Nikome Material: A New Biomass Material Brand Born from Niigata City's Rice and Husks

Nimousaku Co., Ltd. has released "Nikome Material," a new biomass material brand that uses "resource rice" (non-edible rice) and "rice husks" harvested in Niigata City.

Nikome is a biomass material with a variety of textures, created by changing the blending ratio of its raw materials, "rice" and "rice husks," similar to the difference in rice polishing ratios. Using only ingredients grown in Niigata City, the brand pursues a relationship in the material domain where, like food ingredients, "you can see the face of the raw material's creator."

The brand name embodies the meaning of "another (the second) choice for rice."

As a base for exploring the potential of this material, the "Nikome Material Lab." has opened within the "Komesodo" complex in Niigata City. At the lab, visitors can touch samples of boards and products made from this material.

Nikome Material has three key features. First, it is a domestically produced biomass plastic where the "face of the creator is visible." The raw materials are "resource rice" and "rice husks," a byproduct of rice farming, cultivated in Niigata City, ensuring extremely high traceability. Second, it offers a natural expression that can be felt with the five senses. The particles and shades derived from rice and husks appear as they are, and a faint scent of rice can be detected up close, allowing one to feel nature through sight, touch, and smell. Third, it reduces petroleum-derived plastics by up to 60% and also cuts CO2 emissions. By blending rice and rice husks with a base resin (PP), it contributes to reducing environmental impact.

The "resource rice" used as a raw material is an industrial variety that does not require complex management, enabling elderly farmers and those with disadvantaged farmland to continue rice cultivation without undue burden. This helps prevent the increase of fallow and abandoned fields, a problem in Niigata, and contributes to preserving rich soil for the future.

The material lineup offers three color variations based on the blending balance of "rice" and "rice husks," likened to rice polishing ratios. "HAKU" (white rice) is blended with 51% white rice. "5-BU" (five-minute polished) has a balanced blend of rice and husks. "GEN" (brown rice) contains a higher proportion of husks, emphasizing its fibrous and granular texture.

The "Nikome Material Lab." has opened on the second floor of the "Komesodo" complex in Niigata City, serving as a place to experience and explore new possibilities by touching samples of the material.

Planned products and services for architects, designers, and companies include interior plastic tiles and collaborative product development using Nikome's raw resin (pellets) for injection molding. Collaborations starting from rice cultivation itself, in partnership with local farmers, are also planned.

Furthermore, the brand will exhibit at "Interior Lifestyle 2026," an international trade fair for interior design, to be held at Tokyo Big Sight on June 12, 2026, where they will display tile samples and prototypes.

Nikome values not only the material's technology but also the perspective of "attachment." By making the creator's face visible, it aims to foster attachment to products and fundamentally solve the problem of mass disposal. This initiative is promoted through a collaboration between Nimousaku Co., Ltd., Biomass Resin Marketing Co., Ltd., and Coneru Co., Ltd.