Feature DAIWA Feel The Earth GLOBERIDE’S GLOBAL€¦ · DAIWA GLOBERIDE this made Daiwa become...

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89 www.tackletradeworld.com www.tackletradeworld.com 88 The last stop on TTW’s recent tour of Japan was to arguably one of the biggest names in the business. Did we save the best ’til last with Daiwa Globeride? Grand Golf Gear, RODDIO and Fourteen. It’s impressive that a company such as this could be a forerunner in several major arenas at once. After the brief tours of these sections of the vast Globeride headquarters, we concentrate on the Daiwa brand – arguably one of the most acclaimed in fishing. “In 2009, we changed our corporate name from Daiwa Seiko Inc to Globeride Inc and Feel The Earth I t’s a crisp and chilly day as Tackle Trade World emerges into the bright sunlight from the Hana-Koganei train station in Tokyo’s western suburb of Higashikurume. We’re a long way from home, but we have a very good reason to be here. e call to visit the headquarters of one of the fishing tackle industry’s most iconic names was simply too big a pull. To say we’re excited about our Daiwa experience is an understatement. We are greeted by a three-strong team that together help run and oversee Daiwa’s impressive international fishing business: Motohiko (Moto) Obayashi, the sales manager, and his two assistants Shutaro Seki and Yumi Ito. After some typically wonderful Japanese hospitality, we begin our tour of Globeride headquarters. Although readers of this magazine will know Daiwa Globeride as a solely fishing company, the firm has its fingers in several other pies, which we get a good glimpse of on our tour. For example, the company is the exclusive distributor for American racquet sports brand Prince in Japan. It also performs the same task for international cycling brands Focus Bikes, Corratec and Bottecchia. Golf is also big business for Globeride; it owns several of its own brands including ONOFF, Feature DAIWA Feature DAIWA DAIWA GLOBERIDE www.daiwa.com www.daiwasports.co.uk www.daiwa.globeride.co.jp this made Daiwa become our exclusive global fishing brand,” explains Moto. “At this time, we famously changed our old Daiwa logo to the new D-VEC brand that anglers are very familiar with today. It took some people a while to get used to the change and not everyone was keen on the new look straightaway, but now it has become synonymous with high-quality and innovative fishing products.” Daiwa began life as a brand way back in 1962, after Daiwa Seiko Inc had worked purely as an OEM manufacturer for some years before. By 1977, Daiwa had become a headline name in fishing tackle thanks to its efforts to improve the general standards of fishing tackle through innovative thinking and premium quality. “Daiwa has a long history of market firsts,” says Moto. “is is based on development and processing technology unequalled by any others in the world.” Examples of this include its ultra-high- density, high-elasticity carbon, Mag Sealed technology, the T-Wing System and AGS Guides, to name but a few. Moto and his team are focused entirely on the smooth running and growth of Daiwa as a fishing brand on the international market. e company has subsidiary or partner companies in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceana, giving it a distinct advantage over competitors. “We manage everything at our own production locations, including planning, manufacturing and sales,” explains Moto. “is helps us to stay as a top-ranked brand in the fishing market.” All this is just the basic business building blocks that keep Daiwa at the front of the pack. With each turn of a corner within Globeride HQ, or each change of conversation topic with our hosts, we learn more about how this company is about far more than just selling fishing equipment. “One of the things that our president and CEO, Akihiko Kishi, constantly maintains is that our products should ‘make it wow’ for consumers and that we follow our company motto to ‘Be Earth Friendly’,” details Moto. “We operate many tours that allow beginners to have hands-on experience in fishing. e Daiwa Young Fishing Club is one such example and offers the next generation the opportunity to come into contact with nature. “We also promote improved fishing manners and at the same time environmental protection of fishing sports.” Daiwa has spent many years being very active in maintaining some of Japan’s best- known fishing spots and is keen to encourage all of its international partners to do the same in their countries. “Without a clean, safe and natural environment to practise our sport in, we have a bleak future,” warns Moto. After spending an insightful morning at Globeride HQ, we take a detour over to one of its partner companies, SLP. Here, all of Daiwa’s returns, repairs and customer services are handled. It is also the birthplace of many SLP’s customisable parts for reels and other products. Product customisation is a big thing in Japan and Daiwa is one of the forerunners in this market thanks to SLP. It offers a huge range of custom parts in an outrageous array of colours and styles. Just another small part of the gigantic and hugely effective Globeride jigsaw. GLOBERIDE’S GLOBAL STRUCTURE JAPAN SALES OFFICES World Sports Inc [Tokyo, Japan] Fourteen Inc [Gunma, Japan] Windsor Trading Co, Ltd [Kanagawa, Japan] JAPAN PLANTS Nasu Daiwa Inc [Tochigi, Japan] INTERNATIONAL SALES OFFICES DAIWA CORPORATION [USA] Daiwa Sports Ltd [UK, also manufacturing] Daiwa France SAS [France] Daiwa-Cormoran Sportartikel Vertrieb GmbH [Germany] Daiwa Pty Limited [Australia] Fourteen Golf Inc [USA] Daiwa Sports Co, Ltd [China] DAIWA Co, Limited [Hong Kong] Asia Daiwa Co, Limited [Hong Kong] Daiwa Korea Co, Limited [Korea] Daiwa FT Enterprise Co, Ltd [Taiwan] Singapore Daiwa Pte Ltd [Singapore] Daiwa Italy Srl [Italy] INTERNATIONAL PLANTS DAIWA SEIKO COMPANY LIMITED [Thailand] Zhongshan Daiwa Sporting Goods Ltd [China] Dongguan Daiwa Sporting Goods Ltd [China] DAIWA VIETNAM LIMITED [Vietnam] OTHER Sports Life Planets Inc [Tokyo, Japan] DSCO Inc [Tokyo, Japan] LOGISPO Inc [Tokyo, Japan] “Daiwa has a long history of market firsts based on processing technology.” B O O T H N O . 1 1 7 7 B O O T H N O . 1 1 7 7 B O O T H N O . 1 1 7 7 Globeride HQ in western Tokyo. The entrance that welcomes you at Globeride headquarters. Shutaro Seki shows David Guest new Daiwa clothing lines. Custom reels made by SLP.

