Read Daiwa Feature - Tackle Trade World

Feature
Feature
DAIWA
DAIWA
Feel The Earth
GLOBERIDE’S GLOBAL
STRUCTURE
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?
I
Globeride HQ
in western Tokyo.
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
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-highdensity, 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
“Daiwa has a
long history
of market
firsts based
on processing
technology.”
7
17
.1
BOO
T
H
The entrance that welcomes
you at Globeride headquarters.
and Oceana, giving it a
distinct advantage over
competitors.
“We manage
everything at our own
production locations,
including planning,
manufacturing and
sales,” explains Moto.
Shutaro Seki shows David
“This helps us to stay
Guest new Daiwa clothing lines.
as a top-ranked brand
in the fishing market.”
All this is just the basic business building
Daiwa Young
blocks that keep Daiwa at the front of
Fishing Club is
the pack. With each turn of a corner
one such example
within Globeride HQ, or each change of
and offers the
conversation topic with our hosts, we learn
next generation the
more about how this company is about far
opportunity to come
more than just selling fishing equipment.
into contact with nature.
“One of the things that our president and
“We also promote improved fishing
CEO, Akihiko Kishi, constantly maintains
manners and at the same time environmental
is that our products should ‘make it wow’ for
protection of fishing sports.”
consumers and that we follow our company
Daiwa has spent many years being very
motto to ‘Be Earth Friendly’,” details Moto.
“We operate many tours that allow beginners active in maintaining some of Japan’s bestknown fishing spots and is keen to encourage
to have hands-on experience in fishing. The
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.
.1177
NO
BOOTH NO
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,
H NO.11
7
OT
O
7
B
Custom reels
made by SLP.
DAIWA GLOBERIDE
88
www.tackletradeworld.com
www.daiwa.com
www.daiwasports.co.uk
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]
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.
www.daiwa.globeride.co.jp
www.tackletradeworld.com
89