STAFF
The values Ikuta Pleats holds as a workplace: independence and respect
and the three in-house committees that spark them
Ikuta Pleats runs three in-house committees — the 3S Committee, the Skills Advancement Committee, and the PR Committee. Staff of every generation, from young to veteran, join a group, and leaders drive the planning and execution of each initiative.
The hope is that by facing not just daily work but everything surrounding the company, and by exchanging opinions openly, each person develops independence and respect.
Here we share interviews and everyday glimpses of the staff involved in the three committees.
We hope the pages ahead give you a feel for the company and the people in it.
Respecting one another, raising each other up,
toward a place that hopes for the growth of ourselves, our colleagues, and our company
The “3S Committee” — making our workplace better
Through the 3S Committee, Ikuta Pleats works to make the workplace easier to work in and daily operations more efficient. When someone notices a question, a discomfort, or a discovery in daily work, we don’t let it end with one person — we share it with everyone involved, think it through together, and act.
We hope this attitude — in the 3S Committee and beyond — keeps sparking new kinds of communication.
Respecting one another, raising each other up,
toward a place that hopes for the growth of ourselves, our colleagues, and our company
INTERVIEW
3SCommittee
The 3S Committee was the first committee we formed.
It's our largest committee, spanning the widest range of ages — we asked three of its members about themselves and the company.
Interviewer
I.H (PR Committee)
Joined 2022
Interviewee
I.M
Joined 2024
Interviewee
T
Joined 2022
Interviewee
H
Joined 2017
The 3S Committee —
making our workplace better
What kind of work do you do at the company?
I.M: Mainly sewing and ironing.
T: I’m in sewing, and I also lead one of our three production lines.
H: I handle everything around the sewing itself — cutting the next items to be produced, packing finished goods — so the people on the sewing floor can work smoothly.
What brought you to the company? And why did you make sewing and pleats your work?
I.M: Making pieces at fashion university, I came to want a career in garment making. While job hunting, I happened to learn there was a sewing company near my home — it was Ikuta Pleats. Applications happened to be open, and at the interview I discovered they worked with a brand I love. That’s when I knew I wanted to join.
T: Y, a former colleague at my previous company, had already moved to Ikuta Pleats. When the pandemic made it hard for me to stay at my old job, she reached out — that’s how I came here.
H: I was originally a salaried employee at an apparel-related company, and through that work I met the Chairman; we stayed in touch for years. I now run my own business and have been working here on contract since 2017.
Was the company different from what you imagined before joining? And what do you think of it now?
I.M: From my first interview visit it felt warm and familial — part of why I wanted to join — and once I did, everyone was even warmer than I had imagined. Though I did struggle with the gap between making clothes as a student and making clothes as a job: at school we always used pins, while at work you sew in one pass with only the notches to guide you. That took getting used to.
Are you used to it now?
I.M: Yes, more and more. In fact, right about now is when the fun of the company and the fun of the work are starting to connect.
T: Honestly, until Y invited me to interview, I barely knew Ikuta Pleats. They let me try the shop floor the very day of my interview, and my first impression — so unlike my old workplace — was that it seemed relaxed, for better or worse. The president was nothing like my image of a company president — very easy to talk to — and that impression hasn’t changed since I joined.
H: As they both say, it’s a warm, gentle company — unlike most I’ve seen. Watching and listening on the floor, I sometimes worry whether it’s all okay, but what truly sets it apart is how much the floor staff exchange opinions with each other. It used to be normal to simply do what the top says; here, everyone on the floor thinks and acts together, and that has become the norm. I think that’s what makes the atmosphere so good. And keeping it that way comes down to the quality of the line leaders — people like T here, who holds her team together well.
I.M: We have quite a range of ages, and I think chatting daily across generations is why we can also speak our minds when it counts at work.
T: I agree with I.M.
H: These two are almost like daughter and father in age, and the fact that they can say that comes from President Ikuta’s posture of listening to everyone equally, without distinction. Because the person at the top holds that posture, veterans and young staff alike can hold it too.
Anything at work lately that made you happy, or felt rewarding?
I.M: A product I worked on was in a store. I went to see it, and finding it among all those products made me so happy — happier still that it was for the brand I love, the very reason I wanted to join. I think it came from real progress: each task is faster than when I joined, and cleaner too. And hearing — secondhand — that my group leader Y had praised me made me really happy. It keeps me motivated.
T: I lead a line, and part of that role is teaching sewing to other members. Recently S, in her first year, started handling with ease the things I had been teaching her — seeing our work together become her growth made me really happy. Another leader task is sewing the first piece of each item before production and building the process-analysis sheet from it; when production starts and the team hits the targets exactly as planned, that is both a joy and what makes the job rewarding.
