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 [...]
Originally scheduled to take place in 2020, but cancelled the same year and again in 2021, Fuji to Hood festival returns this year on Saturday, July 16. For those not familiar with it, Fuji to Hood is a beer and food festival between 40 like-minded breweries, cideries, and distilleries in the shadow of Oregon's Mt. Hood and Japan's Mt. Fuji. Portland, [...]
On Friday, May 27 (Japan time), Hokusei North America will host a webinar for members of the craft beer industry in Japan. In partnership with Oregon Fruit Products, the webinar will focus on how fruit purees are used in the very popular IPA style of craft beer. Following an opening greeting by Hokusei's CEO Shotaro Tomita, the webinar will share [...]