Transcript of Feature DAIWA Feel The Earth GLOBERIDE’S GLOBAL€¦ · DAIWA GLOBERIDE this made Daiwa become...

  • 89www.tackletradeworld.comwww.tackletradeworld.com88

    The last stop on TTW’s recent tour of Japan was to arguably one of the biggest names in the business. Did we save the best ’til last with Daiwa Globeride?

    Grand Golf Gear, RODDIO and Fourteen. It’s impressive that a company such as this could be a forerunner in several major arenas at once.

    After the brief tours of these sections of the vast Globeride headquarters, we concentrate on the Daiwa brand – arguably one of the most acclaimed in fishing.

    “In 2009, we changed our corporate name from Daiwa Seiko Inc to Globeride Inc and

    Feel The Earth

    I t’s a crisp and chilly day as Tackle Trade World emerges into the bright sunlight from the Hana-Koganei train station in Tokyo’s western suburb of Higashikurume. We’re a long way from home, but we have a very good reason to be here. The call to visit the headquarters of one of the fishing tackle industry’s most iconic names was simply too big a pull. To say we’re excited about our Daiwa experience is an understatement.

    We are greeted by a three-strong team that together help run and oversee Daiwa’s impressive international fishing business: Motohiko (Moto) Obayashi, the sales manager, and his two assistants Shutaro Seki and Yumi Ito. After some typically wonderful Japanese hospitality, we begin our tour of Globeride headquarters.

    Although readers of this magazine will know Daiwa Globeride as a solely fishing company, the firm has its fingers in several other pies, which we get a good glimpse of on our tour. For example, the company is the exclusive distributor for American racquet sports brand Prince in Japan. It also performs the same task for international cycling brands Focus Bikes, Corratec and Bottecchia. Golf is also big business for Globeride; it owns several of its own brands including ONOFF,

    FeatureDAIWA

    FeatureDAIWA

    DAIWA GLOBERIDE www.daiwa.com www.daiwasports.co.uk www.daiwa.globeride.co.jp

    this made Daiwa become our exclusive global fishing brand,” explains Moto.