H: What made me happy was watching I.H (our interviewer), who works on the PR Committee, grow through building this website. When he joined I worried over him almost like a parent, but seeing how a role like this becomes growth reminded me how important it is to entrust people with roles.
I’m glad — and embarrassed! (laughs)
Could you each share something you’d like to challenge next?
I.M: My first goal is building the skill, knowledge, and trust to become a leader. Then I want to stand alongside M, who makes our samples, and handle my favorite brands from the sample stage. My dream is to go abroad through sewing — so I want to grow, and help the company grow bigger and better known, until we can expand overseas.
T: I’d also love to be entrusted with clothes for the overseas brands I love.
H: It’s all but disappeared lately, but — I want to go out drinking with everyone more. (laughs)
I.M, T & I.H: Just ask — we’ll all come! (laughs)
What do you like about the company?
I.M: Everyone here is wonderful, and I love them. That’s why I love the company.
They’re not making you say that? (laughs)
I.M: It’s true!
T: I love the people here too. That’s why going to work never feels like a burden — I can come in lightly every day.
H: In the end, the Chairman and the President loom large. As the company’s history shows, there were several dangerous stretches — times when it must have felt finished — yet they held on and kept facing forward. Most people would have walked away. Not walking away, and keeping going: that is truly remarkable.
Working alongside younger — or veteran — colleagues, what do you notice?
I.M: At the contests the Skills Advancement Committee runs, the gap in speed and quality is more than double every time. It amazes me — and it stings, in a motivating way.
T: As a leader I have to direct people a full generation or two older than me, but the veterans here listen, and they follow through. It helps enormously.
H: She truly works hard as a leader. The production analysis she mentioned is producing real results, and she holds the team together well — the veterans follow her with confidence.
On to recruiting — what kind of person would you like to work with next?
I.M: Someone warm, like the people already here.
T: Someone honest, who speaks and listens across every line — senior or junior, older or younger.
H: Same for me. Honest and humble — and on top of that, unafraid to speak their mind, and willing to listen.
— On the 3S Committee
Thank you for everything so far. Now I’d like to ask about the 3S Committee you’re all part of.
First, could you tell us the committee’s purpose and your own role?
I.M: A better environment raises production efficiency and makes work easier on everyone’s mind, so I think maintaining it matters a great deal. I’ve only just joined, so I hope to contribute the fresh eyes of a newcomer.
T: I watch the shop floor closely, so I find the issues — how tools and equipment should be organized for easier work — and raise them with the committee.
H: My role is much as they describe, but I believe we need to commit to this far more seriously.
Push forward even the smallest things, and take the time to truly set the whole environment in order — productivity should rise much further.
What effects have you felt from 3S so far? And any goals or challenges?
I.M: Compared to when I joined half a year ago, things feel more in order. When I started, I had to learn the company from scratch — where the tools live — and the 3S activities helped me understand quickly, which meant a lot. I want to build a system where anyone who joins can find things immediately, and where tools always go back to the same place.
T: When I came two years ago there was truly so much stuff you could barely see across the room. We thought it through ourselves, moved shelves, and the sightlines improved. Like I.M says, I’m often asked where things are — so next I want labeling and habits that keep no one’s work waiting.
H: At the start, especially among long-tenured staff, people split between “we need 3S” and “we don’t.” But because this is a company where the kind of dialogue we described actually happens, things turned around — through the young people’s effort and results, even the initial skeptics are gradually seeing the need. Daily work comes first and time is limited, so the committee’s real value isn’t fully realized or fully understood yet. Other factories visualize their lines; we haven’t reached that level — a first-time visitor still can’t grasp everything at a glance, and that’s the frustrating part. Higher productivity means more work we can take on — which should connect to higher pay.
Thank you very much!
(Interviewed November 2024)
An initiative built on “growing together.”
The Skills Advancement Committee’s in-house skills contest
To raise skills company-wide, the Skills Advancement Committee runs an in-house skills contest.
Launched in 2023, it has been held four times a year since 2024. Judged without regard to seniority, it sparks the drive to improve in veterans as well as younger staff and lifts the company’s skill level as a whole — all so we can deliver quality that delights our customers. That is the contest’s purpose.
The committee also drives other initiatives, such as making the shop floor easier for new employees to step into.
Respecting one another, raising each other up,
toward a place that hopes for the growth of ourselves, our colleagues, and our company
INTERVIEW
Skills Advancement Committee
As the name suggests, this committee was created to raise our technical skills in-house.
