Ahead of the introduction of a charge for plastic bags from July 1, 2020, Mercari, Inc., together with Lawson, Inc., will be giving away free "Readable Plastic Bags" featuring novels by "Monogatari by mercari" contributors Kotaro Isaka, Banana Yoshimoto, and Yasutaka Tsutsui at 138 Natural Lawson stores nationwide* for three days only, from June 24 to 26, 2020, in order to add value to plastic bags that would normally be thrown away.
*The plastic bags featuring Yasutaka Tsutsui's "Oiran Kushi" will be distributed at the Natural Lawson Shibaura Kaigan-dori store only on the 26th.



"Readable Plastic Bags" are plastic bags that are normally thrown away, but which have been given new value in the form of "reading novels." The bags are printed with three novels about items that were serialized as part of "Monogatari by mercari," a project launched by Mercari in April 2020. It is estimated that 45 billion plastic bags are used in Japan each year*, and by adding the added value of novels to plastic bags that tend to be thrown away, we hope to raise awareness that the items around us have value and provide an opportunity to reconsider how we interact with our possessions. Under the theme of "kind to people and the earth," Natural Lawson has been proactively working to protect the environment, offering cosmetics made with natural ingredients and packaging made from paper. *From materials from the Ministry of the Environment's Central Environment Council's expert committee (2018 results). Natural Lawson, which has been actively promoting the SDGs, and "Monogatari by mercari" share a common goal. As a result, they are jointly distributing "readable plastic bags" at 138 Natural Lawson stores as part of their efforts to create a sustainable society ahead of the July 1st plastic bag fee. These bags are made with more than 50% biomass plastic* for environmental reasons. *Biomass plastic is plastic made from renewable biological resources (biomass) rather than petroleum. They have advantages such as a low environmental impact and no carbon dioxide imbalance.

■Background
Mercari's mission is to "create a global marketplace where new value is created," and we aim to create a marketplace where one person's unwanted items can become useful to someone else. Based on this belief, we launched "Monogatari by mercari," a project on April 28, 2020, to convey the value of items through the stories surrounding them. Ten famous authors contributed stories about items. The stories tweeted on the first day of the project received 2.11 million responses (as of June 20), and readers who empathized with the stories behind each item continued to comment.

Lawson aims to realize three promises starting from its stores: "extraordinary deliciousness," "kindness to people," and "kindness to the earth (community)." As part of "kindness to the earth (community)," we aim to solve environmental issues by reducing plastic use in products, reducing CO2 emissions from stores, and reducing food waste. Additionally, Lawson has been experimenting with charging for plastic bags at some stores since May 18th, ahead of the planned introduction of a plastic bag charge from July 1st. At the experimental stores, approximately 30% of customers purchase plastic bags, and an increase in customers bringing their own bags or declaring that they do not need plastic bags has been observed. Lawson will continue to work to encourage customers to bring their own bags and to inform them of the plastic bag charge, with the aim of further reducing plastic bag use.

■Distribution details
・Distribution period: Wednesday, June 24th, 2020 to Friday, June 26th, 2020 *Distribution is scheduled to start from 2pm each day
・Number of items distributed: 100 per store, each day *Distribution will end when supplies last
・Distribution locations: 138 Natural Lawson stores
*Excluding Teikyo University Hospital Main Hospital, Urban Dock Park City Toyosu, S Roppongi Hills, S Roppongi Hills 50F,
Minato Nisseki-dori, Juntendo Hospital Building B, Prana Tokyo Bay, Higashi-Shinagawa 4-Chome, Qol Atre Takeshiba, and
SOCOLA Musashikoganei Cross
*The shopping bags featuring Tsutsui Yasutaka's "Oiran Kushi" will only be distributed at the Natural Lawson Shibaura Kaigan-dori store on the 26th.

・Distribution method: Distributed at dedicated booths in each store
・Distribution schedule:
June 24, 2020 Kotaro Isaka "Let it fall into the hands of a good person!"



June 25, 2020 Banana Yoshimoto "Coral Ring"



June 26, 2020 Yasutaka Tsutsui "Oiran Comb"


*For Yasutaka Tsutsui's "Oiran Kushi" only, plastic bags will be distributed prior to the work being released on Twitter and the official website


■"Monogatari by mercari" Overview
"Monogatari by mercari" is a project that publishes stories about "items" written by 10 writers on the official Mercari Twitter, including famous Japanese authors such as Yasutaka Tsutsui and Banana Yoshimoto, and Saori Fujisaki, aka "Saori" of SEKAI NO OWARI, whose debut novel "Futago" was nominated for the Naoki Prize.


・Submission period: April 28th, 2020 - June 30th, 2020
・Special page: https://magazine.mercari.com/monogatari
・Mercari official Twitter: https://twitter.com/mercari_jp
・Official hashtag: "#MercariNoMonogatari"


■About Mercari
Mercari develops and operates the flea market app "Mercari" with its mission to "create a global marketplace where new value can be generated." We believe that valuable items are often thrown away and the earth's resources are wasted, which is why we offer Mercari in Japan and the US, a service that allows individuals to easily and safely buy and sell items.

■About Natural Lawson
Based on the concept of "cherish every day," Natural Lawson is a store that supports a "beautiful, healthy, and comfortable" lifestyle. With 145 stores (as of the end of May 2020), mainly in Tokyo, Natural Lawson offers a wide selection of products that can only be found at Natural Lawson, including original products made with carefully selected ingredients and products in collaboration with famous brands.




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