ABOUT US
HAMON JAPAN will select and provide the following products to people around the world.
- The sound products that contribute to the environment, society, culture, and equality.
- Crafts that support the basis of Japanese culture but are in danger of getting lost forever.
- Companies that engage in social activities or donate a portion of their sales or their products.
HAMON is the Japanese word for ripples. We choose this word in the hope that from the customers, producers, and HAMON JAPAN, a drop of water or a single pebble, ripples will spread and influence the larger world.
I have been involved in environmental, social, and equality activities for decades, since 1989, when I started working for the Brazilian Amazon Forest and its indigenous people. In the process, I also worked as a planner for the world's first eco-tours (dolphin swim tours) and a drum & dance workshop tours in West Africa, as well as a promoter of African music. Around 2000, I began to question the nature and effectiveness of the so-called "opposition activities." As a result, I became a facilitator and organization development consultant to help people create a new future by creating a place where diverse people with different viewpoints/opinions can communicate and talk with each other.
In the year 2020, an unprecedented event, a pandemic, has changed the lives of people all over the world. When young, I determined to "deal with people" and have spent my life trying to "connect people," but the pandemic drastically damaged the distance and trust between people, and that made me despaired at first. Then, for the first time in my life, I thought of dealing with products. That was because I realized that products are not just "things" but also ambassadors that provide a place to connect and meet people and create respect for each other. I also realized that exporting is a field where I can contribute to Japan and the world by utilizing various elements and experiences in my life so far.
As I researched these excellent Japanese products, I also realized that Japanese crafts and traditional culture were in great danger. Since I was a small child, I have studied Japanese dance, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, Japanese cooking, which got designated as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. I was also interested in Japanese crafts such as lacquer, pottery, and bamboo products. So I was fortunate to grow up knowing more of Japanese culture than most Japanese people. I felt very threatened and sad that Japanese culture may get lost forever sometime soon.
The following charts show how the Japanese artisan industry is shrinking.
Japan is a country where tradition and innovation go hand in hand. The two are not independent but can be correlated.
(1) Innovative items and business models created by young leaders of traditional crafts.
(2) Minimalistic and beautiful products that have been perfected over hundreds of years are being reevaluated as "slow life" in today's world where values are changing dramatically.
(3) Innovative items mixed with the technical skills and attention to detail that the Japanese can provide.
We believe that our international and domestic activities, which connect the world and Deep Japan, will help to bring about an era in which the world is no longer a fragmented collection, but one in which we can weave a future together as "one.
The products HAMON JAPAN handles are filled with "vision for the future" and "love". There is a sense of caring for someone or something, and refined beauty. We hope that people who make, sell, and buy our products will be able to feel such feelings even more through the warmth of our products. The mission of HAMON JAPAN is to help people learn about each other through our products, connect, help each other, and live comfortably with confidence and pride as fellow citizens of the earth.
In Japan, there is a concept called "Sanpo-Yoshi" (Good for Three Directions: customers, sellers and, society) by the Omi merchants, and HAMON JAPAN will add manufacturers to this concept to create "Yonpo-Yoshi" (Good for Four Directions: manufacturers, customers, and society), and propose the Gross International Happiness Model that leads to it.
In addition, HAMON JAPAN delivers high-quality items to the world at a reasonable price by not going through intermediaries.
