A slightly unusual "interesting product" created by a slightly unusual "interesting company"! Supports different materials, new materials, and complex shapes with multiple colors and variations.
Higashiho started a business in Osaka, but for some reason, it has a factory in Hokkaido. "Why Hokkaido?" is a frequently asked question, but the founder was from Yamaguchi Prefecture and had no connection to Hokkaido.
Shortly after founding the company, the founder went to Europe as part of a delegation to visit a plastic factory. What he saw there was "a single-story factory in the woods" and "during lunch breaks, female employees sat on piles of materials, enjoying lunch with a glass of wine." The founder was impressed by that scene and the wonderful technology in Europe. He wanted to create a factory in Japan similar to what he had seen in Europe and embarked on a journey to find a suitable location for his factory.
At that time, in the early 1970s, there were naturally no mobile phones, and the founder reportedly had no idea where he was going.
Eventually, the founder arrived in Bibai, Hokkaido. At that time, Bibai was a coal mining town, but due to the closure of the mines, it was actively inviting factories at a low cost. Additionally, there were talks of obtaining loans from the government for factory construction. The industrial park was in the woods, and although the founder had limited assets shortly after starting the company, he must have felt that it was possible to make something work on the land that matched his vision.
