Natsuko's Room Guest: Takaya Matsuda of HERALBONY How can we make "a society where we live together with people with disabilities" the norm?

I met Shoji for the first time at the Forbes Awards ceremony last year. At the time, he told me, "My sister has an intellectual disability." My older brother has autism spectrum disorder, which is accompanied by severe intellectual disabilities. Wanting to change the cold view that the world has of him, I founded HERALBONY seven years ago with my twin brother, Fumito.

Currently, they exhibit and sell original artwork by artists with intellectual disabilities, use the art data of the artworks to develop their own products, and collaborate with companies and local governments. I had known about Shoji for a while, but I didn't know that he also knew about HERALBONY.

The activities of HERALBONY were a completely new perspective for me, and it really shocked me. My younger sister has an intellectual disability, and although we are now apart as she is in an institution, there were many difficult times when we lived together, and to be honest there were times when I felt annoyed with her, and I continued to avoid confronting her head-on.

Massimo Bottura, chef of the world-class restaurant Osteria Francescana, has a child with a disability, and he set up a pasta factory as a place where children with disabilities, including his own, can work. There, local grandmothers act as teachers, making traditional pasta by hand, one by one, together with people with disabilities. This pasta is then served in Massimo's restaurant. I was deeply moved by this initiative.

And I was equally shocked by HERALBONY. Matsuda and his team are facing people with disabilities head-on. Everything they do is dazzling.

But there was a time when I wasn't facing it either.

Ah, when you were in junior high? Were you a delinquent?

Well, I guess you could say I was a bit of a troublemaker (laughs). My twin brother and I hung out with a local delinquent group, so I hardly went to school in my third year of junior high school. Up until then I had been going to school and working hard in club activities, but the local delinquents would imitate my brother and make fun of me, which was really painful.

When my brother came to cheer for our club competitions, he would call out to me, but sometimes I would ignore him. Looking back, I think I was rude to him. I was going through puberty at the time, so I think I was trying to rebel against society and protect myself by hanging out with delinquents. So, like Shoji-san, I wasn't able to face it from the beginning.

However, after that, I left my hometown for high school, and by being away from my older brother, my mother, and my local friends, I was able to restart my life from scratch. It was a strict school, but I was able to recover as a person there and was able to face my brother properly.

I think it's amazing that HERALBONY is able to convey the appeal of artists while also being a viable business, and is also being recognized by global companies. Last year, it became the first Japanese company to win the LVMH Innovation Award 2024. It's extremely difficult to be recognized by a top brand, but I believe that when that happens, it will raise the value of the entire industry.

I'm glad to hear you say that. But before we started the company, we never imagined a future like this. Fumito and I even talked about how it would be great if we could run the company properly as a business, not as an incorporated association.

However, through the activities of HERALBONY, I have often become aware that our business has an impact on the lives of many people. About four years ago, I began to wonder what would happen if we expanded our activities globally, rather than limiting them to the domestic market. The reason I decided to enter the LVMH Innovation Award 2024 was because I wanted to make an impact on society.

I completely understand. I think that if I want to earn enough to live, it would be fine to have a small restaurant that only close friends come to, but that won't bring about change in the culinary industry as a whole. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the culinary industry as a high-risk, low-return industry, and there is now a real shortage of talent.

But I've been able to meet some amazing people since I entered the culinary world. So, partly as a way of giving back, I want to raise the status of the entire industry and encourage the success of young chefs through my own activities. I'm currently entering various competitions and trying to win trophies, because if I win an award, there will be more opportunities for people to listen to what I have to say. Conversely, without that kind of resume, influential people won't even look at me.

I'm opening a cafe at Tiffany Ginza in August, and the reason I wanted to work with such a global company is because I believe there's a limit to what I can do alone to bring about change. So I think I share Matsuda's desire to make an impact on society.

That's right. We also see partnering with LVMH as a way for us to have a positive influence. I know there will be criticism of joining the existing capitalist framework, but I think it's necessary to enter such places and communities in order to make your dreams come true in the shortest possible time. In fact, there's a lot to learn.

Last year, we launched the Heralbony Art Prize, an international art award for creative artists with disabilities from around the world. However, we had a lot of trouble deciding on the award before announcing it. There was some concern that creating an award would amount to ranking the winners. Inherently, welfare has a value system that does not rank winners. I think that this has its own positive aspects. But on the other hand, I also think that this is precisely why some great talents are unable to break through.

"Equal for all" is a very powerful phrase. But it would be a shame if truly talented people were to go unnoticed. That's why we wanted to ensure that their work is fairly evaluated and released into the world. We want the Heralbony Art Prize to be a gateway to success in the art world for people with disabilities, and we want it to be such a prestigious art prize that "if you win this prize, your work will next be included in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art." I was really happy that Shoji-san attended the award ceremony the other day.

I also thought it was significant that the award ceremony was held at the Palace Hotel Tokyo, and that the fact that the award has the capital of many major companies contributes to the trust that "this prize is the real deal." When artists take to the stage at such events, they are in the spotlight like they're on a red carpet. I think that's very important for spreading the word to the world.

Living with a family member with a disability is really difficult, and when they go out they often get cold stares, and it's often difficult to live a normal life. That's why I think that having a proper evaluation like this can be a relief not only for the person with a disability, but also for their family.

What does success mean to you, Matsuda?

For example, I'd like to create a Heralbony Swimming School or a Heralbony Calligraphy Class that people with intellectual disabilities can attend. And eventually, I'd like to open a Heralbony Restaurant or a Heralbony Hotel. If a place has the name Heralbony, people will think it's a place where it's okay to make as much noise as you want. I'd like to see Heralbony become recognized as a meaningful word in this way.

I would also like to create an environment where people with disabilities can work. You said you want to bring about change in the culinary industry, but what motivates you to work so hard?

Maybe it's because I believe I won't die. When I lived with my sister, she was so noisy every night that I could hardly sleep at night, and I often collapsed during morning assembly at school. So compared to how difficult life was back then, I can overcome anything now. As I've experienced so many things since becoming a chef, I've come to believe that the reason I've been able to remain so tough, become so tolerant, and understand the concepts of diversity and inclusion is because of the time I spent with my sister.

Now that I have gained a certain level of influence, I have begun to want to do activities for people with disabilities. I wanted to do something that wasn't just a one-off event, but something that continued on, so finding out about HERALBONY was a big deal for me.

Thank you very much. We are still a small company, but I have always hoped that one day we could work on something related to food. Just when I was thinking about that, I met Mr. Shoji, so I hope we can do some interesting things together from now on.