The journey begins

In 1986, Tetsuhiko Nakamura, the owner of Ginza HIKO, became independent.
The year the bubble economy began.

The more famous the brand, the more it sells.
The more expensive the item, the more likely it is to be chosen.
That was the era.

HIKO (the store name at the time was "Hiko") at the time of its opening. It started as a small shop of about 9 tsubo (33 sq. m) in Kumamoto.

Global upheaval

Then came the collapse of the bubble economy.
The apparel industry will also be shaken.

Until then, the mainstream business model was "consignment," in which trading companies and wholesalers would rent goods to boutiques and be paid only for what was sold at the end of the period.
"If it doesn't sell, just return it"
This kind of tension-free environment had become the norm.

However, as the economy worsened, major trading companies and manufacturers found themselves with large amounts of returned goods at the end of the season.
They suddenly began to change direction, to "purchase instead of consign."

Nakamura felt that he couldn't continue like this, and resolved to "go to the manufacturing site in person, see with his own eyes and make sure to procure genuine products."

I decided to go directly to Europe.

Travel to Italy

Nowadays, there is an international trade fair for men's clothing called "Pitti
The photo above shows the venue for the "Uomo" (the venue)
You can gather as much information as you want on the Internet, but back then there was no such access at all.

I asked a travel agency to arrange my flight and hotel, and I diligently gathered information about exhibitions from newspapers aimed at the textile industry.

"When I arrived at the venue, the hotel was farther away than I expected, and the taxi fare alone was quite expensive."

"I wanted to go to the Pitti Uomo venue, but when I got in a taxi I was taken to the Pitti Palace."

"I couldn't read the Italian menu so I just pointed at random things and they brought me a plate full of food that I couldn't finish."

etc…

It was truly a spontaneous journey.

What's more, Nakamura can barely speak English.

As mentioned above, there are no translation apps or handy devices to guide you to your destination.

When I first started going there, I wasn't getting a proper deal.

Never give up

nevertheless,

“We want to buy. We want to sell.
If our interests coincide, we can do business."
I packed a calculator, a notebook, a dictionary, a map, and a camera in my bag and continued to visit Italy and France again and again.

As I was doing this, I heard, "Oh, you're here again?"
We've become familiar with these faces, and little by little we're able to have brands where we exchange messages with them, asking, "How are you?"

Since Nakamura's daughter, Kyoko, joined the company as a staff member, she has acted as an interpreter to some extent, making business negotiations go more smoothly.

Before I knew it, I had created a brand that I'd been working with for 10 or 20 years.

ZILLI, a luxury brand from France

Italian knitwear brand FEDELI

Extensive use of carbon fiber
Bags Specialty Brands
TecknoMonster Techno Monster

etc…

When we first started doing business with them, neither of these brands was well known in Japan, and customers would say to us, "That's a brand I've never heard of."

But the splendor of these items,
As we explained the philosophy and passion of the makers, the customers became even more enthusiastic, saying things like "Once you use a suitcase from here, you won't be able to use anything else!" and "This is the first time I've seen such a beautiful tie."

Face to face meaning

The more times you meet face to face,
And over the course of many years, an invisible bond develops between the two of you.

(With Alain Chimer, founder of ZILLI.)

There are many family-run brands in Europe, and HIKO and his daughter have been going to Europe together, so they keep in touch with each other to keep up with the latest news about their families.
There are many occasions where people share their joy by saying, "Congratulations!"


We are now able to exchange frank opinions that we would not be able to have in a normal business relationship, and we are now able to not only convey feedback from customers, but also have them listen carefully to our own thoughts.

Of course, the creators themselves may also have thoughts like, "This is the way we want to convey the appeal of our work to our customers."
We receive requests such as:
Based on this, we have been making various efforts to improve the site, such as changing the way we take photos and adding and revising the descriptions.
We also advertise in magazines on a regular basis.

By steadily repeating this process, many brands are now willing to speed up delivery times and take on special orders that they normally wouldn't accept, saying, "For HIKO."

Recently, we have had some customers make wallets from crocodile leather in special colors that are not usually available from the French brand ZILLI.
"I saw it at the flagship store in France two years ago, but they didn't have my size so I gave up."
Some people even had the sandals remade to fit them in their own size.
(This one was also made of crocodile leather.)

Since such special orders require arranging the leather itself, ZILLI told us, "I wouldn't have accepted it if it wasn't HIKO."

After a journey that circumnavigates the Earth 40 times

In summer, temperatures can exceed 40 degrees,
The winters can be extremely dry and cold, and the weather can be very difficult.
Before I knew it, the journey had traveled the equivalent of 40 times around the Earth.

How many booths have you visited at exhibitions and trade fairs?
Probably over 2000 companies.

However, even after encountering so many brands and traveling so far, it is still difficult to say, "If it's this brand, if it's this product."
There are very few moments when I think like this.

In recent years, there have been ultra-thin sweaters made from vicuna, a rare animal fiber also known as the fiber of the gods.

I had the opportunity to meet some of the craftsmen who make bags for famous European fashion houses.

"I wouldn't have known if I hadn't gone there."

I was able to make connections with people and their works.

Due to the current social situation, I cannot travel abroad, but once I am able to travel freely again, I intend to visit them again.

Why continue the journey?

For brands that are already well-known,
You also have a lot of knowledge and information.
Compared to when import brands themselves were still rare, opportunities to see the real thing have increased dramatically.

However, when it comes to unknown masterpieces and master craftsmen, we need to let customers know about their existence.

To make our customers happy by saying, "I had no idea such amazing items still existed in the world!"

The thoughts of the creators, the voices of our customers,
I'll tell each of you.

Through these efforts, we hope to support the culture of craftsmanship and improve the lives of our customers and craftsmen.

That is the reason why we continue to visit manufacturing sites.