Masaya Hotta, the third generation owner of Hotta Carpet in Senshu, Osaka, is trying to build a new carpet culture by throwing himself into the carpet industry, which was in decline. We will introduce Hotta's passionate thoughts along with the new carpet ideas created by Hotta Carpet.
Written by Masaya Hotta
A home with carpet provides warmth and comfort.
Founded in 1962 in Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture, Hotta Carpet is a manufacturer specializing in wool carpets, now in its 58th year. Wilton carpets are made using the Wilton loom, which was the first mechanized carpet in the world during the British Industrial Revolution. Although we call it a ``carpet,'' it is different from an ``area rug'' (a carpet that is placed on top of flooring, etc.). It is mainly used as a ``layment'' in executive rooms, government offices, and residences.


The Wilton loom that produces these carpets is a historical loom developed during the British Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. At Hotta Carpet, we use Wilton looms, which were produced in Japan about 50 years ago, and undergo repeated maintenance.
Since our founding, we have been making carpets for "laying", but the market for residential carpets peaked in the 1980s, but as of 2006, the market had shrunk to 1/100th. Currently, only 0.2% of the total floor space of newly built homes is covered with carpet, and there are only a few companies producing Wilton carpets, as well as a few yarn and dyeing companies. Almost 100% of Wilton carpets are produced in Senshu, and the wool carpet production area in Senshu, which has been established through a division of labor, is in a critical situation as to whether it can continue as a production area.


Woolflooring is a wool carpet brand that requires installation.
The market for carpets decreased due to various misunderstandings. ``It's easy to cause allergies,'' ``it attracts dust mites,'' and ``it won't come off if it gets dirty.'' In fact, compared to other flooring materials, carpet is less likely to attract dust, and the amount of dust floating in the air is suppressed to about 1/10 of that of other flooring materials. Wool carpets produced in Japan are always treated with insect repellent materials, so they do not easily become a home for insects. It is also water repellent, so dirt does not stick to it in the first place, and even if it does get dirty, cleaning it with a vacuum cleaner equipped with a brush along with the "playful hair" will reduce the dirt considerably.


Nowadays, carpets for installing in houses are becoming less and less available, so COURT is a wool rug brand that allows you to easily enjoy carpeting.
We believe that the decline in the carpet market is due to our failure to properly convey to customers the inherent appeal and misconceptions of carpet. Therefore, in 2016, we created the wool rug brand "COURT" to focus on B to C communication. Rugs are easy to send messages to customers who use them for handling at furniture stores. Therefore, with the aim of becoming a gateway to conveying the appeal of wool carpets and ``living with carpets,'' we will also exhibit at Dainippon City to convey the appeal of carpets and the background of manufacturing to highly sensitive buyers. I try to do that.


WOOLTILE is a DIY carpet that allows anyone to easily create a floor. Simply place them side by side to create a rug, and you can spread it all over the floor without using any difficult tools. You can also enjoy combining your favorite colors.
COURT started being sold in furniture stores, and just as we were gradually beginning to convey the appeal of carpet, in the fall of 2018, one of the manufacturers of Wilton carpet went bankrupt. Something very big happened. If we leave things as they are, we will no longer be able to truly create anything. With this in mind, we purchased the carpet tile machinery developed by that company, had craftsmen come in, and spent about a year relocating the machinery and creating a production system, and launched the new brand WOOLTILE in September 1. Announced. WOOLTILE is a carpet tile made from wool that allows you to enjoy connecting geometric patterns like a puzzle by taking advantage of the characteristic of the loom, which allows you to connect patterns even though it is a carpet tile. It also has a non-slip coating on the back, so it can be used just like a rug. If you want to lay it all over the room, you can cut it yourself according to the shape of the room if you have a utility knife and a ruler.
We have developed three brands: the wool carpet brand "woolflooring", the wool rug brand "COURT", and the DIY carpet brand "WOOLTILE", and once again "make carpets part of Japanese culture." With our vision of ``Do it!'', we will continue to strive to convey the comfort of living through carpets, to maintain and develop manufacturing, and to create the most desirable company to work for in the interior design industry. I would like to continue this.
→Next is Kanako Saito (Saifuku Managing Director).
(Titles omitted)


Masaya Hotta
Hotta Carpet Co., Ltd. President
Born in Osaka in 1978. He joined Toyota Motor Corporation in 2002 after graduating from the Faculty of Economics at Hokkaido University. In 2008 he joined Hotta Carpet Co., Ltd. In February 2017, he was appointed as the third representative director and president. Launched the wool rug brand "COURT" in 2016. In addition, he completed his own home, ``Carpet House,'' in 2015, where he can experience carpet living as a ``consumer'' and continue to educate many customers about carpets as a showroom for carpet living. .
Photography by ©Hotta Carpet
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