Last month and in advance of the summer travel season, Travel Oregon launched a new video promoting Oregon tourism. What makes this video different than most other travel promotion videos is that it is made in the Japanese anime style. The video is a nod to the famous Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animator of such classic films as Totoro, [...]
The historic Meier & Frank Building, in downtown Portland, Oregon. As a growing sign of strong ties between Japan and Portland, it was reported last week the MUJI, one of Japan's most popular retailers, will establish one of its largest stores outside Japan in downtown Portland. The store location is said to the Meier-Frank Building, which is centrally-located [...]
The cherry blossoms are looking beautiful around the Portland area this week but as is often the case, the weather likely won't allow for a sunny, warm and dry hanami (flower viewing) picnic. The situation in southern and central Japan may be a little more conducive to hanami this weekend as the forecast calls for sunny weather. Look here for [...]
Earlier this month, the Willamette Week published a list of "Reasons to love Portland right now." Coming in at number 9 was the very intriguing possibility of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma designing major new construction in the South Waterfront are of downtown. Undoubtedly, significant negotiations would need to take place to accommodate these proposed towers which are nearly twice as [...]
There are only 3 days until Valentine's Day and surely the chocolate companies in the US are looking forward to a spike in sales. The same is true in Japan where an estimated $500,000,000 is spent on Valentine's chocolates each year. However, in a departure from the stereotypical American Valentine's Day pattern, the vast majority of chocolate is given by [...]
Congratulations to the 2018 Mochitsuki 2018 team for another successful event! This past Sunday marked the 22nd annual occurrence of this favorite Portland family activity. Mochitsuki has come a long way from its humble start in the basement of Oregon Buddhist Temple. The celebration now draws thousands of attendees and has to be held at Portland State University to accommodate [...]
Earlier this month, Hokusei North America's partner Portland Gear announced the launch of a collaboration with Widmer Brothers Brewing, one of Portland's oldest craft beer breweries. The “PDX Pils” collaboration beer will feature Portland Gear's logos and signature teal color. Bottles of PDX Pils will be available in all grocery stores, at local bars, and even at Portland Timbers soccer [...]
2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of Hokusei North America's parent company, Hokusei Products in Japan. Since it's entry into the Japanese aluminum market in 1978, Hokusei Products has expanded beyond its Takaoka (Japan) head office to open branches in Hokkaido (Japan), Okinawa (Japan), Stockholm (Sweden), and Portland (USA). The staff at Hokusei North America would like to [...]
The Hokusei North America team wishes you a Happy New Year! May your 2018 be filled with good fortune and success. We've set some ambitious goals for ourselves for the coming 12 months. As you can see we've painted in one eye of our Daruma doll to mark the commitment. Here's to the fun and hard work it will take [...]
Portland is known for its incredible food & beverage scene, including its farmer's markets, craft breweries, urban wineries, and coffee roasters. But, did you know that Portland also boasts a vibrant craft chocolate community? In Portland, there is large number of both craft chocolate-makers and craft chocolatiers. Craft chocolate-makers are artisans or small companies that focus on the "bean to [...]