We spoke with the members driving the contest, and a veteran taking part, about the company and the contest itself.
Interviewer
I.H (PR Committee)
Joined 2022
Interviewee
S
Joined 2024
Interviewee
Y
Joined 2021
Interviewee
O
Joined 2012
The Skills Advancement Committee — growing together
What kind of work do you do at the company?
S: Mainly sewing, though I also help with buttons and with H’s cutting work when needed.
Y: I’m in sewing, and I lead one of our three production lines.
O: I’m involved in sewing across the board.
What brought you to the company? And why did you make sewing and pleats your work?
S: It began with my grandmother, whose hobby was sewing — I grew up watching her. Back then it wasn’t so much love as simply something always near me. When I thought about my path after high school, I realized how much I had come to love the garment making that had always been close by, and began studying sewing seriously at vocational school.
I found Ikuta Pleats on social media. I had been looking mostly at my school’s job listings, but I learned of the company through social media and applied.
Knowing that a senior from my school had once commissioned pleating here — that kind of openness — also weighed heavily in wanting to join.
Y: I applied after leaving my previous job, while searching for new sewing work — I found Ikuta Pleats’ listing at Hello Work, the public employment office.
I went into fashion because of a vocational-school information session held when I was in high school. I had wanted to be a pâtissier, but I happened to hear the fashion school’s presentation, grew more and more interested, and changed course. After school, when I chose a trade, sewing was what I wanted — and it led me here.
O: I stepped onto the sewing floor at 20, and before I knew it, 50 years had passed. Akita has many sewing factories; my older brother wanted to open one there, so we set it up and I began going to teach. We kept the factory going until the 2011 earthquake made it impossible to continue, and I came back from Tohoku.
When I was looking for a new workplace, several offers thankfully came my way — I had all but decided on one — but then I met Mr. Ikuta, still senior managing director at the time, and thought: here is a young man with real drive. That is how I came to join.
Was the company different from what you imagined before joining? And what do you think of it now?
S: The culture matched my impression from that first interview visit. I had assumed the president was simply being extra kind at the interview so the company would feel approachable — and was surprised that after joining, he was exactly the same. Maybe that’s part of why the whole company has such a gentle air.
As for the work — I had imagined, and braced for, sewing pockets and nothing but pockets for a year or two. But here they let me do all kinds of things, and the items vary so much that I keep meeting techniques and stitches I’ve never seen. It’s never boring.
Y: Before joining I had been reading the company’s Twitter (now X) and pictured a cheerful, friendly workplace. Once I joined, the president really was enjoying his work just as he did online — but I could sense a gap in temperature with the shop floor. Everyone was very kind, yet at the time, not everyone was necessarily on board with what the president was pushing forward — that’s how it felt when I actually arrived.
O: Before I came here, my work was essentially shirts — sewing shirts for a living. We make shirts here too, but so much of the design differed from my experience that it felt like another world entirely.
I’ve grown used to it and manage now, but back then I was quite bewildered.
What do you think of the atmosphere today? O, you knew the company both before and after young people arrived — what differences do you feel?
O: The big difference from the days before Y arrived, when there were no young people, is that we changed the flow of production. It used to be single-skill work — one person, one step — on a fairly fixed set of items. Under the current system, three small groups each handle items end to end, so work moves surely and mistakes surface early. Above all, multi-skilling raises each person’s ability — like S said, the constant discoveries become motivation — and that structural change has lifted the whole company’s atmosphere.
S: The senior staff create an air where it’s easy to talk, so whenever I don’t understand something I can ask right away, and everyone explains it properly. My “don’t-knows” keep disappearing, and I can feel myself growing. They listen even to a newcomer’s opinions — it’s an easy environment for new people to settle into.
Y: As O says, changing the production method to three teams spread things out, and the mood is good. I lead one of those lines, and everyone from newcomers to veterans follows direction and speaks up regardless of generation — it feels like an honest, open floor to work on.
Anything at work lately that made you happy, or felt rewarding?
S: It’s a daily thing, but I track how long my tasks take each day, and after the end-of-day meeting the three of us younger staff review it with our leader. We keep discussing what each of us can improve, and the times are clearly getting faster — and when the results show, our leader praises us, so I go home happy every day.
T, whom we interviewed earlier, also said she’s glad your work has gotten faster.
S: That makes me really happy. I’ll keep at it.
I’d add that what motivates me now is studying for the national skills certification. Little by little I can feel myself nearing the goal, and that feeds back into the work.
