Launch of Found MUJI Kyrgyzstan

　From November 6th, 2020 (Friday) to February 11th, 2021 (Thursday), MUJI is holding a special exhibition "Found MUJI Kyrgyzstan" at limited MUJI stores that operate Found MUJI as well as the MUJI online store.

　Located in Central Asia, the Kyrgyz Republic (hereinafter, Kyrgyz) is landlocked, bordered by several countries, and home to multiple ethnicities with strong Russian cultural influences. With some 40% of the country at an altitude over 3,000 meters, Kyrgyzstan is known as the Alps of Central Asia for its rich natural beauty and comfortable climate. The families living in the scattered villages near Lake Issyk-Kul, which are said to have been part of the Silk Road, have since ancient times made their living through nomadic pastoralism and the production of wool felt.

　MUJI supported the One Village One Product Project (OVOP)* promoted in developing countries by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (hereinafter, JICA). In 2010, the"MUJI x JICA Project" was launched and MUJI has been collaborating with JICA to implement joint product development since then. This project aims to turn wool felt production, a local specialty, into an industry while revitalizing the local communities. To this end, the project applied the same level of quality and design as ordinary products developed by MUJI, and we supported the development of production management systems and quality management systems together with JICA.
* An initiative aiming at revitalization of the communities by local people making the best use of local original materials and techniques

　This year marks the 10th anniversary of this project. The Found MUJI Kyrgyzstan exhibition introduces the wool felt animal series, which has been developed since the beginning of this project and has evolved along with the improvement of local technology, as well as wool felt cases, bags, slippers, and so on. Please take a look when you are nearby.

News Release “Launch of Found MUJI Kyrgyzstan” (In Japanese)

Found MUJI Kyrgyzstan website at MUJI online store (In Japanese)

MUJI x JICA Project updates by MUJI Laboratory for Living (In Japanese)