    “At this time, we famously changed our old Daiwa logo to the new D-VEC brand that anglers are very familiar with today. It took some people a while to get used to the change and not everyone was keen on the new look straightaway, but now it has become synonymous with high-quality and innovative fishing products.”

    Daiwa began life as a brand way back in 1962, after Daiwa Seiko Inc had worked purely as an OEM manufacturer for some years before. By 1977, Daiwa had become a headline name in fishing tackle thanks to

    its efforts to improve the general standards of fishing tackle

    through innovative thinking and premium quality.

    “Daiwa has a long history of market firsts,” says Moto. “This is based on development and processing technology unequalled by any others in the

    world.”Examples of this

    include its ultra-high-density, high-elasticity

    carbon, Mag Sealed technology, the T-Wing System and AGS Guides, to

    name but a few.Moto and his team are focused entirely on

    the smooth running and growth of Daiwa as a fishing brand on the international market. The company has subsidiary or partner companies in North America, Europe, Asia

    and Oceana, giving it a distinct advantage over competitors.

    “We manage everything at our own production locations, including planning, manufacturing and sales,” explains Moto. “This helps us to stay as a top-ranked brand in the fishing market.”

    All this is just the basic business building blocks that keep Daiwa at the front of the pack. With each turn of a corner within Globeride HQ, or each change of conversation topic with our hosts, we learn more about how this company is about far more than just selling fishing equipment.

    “One of the things that our president and CEO, Akihiko Kishi, constantly maintains is that our products should ‘make it wow’ for consumers and that we follow our company motto to ‘Be Earth Friendly’,” details Moto. “We operate many tours that allow beginners to have hands-on experience in fishing. The

    Daiwa Young Fishing Club is one such example and offers the next generation the opportunity to come into contact with nature.

    “We also promote improved fishing manners and at the same time environmental protection of fishing sports.”

    Daiwa has spent many years being very active in maintaining some of Japan’s best-known fishing spots and is keen to encourage all of its international partners to do the same in their countries.

    “Without a clean, safe and natural environment to practise our sport in, we have a bleak future,” warns Moto.

    After spending an insightful morning at Globeride HQ, we take a detour over to one of its partner companies, SLP. Here, all of Daiwa’s returns, repairs and customer services are handled.

    It is also the birthplace of many SLP’s customisable parts for reels and other products. Product customisation is a big thing in Japan and Daiwa is one of the forerunners in this market thanks to SLP.

    It offers a huge range of custom parts in an outrageous array of colours and styles. Just another small part of the gigantic and hugely effective Globeride jigsaw.

    GLOBERIDE’S GLOBAL STRUCTURE

    JAPAN SALES OFFICESWorld Sports Inc [Tokyo, Japan]Fourteen Inc [Gunma, Japan]Windsor Trading Co, Ltd [Kanagawa, Japan]

    JAPAN PLANTSNasu Daiwa Inc [Tochigi, Japan]

    INTERNATIONAL SALES OFFICESDAIWA CORPORATION [USA]Daiwa Sports Ltd [UK, also manufacturing]Daiwa France SAS [France]Daiwa-Cormoran Sportartikel Vertrieb GmbH [Germany]Daiwa Pty Limited [Australia]Fourteen Golf Inc [USA]Daiwa Sports Co, Ltd [China]DAIWA Co, Limited [Hong Kong]Asia Daiwa Co, Limited [Hong Kong]Daiwa Korea Co, Limited [Korea]Daiwa FT Enterprise Co, Ltd [Taiwan]Singapore Daiwa Pte Ltd [Singapore]Daiwa Italy Srl [Italy]

    INTERNATIONAL PLANTSDAIWA SEIKO COMPANY LIMITED [Thailand]Zhongshan Daiwa Sporting Goods Ltd [China]Dongguan Daiwa Sporting Goods Ltd [China]DAIWA VIETNAM LIMITED [Vietnam]

    OTHERSports Life Planets Inc [Tokyo, Japan]DSCO Inc [Tokyo, Japan]LOGISPO Inc [Tokyo, Japan]

    “Daiwa has a long history of market

    firsts based on processing technology.”

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    Globeride HQ in western Tokyo.

    The entrance that welcomes you at Globeride headquarters.

    Shutaro Seki shows David Guest new Daiwa clothing lines.

    Custom reels made by SLP.