Y: What made me happy recently was seeing a sample I made worn at a client brand’s fashion show. It was in Paris, so I could only see photos, but I was deeply moved. Also, I.M, who works in my group, came to ask me how to sew something — and after trying what I taught her, she told me, “I can do it fast and clean now.” That made me so happy.
Becoming a leader was something I wanted to experience in building my career, so I told the president I wanted the role — and he actually entrusted it to me, which I’m truly grateful for. And it doesn’t end there: when I share a sewing method within the team and it works, being thanked for it is a joy. That’s what makes it rewarding.
Could you each share something you’d like to challenge next?
S: I can’t yet handle every step of a garment on my own, so I want to watch, learn, and absorb everyone’s sewing — and be trusted with more, sooner.
Y: My goal is to attend a Paris fashion show in person — to see something I sewed being worn with my own eyes, not in photos.
What do you like about the company?
S: The way everyone here acts. Once we decide “let’s do this,” it happens immediately. Most companies would deliberate forever; here there’s a spirit of “try it first,” and it feels good whether you’re watching or taking part.
Y: Being able to speak candidly even to the president and the veterans makes the atmosphere what it is — it’s a reason you come to love this company.
O: The company genuinely does what it says. That’s what I like.
Working alongside younger — or veteran — colleagues, what do you notice?
S: I’m surrounded by people who sew better, faster, and know more than I do — and not just people my age. The veterans teach me anything I ask, so I can work with peace of mind.
Y: I lead a line, but my experience and knowledge still fall short in many places, so being able to consult the veterans freely is a real blessing. As for those younger than me — S and I.M will surely become leaders one day too, and I want to help them grow toward that moment.
O: Working with young people is the best. Imagine working alongside people the age of your grandchildren — it’s fun. And even at my age, handling the very forefront of fashion through this work is a joy in itself.
On to recruiting — what kind of person would you like to work with next?
S: Someone open and easy to talk with — not just the bare minimum, but someone you can chat with beyond work, the kind of openness that builds real relationships.
Y: Someone honest — who can own their mistakes and apologize sincerely instead of blaming others.
— On the Skills Advancement Committee
Thank you for everything so far. Now I’d like to ask about the Skills Advancement Committee you’re all part of.
First, could you tell us the committee’s purpose and your own role?
S: The purpose is planning and running initiatives that push us to sew faster and more accurately. In the contests we’ve held, placing near the top earns a small reward — having something to win outside regular work makes you try even harder, so beyond raising skills, it’s become an important boost to everyone’s motivation. I’m still inexperienced, yet I sit on the committee among far more seasoned people — but that position lets me notice things others might not, so I try to offer that bird’s-eye view and add to the committee’s thinking.
Y: We chose a contest because we didn’t want just another training session. Trainings skew toward newcomers and don’t mean much for veterans. We wanted something where everyone stands on equal footing — that’s where the idea came from.
O, as a participant, what do you think of the contest?
O: I think it’s a great thing to have. It does sacrifice precious billable time, but it carries a tension you rarely feel in everyday sewing, and in those moments young and veteran compete as equals — a good way to shift the company’s air. Above all, you learn where your own skills fall short and where you can grow. In the end skills rise and daily work benefits — and through these occasions you can feel the company come together as one.
What effects have you felt from the contests so far?
S: Speaking for myself, I’ve become far more conscious of time. When I joined I still had a student’s pace and worked at my own rhythm for a while. Beyond my seniors’ guidance, seeing the difference in working speed with my own eyes at the contest changed me — now I work with the next person in the process in mind.
Y: Once, a task we had set for the contest happened to appear later in a client’s actual specifications. Because the whole team had leveled up through the contest, we could take that order on in great shape — which felt wonderful.
Any goals or challenges for the committee?
Y & S: One goal, beyond the contests, is building something like a skills map tied to the pay-raise system — but we’ve hit a wall on how to verbalize and visualize technical skill. We also don’t know what systems other sewing companies use or where to look for reference, which slows our progress.
The second is, of course, raising skills themselves. Right now some specifications can only be handled by certain people; we want everyone to be able to handle everything — driven not by lectures but by the contests and future initiatives.
Y: Hearing even one more person say the contest helped them build a skill makes me happy — it’s what makes this worthwhile, so we’ll keep working toward the goal.
Thank you very much!
(Interviewed November 2024)
Expanding Ikuta Pleats’ possibilities together — the PR Committee’s activities
At Ikuta Pleats, the spirit of taking on new things extends well beyond OEM. There are successes and failures, but we explore the company’s many possibilities together, talking them through as colleagues.
We hope this way of thinking and moving becomes a source of motivation for our younger staff.
