Armed with a lineup of over 5,000 products, this globally acclaimed company is riding the wave of the emerging recreational fishing market, reeling in opportunities both locally and worldwide.
Japan is known worldwide for its unique geography and outdoor attractions, making it a prime destination for outdoor enthusiasts from around the world. In addition to its domestic attractions, Japan's landscape plays an important role in attracting international visitors, who are expected to exceed 35 million by 2024. What is it about Japan's geography that makes it such a great place for outdoor recreation, not only for residents, but also for foreigners from around the world?
Japan is surrounded by oceans and mountains. These are good points that attract foreigners. However, I think the most attractive point is the four seasons. Especially in spring and fall, one can see wonderful scenery and feel the beauty of nature that is unique to Japan. Another attraction is that Japan offers easy access from urban areas to mountains and the sea, and there are many facilities and other amenities for enjoying the outdoors in various parts of the country.
The global recreational fishing equipment market is expected to reach US$26 billion by 2030, driven by the increasing number of recreational fishing clubs and associations and aggressive promotion by fishing manufacturers both offline and online. What strategies are you employing to promote recreational fishing? And how can you capitalize on the growing global interest?
We are working to promote recreational fishing both in terms of products and promotions. In terms of products, we are working to develop convenient products that are easy to use, even for beginners. We have also established a platform called “HAYABUSA ANGLERS PLATFORM” to help people understand the difficulties of fishing, and are focusing on creating content that allows people to easily learn how to fish and how to prepare for fishing, as well as holding hands-on fishing workshops.
We hope that the implementation of these strategies will lead to people around the world becoming aware of excellent Japanese products and the mature Japanese fishing culture.
Your company supports the adventures of fishing enthusiasts with a wide range of jigs, hooks, and other fishing products for a variety of environments, including lakes, rivers, offshore, and inshore. Among them, “JACK EYE,” a line-drawing jig, is newly released in a revolutionary color that changes color underwater depending on the angle. What is your company's competitive advantage in the field of fishing tackle and why is it attractive to fishing enthusiasts?
We value MONOZUKURI (Japanese craftsmenship manufacturing) and want as many people as possible to enjoy fishing. To achieve this, we need to make fishing more accessible, including easy-to-use fishing tackle. For example, one of our jig products, the JACK EYE series Makimaki, allows anglers to target a variety of fish simply by throwing and reeling without any difficult action. Our competitive edge lies in our ability to create products that are both comfortable to use and increase fishing results, while staying close to the angler.
We also believe that one of our advantages is that we always have more than 5,000 different products available for fishing in various countries and regions and for various species of fish.
It is difficult to produce a large number of products all the time. How does Hayabusa achieve high-mix, small-lot production?
We have our own production plants in Vietnam, China, and Myanmar, and we emphasize communicating our MONOZUKURI philosophy to the people who work there. We are proud of our products because our workers understand this philosophy. In order to satisfy people all over the world, we need to prepare products suitable for each country and region. We train skilled craftsmen in each of our factories to meet the detailed needs of anglers around the world. We also promote the creation of a comfortable work environment in each factory so that these craftsmen can work with ease.
Having a large variety of products on hand at any given time can be a challenge in terms of shipping operations.
We have introduced one of the largest automated warehousing systems in Japan, “AutoStore,” which uses robots to efficiently and accurately deliver more than 5,000 items that we have prepared to meet a wide variety of needs to customers around the world. This “AutoStore” system not only enables us to ship quickly and accurately, but also to preserve items in a storage-safe environment.
Are there any new or existing products that you are particularly excited about in the future?
The JACK EYE series makimaki I mentioned earlier is a relatively new product for us. Inevitably, lure fishing is difficult in terms of moving the lure. We want to continue to develop lures that can be easily operated by anyone.
As for existing products, we are looking forward to the worldwide popularization of our signature product, the Sabiki trap.
This product was developed by my father in the early days of the company, and the design of the product itself has changed little over the past 50 years. What has changed is the “pseudo” part that decorates the hook. We are constantly focusing on researching how to create a “pseudo” that resembles bait and catches fish well.
