Green Okinawa (4) Repair your clothes, shoes, bags and sewing machines in Okinawa

Dear OISTers,

With these 'Green Okinawa' posts, we are seeking to learn from each other about how to be more environmentally friendly in Okinawa. Please share your own tips and let us know if there is a topic you’d like us to cover.

Here's one from us:                                                                                                               

Repairing and altering clothes means you can enjoy wearing them for longer. It's also a great way to cut down consumption. Feel good about wearing your old faves again and saving on carbon emissions and water. A cotton shirt takes an estimated 2.1 kg CO₂ equivalents to produce and a pair of jeans up to 20,000 litres of water (1-3).

If you’re not too handy with a needle and thread yourself, here are a number of places we know that repair and alter clothes.

Marusan Dry Cleaners is a chain of dry cleaners with locations all over Okinawa.(4) Many of them do clothes repairs and alterations. The dry cleaners do not usually have changing areas for you to put on your clothes for measuring, so do this at home and put a safety pin to mark the alteration you want. Clothes are sent off to be worked on and the average turnaround time is two weeks. Note, the Marusan coin laundries do not offer clothes repair service.

• Ishikawa

Marusan Dry Cleaners located in front of San-A.

See map.

• Uruma

Arakaki Yosai Ten located in Uruma city. Clothing repairs take about 10 days.

See map and street view.

• Yomitan

Marusan Dry Cleaners at Owan City on Route 58.

 See map.

Kyoto-ya cleaning services (sometimes called 'Enagic') are located inside the Max Value AEON in Furugen in Yomitan.

Address: 740 Furugen, Yomitan, Nakagami District, Okinawa 904-0314, phone: 098-956-8621.

See map.

• Ginowan

Onaosi Works is an independent business run from the owner’s home. They can sew a new hem on your jeans or alter your wedding dress! They have a changing room. Simple work can be done the same day and more complicated work will take a couple of weeks and no more than one month. Onaosi Works is temporarily closed during March 2020 due to COVID-19 coronavirus.

Address: Onaosi Works, 31 Aragusuku, Ginowan, Okinawa 901-2201, phone: 090-5946-2906, website: https://onaosiya.ti-da.net/ 

See map.

Bricoleur is a café and second hand clothes shop which also offers on site clothing repairs and alterations. We contacted Bricoleur to ask about their services, but got no reply.  Please let us know if you use them.

Address: 1-23-17 Mashiki, Ginowan City, Okinawa, phone: 098-917-5771, email: bricoleur@gmail.com

See map.

• Kadena

Reform Friend can adjust the hem on a pair of trousers the same day if you bring them in the morning. Other repairs and alterations take about a week.
Address: 372-2 Kaneku, Kadena, Nakagami District, Okinawa 904-0205, phone: 098-957-3952.

See map.

• Rycom mall

Magic machine at Rycom mall repairs clothes.

See map.

Riat cobblers repairs shoes in Rycom mall

Riat is temporarily closed during March 2020 due to COVID-19 coronavirus.

See website

• Okinawa city

Family store in Okinawa city repairs clothes and bags (not shoes).

Address: 3 Chome-7-31 Sonoda, Okinawa, 904-0022, phone: 098-932-4943.

See map

• Naha city

Alter Inn, is located in Department Store Ryubo

Phone 098-867-1825

See map

Mama-no-Reform repairs clothes, bags and shoes.

Address: 1 Chome-1-20 Furujima, Naha, Okinawa 902-0061, phone: 098-886-0250, website: https://www.mamanoreform.jp/shops/3232/

See map

Yofukunonaoshi Workshop Reform Apop is located inside Naha Main Place mall. Here they repair clothes and can do some shoes and bags repairs.

Phone: 098-864-1529 

See map.

Cotton Shop Ryuki, Naha City Tuboya 1-6-5

Phone 098-861-1034

See map

Sewing machine repairs

Machine plaza is a sewing machine repair service in Uruma city

See map

If you have a Jaguar brand sewing machine, the home appliance section at Tabata in Ishikawa can help you consult with the manufacturer about repair.

For those who are looking for a re-usable face-mask option, here’s a free pattern to make your own! (5)

Share your own tips/comments for the post: https://groups.oist.jp/resource-center/green-okinawa-4

Read previous Green Okinawa tips here: https://groups.oist.jp/resource-center/green-okinawa

This Green Okinawa post was developed in collaboration between Yoshimasa Nakamura (OIST Resource Center) and Kate Whitfield

References

1. Fixing fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability, 2019 https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmenvaud/1952/report-files/195206.html
2. Kirchain, R., Olivetti, E., Reed Miller, T. & Greene, S. Sustainable Apparel Materials, 2015, Materials Systems Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. WRAP, Valuing Our Clothes: the cost of UK fashion, 2017 http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/valuing-our-clothes-the-cost-of-uk-fashion_WRAP.pdf
4. Marusan Dry Cleaners http://www.maru-san.com/shop.html
5. Cotton Time Magazine https://www.cottontimemagazine.com/page/10

Photo credit Worn Wear Patagonia

Tips/comments shared by the OIST community members: