Creating "Beloved Plastics": A plastic sundry manufacturer in Osaka's only village launches "LIFE IS GRAY™", a new lifestyle brand that "stays by your side throughout life."
Sanada Seikou Co., Ltd., a plastic sundry manufacturer based in Osaka's only village, has launched a new lifestyle brand, "LIFE IS GRAY™." The brand will exhibit prototype products at "interiorlifestyle TOKYO 2026" from June 10-12, 2026, with full sales scheduled for November 2026. This marks the company's new challenge to move beyond its 100-yen shop business and offer high-value-added plastic products.
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Sanada Seikou Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chihaya Akasaka Village, Minamikawachi-gun, Osaka; Representative Director: Kazuyoshi Sanada), a plastic manufacturer with the corporate philosophy of "creating beloved plastics," is pleased to announce the launch of its new lifestyle brand, "LIFE IS GRAY™," as its own business. In addition, prototype products of LIFE IS GRAY™ will be exhibited at "interiorlifestyle TOKYO 2026," which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight from Wednesday, June 10, to Friday, June 12, 2026.
This exhibition is not just a display of new products; it is the first step in our new challenge to widely convey the new value of plastics, building on the planning and development capabilities for daily necessities cultivated since our founding.
At the exhibition, we will pre-announce the brand concept and product direction, leading to full-scale sales scheduled for November 2026.
What is "LIFE IS GRAY™"?
A lifestyle brand that accompanies your daily life.
The brand concept is "Always by your side throughout life."
"LIFE IS GRAY™" is not just a tableware brand; it is a lifestyle brand that continues to support and propose ways of living, staying by your side even as your residence, feelings, and life stage change. At this exhibition, we will primarily showcase a one-plate dish and a mug cup, but in the future, we envision an expanded product lineup including rice bowls, tissue cases, cutlery trays, microwave cooking utensils, trash cans, and vases. What we aim to deliver as a brand is not just the "things" themselves, but a "lifestyle" where using them makes a long-lasting life filled with warmth and gentleness. This exhibition will pre-announce this concept and product direction, leading to the start of sales scheduled for November 2026.
Why a new brand now?
A challenge for the next 50 years, beyond the 100-yen business.
Since its founding in 1974, Sanada Seikou has planned, manufactured, and sold highly functional plastic daily necessities, primarily for 100-yen shops. However, signs of market shrinkage due to population decline, the limitations of the low-margin, high-volume model, and a shift in consumer awareness from "buying because it's cheap" to "wanting to use it for a long time with satisfaction" have begun to emerge. In response to these societal changes, we are embarking on a challenge towards high-value-added and high-price products.
This new brand is also deeply connected to our corporate philosophy of "creating beloved plastics." It extends the idea of transforming mass-produced plastic products, which tend to be easily discarded after serving their purpose, into beloved tools that are used for a long time. "LIFE IS GRAY™" is positioned within this extension of thought. It is also the first step towards our medium- to long-term vision of becoming a "lifestyle design company."
This exhibition is not merely a venue for product announcements. Even at a stage where the number of items is still limited, it is positioned as the first step to demonstrate to society the philosophy of the new brand "LIFE IS GRAY™" and our new challenge as a manufacturer of daily necessities for 100-yen shops.
Product Features
Design philosophy balancing "functionality and beauty."
"LIFE IS GRAY™" does not aim to be merely a refined vessel in appearance or a tool that solely pursues functionality. Utilizing Sanada Seikou's long-cultivated planning expertise from a consumer perspective, we emphasize functionality that considers the entire process from cooking to serving at the table and tidying up—making it easy to eat, drink, wash, store, preserve, warm, and use for a long time. Furthermore, we value the beauty of the moment it is placed on the table and the design that uplifts one's mood when using it.
Color Proposal
Showcasing the expressive power of plastic itself, centered on gray.
The brand color is gray. Gray is a color that easily blends into any space, is hard to get tired of even with long-term use in daily life, and at the same time, possesses a universal charm that naturally accompanies any era, life stage, or mood. While white and black tend to be mainstream in daily necessities, "LIFE IS GRAY™" deliberately highlights the intermediate color "gray" as the axis for creating brand unity, expressing Japanese aesthetics such as empty space (yohaku) and 間 (ma), and the gentleness that arises from them, thereby embodying the brand's unique identity.
Exhibition Content at interiorlifestyle TOKYO 2026
Both a "new brand announcement" and a "statement of the company's new stance."
At the exhibition held in Tokyo Big Sight in June, a one-plate dish will be the main focus among several products currently under development. This one-plate dish is not just a container for serving food.
This exhibition is not just a display of new products; it is the first step in our new challenge to widely convey the new value of plastics, building on the planning and development capabilities for daily necessities cultivated since our founding.
At the exhibition, we will pre-announce the brand concept and product direction, leading to full-scale sales scheduled for November 2026.
What is "LIFE IS GRAY™"?
A lifestyle brand that accompanies your daily life.
The brand concept is "Always by your side throughout life."
"LIFE IS GRAY™" is not just a tableware brand; it is a lifestyle brand that continues to support and propose ways of living, staying by your side even as your residence, feelings, and life stage change. At this exhibition, we will primarily showcase a one-plate dish and a mug cup, but in the future, we envision an expanded product lineup including rice bowls, tissue cases, cutlery trays, microwave cooking utensils, trash cans, and vases. What we aim to deliver as a brand is not just the "things" themselves, but a "lifestyle" where using them makes a long-lasting life filled with warmth and gentleness. This exhibition will pre-announce this concept and product direction, leading to the start of sales scheduled for November 2026.
Why a new brand now?
A challenge for the next 50 years, beyond the 100-yen business.
Since its founding in 1974, Sanada Seikou has planned, manufactured, and sold highly functional plastic daily necessities, primarily for 100-yen shops. However, signs of market shrinkage due to population decline, the limitations of the low-margin, high-volume model, and a shift in consumer awareness from "buying because it's cheap" to "wanting to use it for a long time with satisfaction" have begun to emerge. In response to these societal changes, we are embarking on a challenge towards high-value-added and high-price products.
This new brand is also deeply connected to our corporate philosophy of "creating beloved plastics." It extends the idea of transforming mass-produced plastic products, which tend to be easily discarded after serving their purpose, into beloved tools that are used for a long time. "LIFE IS GRAY™" is positioned within this extension of thought. It is also the first step towards our medium- to long-term vision of becoming a "lifestyle design company."
This exhibition is not merely a venue for product announcements. Even at a stage where the number of items is still limited, it is positioned as the first step to demonstrate to society the philosophy of the new brand "LIFE IS GRAY™" and our new challenge as a manufacturer of daily necessities for 100-yen shops.
Product Features
Design philosophy balancing "functionality and beauty."
"LIFE IS GRAY™" does not aim to be merely a refined vessel in appearance or a tool that solely pursues functionality. Utilizing Sanada Seikou's long-cultivated planning expertise from a consumer perspective, we emphasize functionality that considers the entire process from cooking to serving at the table and tidying up—making it easy to eat, drink, wash, store, preserve, warm, and use for a long time. Furthermore, we value the beauty of the moment it is placed on the table and the design that uplifts one's mood when using it.
Color Proposal
Showcasing the expressive power of plastic itself, centered on gray.
The brand color is gray. Gray is a color that easily blends into any space, is hard to get tired of even with long-term use in daily life, and at the same time, possesses a universal charm that naturally accompanies any era, life stage, or mood. While white and black tend to be mainstream in daily necessities, "LIFE IS GRAY™" deliberately highlights the intermediate color "gray" as the axis for creating brand unity, expressing Japanese aesthetics such as empty space (yohaku) and 間 (ma), and the gentleness that arises from them, thereby embodying the brand's unique identity.
Exhibition Content at interiorlifestyle TOKYO 2026
Both a "new brand announcement" and a "statement of the company's new stance."
At the exhibition held in Tokyo Big Sight in June, a one-plate dish will be the main focus among several products currently under development. This one-plate dish is not just a container for serving food.