- The history of feather jackets and feather bedding products in Japan date back only twenty some years at the most. The first few feather products to be used in Japan were by the Japanese who lived overseas, mainly in Europe and America. They found these products light and warm and brought them back with them when returning to Japan.
- Trading firms then began importing these products from the west, mainly from U.S.A. and European countries initially. Department stores began selling feather bedding products shortly after.
- Initially, feather was imported and put into domestically manufactured covers, or shells, and sold as finished products until Japanese products were introduced in addition to the imported ones.
- Demands for feather products began growing when they won the attention of larger retail stores. These retail stores added feather jackets and bedding products to their line of products, and these products soon became readily available through television shopping. Demands further expanded as feather jackets became available through major sporting goods and camping equipment makers. Perhaps, the popularity of feather bedding products were due much to the spreading of beds, as such products served to free the Japanese from using heavy cotton bedding products which they used for years. The secret behind the popularity of feather bedding products was that it was lighter in weight and warmer than artificial light-weight cotton bedding products.
- Feathers and downs mainly come from ducks, geese, and eider. Duck feather is most popular as they are cheaper than that of geese.
- Down, cotton feather and feather can be obtained from water birds, while only feather can be taken from non-swimming birds. Colors are available in white, gray and brown; gray is most common and white comes next. Feather is soft and elastic, however warped like a bow, they sometimes stick out of the shell when too long. Down is taken from the closest part to the skin of water birds, especially around the chest. They are known for keeping warmth due to its capability of holding air with low heat transmission inside. The amount of feather that can be taken per plumage is 100g for duck and 120-130g for geese. The ratio of down feather taken is about 10% respectively.
- Feather is gifted with several superior features. As stuffing they are light, warm, soft and fitting. They produce no gaps, absorbs perspiration, and quickly disperses it into the air. As they are adaptable to varying temperatures, they give no sense of severe temperature change.
- As feathers are largely compressible, they are not suitable for use as mattresses which may allow the body to sink in. They are thus used mainly in quilts. Apart from use in bedding products, feather is commonly used in winter jackets, sleeping bags and pillows (feathers of non-swimming birds). Because feathers are movable when used as stuffing, they are usually quilted.
- Feather is refined in the following process to rid adhering sand, earth, dust, excrements, germs, blights and their larvae.
- Cleansing (rinsed adequately after washing with detergent several times)
- Sterilization (using a sterilizer)
- Spin-drying (using a centrifugal device)
- Unraveling (through air compression)
- Heat drying (at 120 for 60 minutes)
- Cooling and dust collection
Feather of water birds are refined in such way, then separated into down and feather using a pneumatic conveyor.
- The farther away from the equator, the better the quality of feather. Canadian white goose feather are known to be among the best. Major production areas in the northern hemisphere include China, France, Canada, Taiwan, and Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia), while importers are Germany, US., Japan, France, Australia and the UK.
- Although a few artificial feathers have recently been introduced, much improvement is needed before they catch up with genuine feather.
- Feather was imported into Japan from the following countries between January and October 1996:
|
Quantity (tons)
|
|
Amount (million yen)
|
|
| Taiwan |
3,624.0 |
56.6% |
12,643.1 |
54.6% |
| China |
2,331.0 |
36.4% |
7,624.5 |
32.9% |
| Hungary |
86.3 |
1.3% |
625.6 |
2.7% |
| Poland |
78.0 |
1.2% |
613.3 |
2.6% |
| Korea |
75.0 |
1.2% |
326.5 |
1.4% |
| Others |
203.6 |
3.3% |
1,334.9 |
5.8% |
| Total |
6,397.9 |
100% |
23,167.9 |
100% |
(Statistics obtained from Customs Division, Ministry of Finance)
- A total of 6,153,182 pieces of feather bedding products were imported from January to December 1995, a 2% increase from the previous year. Total amount of imports accounted for 17,635,000,000 yen, a 14% decrease from the previous year.
|
Pieces |
Percentage |
| China |
5,679,000 |
92.3% |
| Taiwan |
245,000 |
4.0% |
| Korea |
154,000 |
2.5% |
| Others |
75,182 |
1.2% |
Imports from January to October 1996 follow:
|
Quantity (pieces)
|
|
Amount (thousand yen)
|
|
| China |
3,076,733 |
92.7% |
9,685,325 |
82.5% |
| Taiwan |
157,832 |
4.8% |
798,373 |
6.8% |
| Hungary |
37,507 |
1.1% |
528,037 |
4.5% |
| Vietnam |
13,594 |
0.4% |
93, 028 |
0.8% |
| Germany |
11,965 |
0.3% |
394,585 |
3.4% |
| Others |
21,993 |
0.7% |
234,294 |
2.0% |
| Total |
3,319,624 |
100% |
11,733,642 |
100% |
(Statistics obtained from Customs Division, Ministry of Finance)
- Among new products is a thin feather bedding product called "downket," now rooted as a major summer bedding product. These downkets used mainly at the beginning of summer and around autumn, account for about 1/3 of the nation's bedding product demand with a share of two million pieces of sales. Furthermore, a washable downket that can be washed at home has been expanding its sales from around 1995. Stuffing volume for this product is 0.2-0.3kg, as compared to the 0.4-0.5kg usually used in other feather bedding products.
- A 90% feather and 10% plumage (commonly referred to as 90% feather bedding) bedding product has recently become increasingly popular. These high-grade products contain natural fibers such as linen and cotton in their stuffing and are sold for about JPY 300,000 to JPY 400,000 per piece at department stores. High-grade feather imports from Eastern Europe are also increasing recently.
- In this industry, creditability plays the utmost significant role. Exporters who agree to export 90% down products and actually ship products with lower ratios can quickly lose trust in the industry, thus having their contract discontinued. Claims are bountiful, and those exporters with high creditability are highly valued. Exporters desiring long-term relations thus should make sure to deliver products exactly as specified in the contract. For the purpose of preventing claims, it is also essential to clarify minimum quality between the parties concerned at contract time. Although JIS specifications exist with feather products, these are rather vague and actual transactions are conducted on stricter quality and specifications.
Note:
Feather and feather products has been discussed in this issue due to one of our successful achievements through the BSO (Business Support Office) of the BPC Network Center. In October, a Hong Kong based company with a plant in China used the service one day to visit two Japanese firms through our intermediation. They have been successful in receiving 1 40ft. container worth (approximately 8 million yen) of orders from an Osaka-based firm on their second visit to Japan, and this contract may further develop into 3 containers worth of orders every month.
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