On August 24, 2026, Sta.R (Station R), a creative hub for circular culture, opened at Hoshiten qlay, directly connected to Hoshikawa Station. To celebrate the grand opening, a one-day opening festival called “R Fes” was held on Saturday, September 19, welcoming 143 visitors.
Just one minute from the station ticket gates, visitors found themselves in a space where waste materials and off-spec products were being reborn with new value — a place to hear the stories of the makers behind them, and a scene where people, businesses, and government from across Yokohama were gently coming together under the theme of “circulation.”
In this article, we look back on the day and share what kind of day Sta.R had.
Waste Materials Transformed into New Tools: A Fire Hose Workshop and Coloring Activity
The event kicked off with a “Disaster Preparedness Pouch-Making Workshop Using Fire Hoses.” Over 60 minutes, participants used decommissioned fire hoses — making the most of their durable, distinctive texture — to craft emergency pouches. Though the workshop required advance reservations, attendees experienced up close the process of waste materials being transformed into new, functional objects.
Running simultaneously was an original coloring activity by artist Miki Tomine (遠峯未来). The illustrations were based on a survey of creatures living in the local Katabira River, and the drop-in activity was open to anyone at any time. It was a charming sight to see visitors of all ages — children and adults alike — pausing to take part at their own pace.
Hearing Directly from the Makers: The Circular Material Showcase
The day also featured a “Circular Material Showcase,” in which the makers behind the products and materials on display at Sta.R spoke directly about their work. Six producers and companies took the stage.
First up was artist Inayoshi (稲吉), director of 似て非WORKS, who created the “R” monument that has become a symbol of Sta.R. This large “R” sculpture incorporates items collected from local community members as “fragments of memory,” along with objects that have completed their original purpose, preserving them as “cross-sections of time” and upcycling them — memories and all — into the future. As it turns out, the idea of “making a large R” also drew on the imagination of Yuta Matsuda (松田裕多), the creative director responsible for Sta.R’s furnishings and spatial design. Inayoshi recalled with a smile that the moment their ideas aligned felt like “telepathy.” When he said, “We worked right up to the last minute, and it finally stood on its own,” the audience responded with warm applause.
Next, Doi (土井) from 湘南貿易 introduced a compact recycling device that melts and reshapes waste plastics such as plastic bottle caps. The countertop of Sta.R’s register counter was actually made using this very technology, with bottle caps collected at Sta.R itself. Several collaboration examples were also showcased, including benches for Yokohama FC and branded carabiners used at Helly Hansen shop events.
Matsuzaka (松坂) from kitafuku spoke about “Craft Beer Paper” — recycled paper blended with spent malt, a byproduct generated in large quantities during the craft beer brewing process. It is an initiative that addresses a challenge unique to Yokohama, one of Japan’s most competitive craft beer cities, by turning the waste into paper. The product has already been adopted by more than 100 companies and has received responses from over 30 countries abroad.
Emori (江守) from 原貿易 introduced a notepad made from “scrap paper” — sheets generated during in-house quality and print testing of reused toner cartridges that would otherwise have been discarded. The notepad was conceived as a surprise gift for employees to mark the company’s 71st anniversary. The craft beer paper for the cover was supplied by kitafuku; the overall design, printing, and production were handled by Okawa Printing; and the finished notepads were delivered by cargo bike by Curiosity. Truly, this was a product born from the collaboration of four companies. The words that lingered were: “Local communities aren’t something to give up on — local businesses connecting with each other is a really wonderful thing.”
Ito (伊藤) and Funada (船田) from くるり工房, operated by Takematsu Shoji, shared their work upcycling everyday waste — including mini bags made from vinyl umbrellas. Under the concept of “turning the way you see things around,” they have run workshops that can be replicated at home without specialized tools. Ito’s words — “In my daily life, I try to look at things and ask, ‘Could this be used for something?'” — conveyed that upcycling begins with a shift in how we see the world around us.
Closing out the showcase was Tomomoto (富本) from 幸海ヒーローズ, known by the nickname “Kombu Prince.” Through kelp farming off Yokohama’s Hakkeijima, he is tackling the growing national problem of “isoyake” (barren ground syndrome) — the marine equivalent of desertification. The “Kombu Soap” sold at Sta.R was born out of a surplus inventory situation. Since then, the kelp he cultivates has even been adopted as an ingredient in LUSH products, extending its reach internationally.