Respecting one another, raising each other up,
toward a place that hopes for the growth of ourselves, our colleagues, and our company
INTERVIEW
PR Committee
A committee formed to share what makes the company distinctive, inside and out.
I.H, who has led our interviews so far, shares our current work, outlook, and goals.
Interviewer
I.H (PR Committee)
Joined 2022
The PR Committee — expanding what’s possible, together
A short introduction.
I’m I.H, the interviewer so far — I joined Ikuta Pleats in 2022. Since vocational school I had admired artisans; rather than becoming a designer at a brand, I always wanted to be involved as a maker. I was especially drawn to shibori dyeing — Arimatsu shibori above all — and in my job hunt I looked for shibori dye works, but the company I hoped for had no openings left. I kept searching for similar companies without luck, and ended up making costumes as I had as a student while working part-time jobs. Once I started, though, balancing the two proved hard, and part-time work gradually took over my days.
That was when Ikuta Pleats came into my life. They had pleated fabric for my student work, so I had visited the company several times — and when an opening appeared, I applied. Loving shibori as I do, I had long been drawn to heat-settable fabrics and the autoclaves used to process them — seeing the autoclave here still makes my heart dance.
The PR Committee’s purpose, and my role.
The committee’s central purpose is telling the outside world what we do: communicating the company’s strengths, being discovered through the website, establishing our own products and making them known — outward communication through many channels at once. I lead this committee; my main role is running our regular meetings, gathering members’ views, and directing traffic when needed. Lately, when the room goes quiet, I make a point of speaking or proposing first — I want to be a balancer for everyone taking part.
The committee’s challenges and goals.
The hard part is making our results felt, inside and outside the company. A recent example: building the pleating request form — the very thing that first brought me to the company — cut the back-and-forth dramatically and made responses much smoother. That is a result we can genuinely feel.
It was PR Committee work, but because it improved daily operations, it also deepened what the committee means to me.
Product development, if it sells, shows up plainly in revenue — but social media, the first thing we started, is hard to measure, so helping people inside and outside understand its positive effects is a challenge.
The PR Committee is our youngest, and as of 2024, much of what we do hasn’t fully taken shape — some is still in preparation — so it’s true we haven’t fully shown it, inside or out.
But what we must not forget is the question of purpose: first, what should we communicate that leads to business outside?
Before the current members, the company had far too few channels through which to be known, so building a website came first — completing this site was the top priority. Around the same time, PCP launched, and our own-brand work is picking up speed.
Of course we want many customers to know our products, and to use what we have conceived and made.
But we must never forget that we are, at heart, a company that makes things.
Establishing the brand must never lose sight of its purpose: making the company known, and feeding the OEM work that fuels our growth.
We hope you’ll enjoy following the PR Committee’s work.
PCP
PCP stands for “Products Constructed by Pleats” — a product brand born from pleating. It reframes pleating not only as fashion but from the standpoint of product design, focusing on the properties of materials and the functions pleating creates — and proposes products that put those functions and characteristics to work.
Planning and running our own brand
IQUTA
IQUTA is a brand that adds new value to traditional pleating, proposing pieces that fit naturally into modern daily life. The beautiful movement of pleats brings fresh color and joy to the everyday. What we deliver is not merely a form, but an experience that enriches daily living. Discover a new side of pleats with IQUTA.
SNS MENU
X（@iquta1）
Posted by President Ikuta himself.
Day-to-day thoughts, reflections on the company and the wider industry — and most of our news on work and hiring, too.
X（@iquta2）
Run by our PR Committee.
Alongside technical insights on the pleating and sewing we do for a living, we share local tips from Yoshikawa, where we’re based.
Instagram（@ikutapleats）
The things and moments we meet through pleats and sewing — plus everyday glimpses of the people behind Ikuta Pleats.
Sharing updates on social media
OTHER
Nurturing talent for the sewing industry
S.I.C sewing school
S.I.C sewing school is an initiative addressing the sewing industry’s shortage of technicians and successors, and supporting the growth of sewing companies. It was founded by two people — Tomokazu Kobayashi of C’IDO, a sewing company in Sendagaya, Tokyo, and Takayuki Ikuta of Ikuta Pleats, which runs pleating and sewing in Yoshikawa, Saitama — who invited Emiko Shiina, a celebrated master craftsperson from Chiba who teaches sewing across the country, to serve as instructor.
Fashion schools do of course teach machine sewing, but learning to hold both speed and quality is another matter — however much you love sewing, the gap you meet on joining a company is easy to imagine. S.I.C sewing school hopes to close that gap before it opens: changing how newcomers face, see, and feel the work — and how companies receive them. Please see the link below for details.
Official LINE
YouTube