In addition to the fishing tackle business, you also sell apparel for fishing under the brand “Free Knot. We have hats, jackets, shirts, and other products that can be used not only for fishing but also for various outdoor activities. How do you apply your experience as a fishing manufacturer to the apparel industry?
We started our apparel business for anglers because we wanted to incorporate fashionable products that could be worn in urban enviroments in addition to the functionality of traditional fishing wear. We always try to develop clothing and goods that allow people to freely go back and forth between the outdoors and their daily lives without having to change clothes.
We are also constantly working to pursue functionality, which is the original purpose of outdoor wear. In recent years, we have been focusing on the development of clothing using optical materials that allow people to enjoy fishing and outdoor activities even in the harsh cold of winter. This material reflects emitted infrared rays to generate heat, essentially retaining human body heat taht is emittedin forms of infrared rays. The biggest advantage is that heat is generated without requiring movement.
We are applying the know-how of operating in harsh environments that we have developed over many years in the fishing business to our apparel business.
Japan's shrinking population is affecting not only labor but also many other aspects of life. Many of the companies we interviewed mentioned shifting to overseas markets to mitigate this problem. As for HAYABUSA, what strategies does the company intend to use to overcome the shrinking domestic market? Also, to what extent are you looking overseas?
We have been strengthening the organization of our overseas sales department for several years now, and we are striving to increase the ratio of overseas sales. I think the key to increasing the ratio of overseas sales is to develop products that are optimal for each country. We are in the process of gathering necessary information and conducting local product tests in cooperation with distributors to match the know-how we have cultivated in Japan with the fishing conditions in each country. On the other hand, there are still opportunities to increase sales in the domestic market. We believe it is important to develop our business in a well-balanced manner, without being overly dependent on either domestic or overseas markets.
You mention the internationalization of your business. What markets do you see the most potential for your business?
Since the style of fishing is very similar to that of Japanese fishing, we will target Asian countries for the time being. Especially in China, Taiwan, and South Korea, many of our products for domestic use can be sold as is. In addition, we feel that Southeast Asian countries are very attractive because there is a lot of demand for squid-related products, which we have recently been focusing on.
In addition, although it is a separate business, we will focus on overseas expansion of our pet business in the future. We would like to deliver many pet apparel and goods developed with the health and safety of dogs, as a top priority to our overseas customers.
When we spoke with other companies in your industry, they told us that competition is fierce and that open innovation and co-creation are key to survival, especially in overseas markets. What role do partnerships play in your business model? And are you currently looking for partnerships in overseas markets?
Originally, we developed our products by processing and combining great materials and parts from other manufacturers. In that sense, open innovation is our basic policy. We will of course continue to enhance our technology so that we can develop even better products in all of our businesses, but we also want to actively incorporate the technologies of other companies in areas where they are lacking. In overseas markets, we aim to expand sales through cooperation with a single distributor per country, and we would like to work together in product development in the future.
In Japan, female presidents are rare, so you can bring a lot of value to the company as a female president. Please tell us more about the added value you would bring to the company.
Unfortunately, the current fishing population in Japan is predominantly male. I think this is due to the fact that women have an image of fishing as something that is difficult for them to casually participate in. However, fishing is actually an easy leisure activity that can be enjoyed by men and women of all ages. I believe that my mission is to spread the joy of fishing to as many women as possible. Currently, we have a women's fishing team, and we are communicating the joy of fishing from a woman's point of view through blogs and other media. I am also a member of a volunteer organization called “Tsurienne,” which promotes fishing, and we are working together with other companies to acquire 5 million members.
Imagine coming back in six years and doing this interview. What goals or dreams would you like to accomplish by the time you return for that new interview?
My dream is to have people all over the world use our products. I would like to contribute to the lives of people all over the world as a “success provider company” that delivers real emotions to everyone's daily life, which is our corporate philosophy through the use of our products.
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