On April 1st, creator portal site Loftwork.com launched a new recycling project for creators, "10,000 Creators Meet PASS THE BATON," in collaboration with Smiles Co., Ltd.'s select recycling shop, PASS THE BATON.

Under the concept of "NEW RECYCLE," which differs from traditional recycling, four public calls were held over six months from April to October 2013. A variety of products, including food, fashion, and everyday items, were presented as themes, and creators were invited to submit recycling ideas. Project members and selected creators then discussed the ideas and developed them into actual products.

The theme for the first round was non-genuine "okaki" (rice crackers) from Akasaka Kakiyama, a rice cracker manufacturer with over 40 years of history. Akasaka Kakiyama's okaki are popular as gifts, but due to their high quality standards, chipped or cracked cracks are called "ohajiki" (marbles) and are treated as non-genuine products. We are seeking designs and ideas for new gift packaging that combines these marbles with unused, deadstock design cans.

The first public submission period will run from April 1st, 2013, until midnight on May 31st. Winners from the second round onwards will be announced one after the other. The judges will be Toyama Masamichi (CEO of Smiles Co., Ltd.), Uehara Ryosuke, Watanabe Yoshie (KIGI Co., Ltd.), Hayashi Chiaki (Loftwork Inc.), and others.

Loftwork.com was launched in February 2000 as a portfolio site that provides functions to support creative activities, mechanisms to create business matches, and opportunities to offer work for a fee. Currently, 16,000 creators are registered.