Interview with Yuki Shikata of DIP Fukuoka (Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture)

On a day when the people of Fukuoka were likely feeling the first winter of the year, I visited Hakata to meet with DIP Fukuoka's CEO, Shikata.

When did you start DIP Fukuoka?

This is a Fukuoka-based team that was launched in 2021 with the theme of "creating a lifestyle based on a botanical concept." The team creates cool, stylish, and interesting works related to plants.

The items we sell are plastic pots, ceramic pots, pot stands, and other goods, but we are also considering developing apparel, etc. Our signature item is the plastic pot, which can only be made by DIP Fukuoka, so we hope you will pick one up and plant a plant in it.

How do you make the plastic pots?

First, the design is made and the ceramic artist creates a prototype out of pottery based on the blueprint. This is called a "mold." It's like pouring plastic raw materials into a mold and carefully creating the mold (laughs).

The rest is a company secret (laughs).

To be more specific, we use several different types of materials depending on the mold, shape and design.

After being removed from the mold, burrs are carefully removed, a special coating is applied, and the product is inspected before being completed.

The raw materials are black and the coating is also in a similar color, so we have designed it to last for a long time without the paint peeling off.

Are there any precautions to take when using plastic pots?

Nothing in particular!

Just like with normal plastic pots, there's absolutely no problem even if you place it in direct sunlight in the middle of summer and keep splashing water on it (laughs). I've thoroughly verified this point while growing plants myself.

What are the features of DIP Fukuoka's plastic pots?

First of all, from a horticultural perspective, I believe there is no pot easier to use than plastic.

What plastic pots lack is design. Our plastic pots are "designed plastic pots that you can easily enjoy growing stylish plants in." This is the strength of DIP Fukuoka's plastic pots.

We aim for a quality that makes you "not know it's plastic until you hold it in your hand." As a genre, it is called a plastic pot because the material is plastic, but we aim to make something that only DIP Fukuoka can make, and currently, we are the only ones that can make it.

The size of the works is 3 to 4 size pots. The largest is 5 size, and the only flat pots are 5 size, but I am only considering one-hand sizes at the moment. I have a range of products available, from affordable prices to pots created in collaboration with other artists.

What is an Artist Collaboration Pot?

I collaborate with ceramic artists such as Hajime Onose, Ryo Mihara, and YT-YF to create my works. The artists provide me with their actual ceramic pots, which I then mold and fine-tune many times to faithfully reproduce them into my works.

In particular, the collaborative pots by Hajime Onose and Ryo Mihara, which will be sold at OMBLE, have been very well received, and we would like to continue to expand our range of work in the future. Of course, DIP Fukuoka also regularly releases new models of its original plastic pots, so please check those out as well.

Growing plants

Growing plants is fun and cool in itself, and I want to spread the word about it.

By getting your hands on the plants you've always wanted or that are rare, and planting them in your DIP (which stands for "exciting cool plants") creations, we hope you will find joy, excitement and excitement in life.

We want to be a team that, when people look at our products, is reminded of botanical and horticultural products.

OMBLE : Thank you very much for reading to the end.

Thank you to the handsome Shikata representative, who has a unique sensibility and sense, for kindly taking us to Hakata Station. We would like to continue to work closely with DIP to announce various things!

DIP Fukuoka https://omble.base.shop/categories/4767204