All six participants worked with entirely different materials and backgrounds, yet they shared a common perspective: “giving a new role to something that was destined to be thrown away.”
Yokohama Green Expo Related Exhibition + Ribbon Wreath Workshop
In one corner of the venue, in collaboration with Hodogaya Ward, an exhibition related to the Yokohama Green Expo was held alongside a ribbon wreath workshop. Using ribbons from the photo booth at last year’s ward community festival as part of the materials, participants of all ages — from children to adults — tied ribbons together freely to create their own wreaths.
A Roaming Quiz Tour Throughout Hoshiten qlay
The same day was also “Hoshiten qlay Day,” and YADOKARI organized a roaming quiz activity in which visitors explored the various facilities within the building and answered questions along the way. At Sta.R, one of the REYO chairs designed by Matsuda was on display, featured as a quiz about “ways of seeing things.”
Circulation Happens Between People Too: Gallery Talk and Я gallery《circle to circle》
The day also featured a commemorative talk event for the solo exhibition《circle to circle》by artist Mikiko Kamada, marking the inaugural show at Я gallery (R Gallery), the newly established gallery space within Sta.R. The talk was moderated by Tsuda (津田) from Route Design, who co-operates the creator-focused coworking space “PILE” alongside Sta.R.
The name Я gallery deliberately uses a mirrored “R.” While the forward-facing “R” — as embodied by the material library and restore (retail) area — encourages positive actions such as “Reuse, Remake, and Recycle,” the mirrored Я of Я gallery is intended to prompt a more critical perspective: “Rethink, Reconsider, React.” The concept is that only when these two face each other does Sta.R become complete as a place.
Mikiko Kamada made a remarkable career transition — from a student specializing in soybean genetic research to an artist working with plants and microorganisms as her themes. She is an increasingly prominent figure, having created a six-month permanent installation at a signature pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
The title of this solo exhibition, “circle to circle,” reportedly evolved from an earlier working title of “Expo to Expo.” The idea was that the same kind of circulation happening at the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai exhibition and at GREEN×EXPO 2027, to be held in Yokohama next March, is also happening right here at Sta.R — the midpoint between the two. That train of thought led her to this title.
At the heart of the exhibition are three “Flower Compost” jars. “PAST” contains flowers that have already finished decomposing at Expo 2025 Osaka; “PRESENT” holds flowers packed during installation that are now in the process of decomposing; and “FUTURE” is filled with flowers from Yokohama and functions as an open compost to which anyone can bring and add flowers. The exhibition presents the very process of flowers being broken down by microorganisms and returning to soil as a work of art — a perspective that is distinctly Mikiko’s own.
Another highlight is a chair artwork placed at the center of the gallery. The material used was flooring from a gymnasium at a Yokohama city school — the same material used as offcuts in crafting Sta.R’s furnishings. The woodwork was done by Matsuda, while the urushi (lacquer) was applied by HaruNora, a Netherlands-based urushi artist and designer behind the upcycled urushi product brand “twofold.” It is a collaborative work by three creators. Mikiko noted that the very experience of “making something together with others” itself embodies the theme of “circle to circle.”
At the close of the talk, audience members were invited to place flowers into the Flower Compost jar on the spot. As Mikiko put it, “The microorganisms on the hands of everyone who adds a flower come in too, and a new cycle begins.” In that sense, every visitor who came that day became part of this circle of circulation.
Я gallery 1st Exhibition《circle to circle》concluded on Sunday, October 18.
Closing Thoughts
Disaster preparedness pouches from fire hoses. Paper from spent malt. Soil from discarded flowers. What happened at Sta.R that day was not only a circulation of materials. Just as the ideas of Inayoshi and Matsuda converged to give birth to the large “R,” and just as Emori’s scrap-paper notepad emerged from the collaboration of four companies, the encounters between people were themselves overlapping as a kind of circulation.
Sta.R will continue to be operated by the Creative Circular City Collective (Article Inc. / Route Design LLC), in partnership with the City of Yokohama, Hodogaya Ward, Sagami Railway Co., Ltd., Sotetsu Urban Creates Co., Ltd., and Sotetsu Building Management Co., Ltd. Workshops and gallery exhibitions are planned to continue going forward. We hope you’ll make a small detour at Hoshikawa Station sometime soon.
【Related site】Sta.R (Station R)
【Related site】Coworking space “PILE“
