Quick question: How do you feel about cardboard?
Unless your name is Fuyuki Shimazu, the subject of this documentary, your honest answer would probably have to be “I don’t have strong feelings about it either way’. Until today, it was virtually impossible for me to imagine anyone responding any differently. Well, Fuyuki Shimazu loves cardboard.
It all started when he was a poor student wanting a wallet of his own but not able to afford one. Left with only two choices- do without for awhile or get creative- he made himself one out of cardboard. I can’t remember offhand if he made it from cardboard he found in the garbage or if he started doing that later.
Fuyuki’s outside the box thinking turned into a passion and eventually a career. Searching the warehouses and dumpsters all over japan, he began to collect cardboard that caught his eye and began to make a living off of making and selling wallets. And they’re nicer than you might think. Seen through Fuyuki’s eyes, yeah, I can sort of see it. I wouldn’t have noticed before but there are a lot of cardboard boxes out there with eye-catching designs.
It’s not easy to know what to make of Fuyuki at first as he travels the country to various factories to learn the stories and inspirations behind his favourite cardboard boxes. he worked at a prestigious advertising firm for 3 years as an art director where his colleagues said things like “Whenever you talk, it’s always about cardboard”, “He’s a different kind of species”, and “We have all sorts of employees so he was not the only weird one, but…”. He’s a likable guy though and seems to be able to make friends with anyone. His enthusiasm, if not exactly contagious, is endearing, inspiring, and unquestionably genuine. He’s a great subject for a documentary and director Ryusuke Okajima is smart to keep the focus mostly on him.
There’s a more universal point to all this, of course, about upcycling. With Earth’s resources dwindling as they are… Oh never mind. Just watch the movie. I promise it’ll be worth your time. And if you’re as burnt out on documentaries about the environment as I am, you’ll be relieved to know that Okajima doesn’t belabor this point and only mentions it in any detail towards the end. Fuyuki Shimazu and his wallets are fascinating and From All Corners is wise to keep the focus mostly on them.
I’ve been writing about cardboard all this week (long story), so this movie is definitely up my alley!
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Oh wow, I had not been expecting that. I will definitely have to check out your cardboard coverage!
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Oh, it’s a short story that I just finished. Not on the blog, sorry!
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Sign me up for upcycling EVERYTHING! ❤ this review Matt!
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I was not too familiar with upcycling before watching this movie. Thanks so much!
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Just Googled him. What a genius!!
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His stuff is actually pretty fantastic. I love how he wears andles made out of cardboard.
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Sorry, sandles.
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Hey there!:)
Hope you are well. I nominated you on my post for The Versatile Blogger Award: http://iscriblr.com/the-versatile-blogger-award/
Feel free to participate, no pressure if its not your thing to do.
I just wanted to give you some well deserved recognition for your amazing blog!:)
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A strange subject but sounds cool.
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Oh yeah, you should check out his wallets. . it sounds crazy but they work .
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Now, this sounds about my speed.
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Wow. I’m away to Google this guy… and I’ll be definitely checking this out when I can!
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