeuil's 170th anniversary, held in Tokyo on February 2, 2012. Not only Dominic Dormeuil, but also Mayor Jin Sato of Minamisanriku Town attended the party.
Fashion director Yukio Akamine also agreed with my sentiments and encouraged leading companies in the Japanese fashion industry to participate in the KIBOU311 project. As a result, Onward Kashiyama and Sanyo Shokai became LOOM supporters, not only donating to the project but also participating in the cherry tree planting that began in 2012 every year.
We would also like to express our gratitude to Dormeuil's customers, tailors across the country, who have supported the KIBOU311 project and provided suits made with KIBOU311 fabric to so many gentlemen.
The KIBOU311 project has received support from so many people, too many to mention here. We began planting cherry trees in 2012, the year after the earthquake, and continued this activity for approximately 13 years until 2025. As of March 11, 2025, we had achieved our target of donating 3,000 cherry tree seedlings.
However, it was thanks to the people of Minamisanriku, including Mayor Jin Sato and the late Honorary Citizen Choi Takahashi, that I was able to form a connection with Minamisanriku, and achieve my goal of planting 3,000 cherry trees, as well as the people of Minamisanriku, especially the members of the Minamisanriku Forestry Association and Mr. Akio Sato of local company Astrotech.
I also owe it all to the long-standing support of Dormeuil, a LOOM supporter since the tree planting began, the tailors across the country who supported the KIBOU311 project, the gentlemen and ladies around the world who have made suits using KIBOU311 fabric, Onward Kashiyama, Sanyo Shokai, Sanmotoyama, and Yamani, as well as Toyoshima, a LOOM supporter involved in the fashion industry who later joined us as a LOOM supporter.
Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to all LOOM supporters. Thank you very much.
I'm sure that the people of Minamisanriku will cherish the memories of planting the KIBOU Cherry Blossoms in Minamisanriku with our supporters and watching them grow together.
Although the Sakura Project and LOOM NIPPON's activities will now come to an end, I will continue to watch the cherry trees I planted grow.
I hope that the day will come when LOOM supporters and the gentlemen and ladies who have had suits made with Dormeuil's KIBOU311 fabric will visit Minamisanriku as tourists, when LOOM's 3,000 cherry trees in Minamisanriku are in full bloom.
Yukari Kagami , LOOM NIPPON Representative
