The first product he handled as a buyer was a plastic item. It was quite a hassle just to decide on the color. If you want pink, there are a few dozen in pinks. For example, you can start with ten different hues of pink (1 to 10), then look at five different tints of color samples between pink 2 and 3. Then there’d be more to it. We examined closely even the slightest differences. “We always had plenty of product samples.” We spent days checking one against another. We were zealous enough to be peculiar about the details.

Koike says, “You cannot develop a product unless you come into the scene.” When he was handling gardening products, he made a field in a corner of the headquarters. He didn’t know much about seeds nor anything about cultivation. “I sowed all the kinds of seeds to be sold during the year and watered them every day for a half year.” Seeing his effort, employees who knew more about gardening taught him various things. “You must grow and step in. Experience pays off in a new product.”

We need to develop new items and release them into a matured channel. We need to develop a hot market with genuine curiosity and thoroughness. The fishing tackle series that Koike developed in 2021 met with reactions on SNS and YouTube. “It’s fun to step into a place that doesn’t exist in this industry.” Koike is ready to accelerate even more.