Connecting Local Value to the World.

Connecting Local Value to the World.

Featured Featured in the Ryukyu Shimpo: Okinawan traditional crafts exhibited and sold at the Portland Japanese Garden

What Is Hokusei?

(Our Story)

As a modern Kitamae-bune,
we connect community to community
and solve social challenges

In earlier times, the Kitamae-bune took on each region's products at every port of call and enriched the lives of the places they reached. Our own voyage, which began in 1978 as an aluminum trading company in Takaoka, Toyama, is no different. We go to the field, uncover the value lying dormant in each region, and connect it to the places that truly need it. Today, that route extends across the Nordic countries, North America, and Asia.

Our Story→
Our Purpose (Philosophy)
01

Mission

Finding local value,
delivering it where it's needed.

Philosophy→

Rather than searching for whatever will sell, we unearth the value buried within a region and connect it to the place it belongs. Good for the seller, good for the buyer, good for society. Building up this "three-way good" commerce one deal at a time is our mission.

02

Vision

Becoming a modern Kitamae-bune.

Philosophy→

Like the Kitamae-bune, we carry products and culture from port to port and enrich the communities we reach. We aim to be the go-to for the small troubles that larger trading companies have grown reluctant to handle — the partner who thinks of the detail nobody else does.

03

Value

Guided by the "give first" principle.

Philosophy→

Toyama's traveling medicine sellers delivered the medicine first and collected payment later, only for what had been used. Act first, deliver first, move first for the other person's sake. Give, give, and give again. We believe that trust — and then business — is born from what follows.

Business

(Our Businesses)

01Metal

For nearly half a century since our founding in 1978, aluminum has been at the heart of our business. We supply high-purity aluminum from 99.9% to 99.9999% (3N–6N) in small lots. Even a request for "just one piece, with an certificate of analysis" is one we see through to the end.

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02Package

From PTP packaging materials for pharmaceuticals to moisture-proof aluminum bags for semiconductors. We carry the quality-control expertise cultivated in "Toyama, the home of medicine" across into other industries. The responsibility of reliably protecting what's inside is our starting point.

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03Lifestyle

From Swedish-made MIRAFEX reflectors to North American canoes, we bring to Japan only what we have chosen in person, face to face with the makers. We handle only the "good things" we have verified with our own eyes.

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04Food & Agri

Delivering fruit purées from Oregon to craft beer breweries nationwide. This route, which began in 2019 with just five breweries, has grown under the motto "one brewery per prefecture" to bring roughly 900 breweries across Japan into view.

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(A Modern Kitamae-bune)

ACROSS THE SEA

With Toyama as our home port, we connect community to community by sea.

Story

(A Modern Kitamae-bune)

  1. Chapter01

    They carried more
    than just cargo.

    Plying the Sea of Japan from the Edo through the Meiji era, the Kitamae-bune took on products at each port of call and carried the culture, information, and very way of life of every region. They were not mere freighters but "transmitters of culture" connecting community to community. We inherit that DNA of the Toyama merchant.

  2. Chapter02

    From a single sheet of aluminum,
    a half-century voyage began.

    In 1978, our voyage began as an aluminum trading company in Takaoka, Toyama. High-purity aluminum from 99.9% to 99.9999% (3N–6N), in small lots and with an certificate of analysis. Seeing through even a request for "just one piece" to the very end — that accumulation is what has built the trust we hold today.

  3. Chapter03

    The route reaches the world,
    then returns to the community.

    Metal, Package, Lifestyle, Food & Agri. Our route has spread across the Nordic countries, North America, and Asia. Serving the other person first — the "give first" principle — and "three-way good": good for the seller, the buyer, and society. The cycle of returning the value we earn back to the community is the very mission of a modern Kitamae-bune.

(How We See a Trading Company)

A trading company is the ultimate problem-solver.

From material selection to quality control to delivery, all in one seamless flow. Being told "you'll even go that far?" is just about right. "Whenever something came up, we used to turn to a trading company, didn't we?" We will keep being the partner people can say that about. Facing our customers' troubles in earnest is our work.

Data

(Hokusei at a Glance)

Founded
0
Alongside aluminum since our predecessor, Hokusei Kinzoku.
Locations
0locations
Toyama, Tokyo, Hokkaido, Kyoto, Okinawa, the Nordics, North America.
High-purity aluminum
99.999%
Available from small lots, with an certificate of analysis.
Business fields
0fields
Metal, Package, Lifestyle, and Food & Agri.
Hokusei at a Glance→

News

(News)

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See how we connect communities with the world, day by day Follow our official Instagram

Recruit

(Careers)

From Toyama,
working with the world.

Going to the field, meeting people, and building business within trust. What we handle ranges from aluminum to fruit purées. Precisely because we are a small team, the scope of responsibility is large — and the down-to-earth grit is part of the reward. We are looking for crew to join our Kitamae-bune.

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Contact

(Contact)

The smaller the inquiry, the more welcome it is.

From aluminum procurement and food ingredients to importing overseas products and consulting on regional challenges, we can help. It's perfectly fine if the product or terms aren't yet decided.
"Can you handle something like this?" "I'm not sure who to ask." Feel free to reach out, starting with a single line like that.

Contact
Us

TEL +81-766-29-1600 Office hours| Weekdays 8:40-17:10