Earlier this month, a delegation from the city of Kobe, Japan made a visit to the Portland area. Lead by Kobe City Mayor Hisamoto Kizo, the visit was organized with the cooperation of Prosper Portland, the city's economic development agency. The purpose of the delegation's visit was multifold, and included the signing of a renewed MOU (memorandum of understanding) for [...]
As we reported earlier, "Fuji to Hood", a beer & cider festival based on collaboration between Japanese and Oregonian craftspeople, took place in July and was a big success. Next, the festival moves across the Pacific Ocean, to take place in Tokyo on April 15 & 16, 2023. As the Oregon brewers and cider makers will make the trip to [...]
Governor Brown second from left, CEO Tomita the center In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Oregon, USA - Toyama, Japan sister state relationship, a delegation headed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown visited Hokusei's home office in Takaoka City, Japan on October 24. After arriving in Takaoka, Governor Brown was greeted by Hokusei staff, including CEO Shotaro Tomita. During [...]
In late-September, Hokusei North America's CEO, Shotaro Tomita returned to Oregon after a 3-year lapse caused by the COVID pandemic. During roughly a week in Oregon, Mr. Tomita was able to visit a number of Oregon-based businesses, organizations, and educational institutions, as well as meet with a number of local business people and residents. One of the highlights was visiting [...]
Earlier this month, Hokusei's business in Oregon was featured in the Toyama Shimbun, a major newspaper in Japan's Toyama Prefecture, Oregon's sister state. In particular, the newspaper article focused on Hokusei's work with the Portland Japanese Garden, to procure and supply the garden's gift shop with traditional products and articles made in Japan. Specific products mentioned include incense, wind chimes, [...]
Today, September 7, was the start of the FABEX food show, an industry event held in Osaka, focusing on food, beverages, dessert sweets, and baked goods. In response to an invitation from the US Governments Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Osaka, Japan, Hokusei's parent company in Japan has a booth at FABEX, to promote Oregon Fruit Products' (OFP) fruit purees. [...]
CEO Shotaro Tomita After a 3-year hiatus forced by the COVID epidemic, Hokusei North America’s President, Shotaro Tomita will be returning to Oregon in late-September. The purpose of President Tomita’s trip will be to visit with Hokusei’s Oregon trading partners, to show his appreciation their continued collaboration and cooperation with Hokusei, despite the challenges of the pandemic. Additional, Mr. Tomita [...]
Recently, Hokusei North America's parent company, Hokusei Products made the news for its imports of purees into Japan. On August 16, the Kita Nippon Shinbun (North Japan Newspaper) published an article detailing Hokusei's effort to import and market fruit purees made in Oregon to Japanese craft breweries. This article provided an overview of Hokusei's puree marketing activities, and even mentioned [...]
As reported in a previous post, the “Fuji to Hood” festival, which focused on beers made in collaboration between Oregon and Japanese brewers, took place on Saturday, July 16. Despite some last minute changes, the festival was a great success. The 1,000 allotted tickets were sold out before the event, which unfortunately meant that many hopeful attendees had to be [...]
Ever want to know more about Hokusei Products, Hokusei North America's parent company in Toyama, Japan? For those interested in learning more about our Japanese counterpart, its history, its business activities, its diverse locations, and its people, Hokusei Products recently added English-language narration to its corporate overview video. To see the video, please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBQwCKc6PfE&t=9s or, simply click the [...]