SATO CORPORATION provided NFC tags and expertise in their use to the design project “Bole.” An exhibit featuring a roughly 100-year-old cedar log as its centerpiece, allowing visitors to trace the timber's provenance, is being held at alter. 2026, Tokyo.
SATO CORPORATION provided NFC tags and expertise in their use to “Bole,” a collaborative project involving the forestry, timber and design industries. This has established a system that allows visitors to trace supply-chain information covering logging, manufacturing and processing.
The project is a product design collaboration with PAN-PROJECTS (based in London), 森未来 (Nara Prefecture) and 森庄銘木産業 (Nara Prefecture), among others, and aims to convey the value of the material's growing environment and production process. A mechanism has been introduced to return revenue to producers.
The exhibition is being held at alter. 2026, Tokyo, at Nihombashi Mitsui Hall. Its main objects are a roughly 100-year-old cedar log measuring 3.5 metres in length and an exhibit of the same length carved from the log.
By holding a smartphone over the work, visitors can view stories about the forest where the timber grew, the background to its creation and the work of the producers. The system is linked to Link2, allowing the content to be viewed using NFC and a smartphone without a dedicated app.