First, in order to reach kendoka overseas, we began mail-order catalog sales, which was the mainstream before the Internet. At the time, printing product catalogs was both expensive and time-consuming. As the company was at the time widely unknown, Mr. and Mrs. Kimura carefully packed and shipped each item ordered themselves.

Early on, we took advantage of the Internet, which was still in its infancy, and opened an EC site for overseas customers. The e-commerce site was a pioneering experiment in the martial arts industry, and it helped Tozando become known to a large number of people around the world.

Next, an e-commerce site for the domestic market was launched, selling all budo equipment including kendo, iaido, aikido, judo, karate, kyudo, and naginata-do. In particular, overseas budoka sometimes practice more than one martial art, and many of them said, “I would like to have this kind of budo equipment from Tozando.” In response to such requests, the number of products gradually increased to cover all martial arts. Around the same time, interest in working for Tozando increased both in Japan and abroad. Many Tozando employees are also devoted practitioners of budo.

The Shogoin Store has been selling katana and yoroi armor since 2007. The store is a renovated traditional Japanese townhouse built more than 100 years ago and is popular among tourists as a kind of budo sanctuary for experiencing Japanese culture. This store is also recognized overseas. Many customers from overseas come to Japan to visit this store.

Mitsuboshi, a famous and long-standing brand of kendo bogu gear, joined the Tozando Group in 2015. This was to preserve the prestigious brand and its fine craftsmen, as well as to continue to meet the expectations of Mitsuboshi fans, Tozando, with its innovation, and Mitsuboshi, with its tradition, are growing together by leveraging their respective cultures.

Tozando established the largest logistics center in the martial arts industry. As a comprehensive budo company, the logistics center is equipped with unprecedented scale and facilities. From here, large numbers of budo equipment are shipped worldwide every day. An embroidery workshop and shinai workshop are also in place so that each piece of martial arts equipment can be carefully customized, helping earn the trust of budoka in Japan and around the world.

To meet the numerous requests for quality wooden weapons received over the years, a woodworking factory in Hokkaido, Japan was acquired to meet this demand. In addition, a well-managed wooded area has also been acquired to manage our own source of lumber, helping to reduce CO2 emissions. Although the manufacture of bokuto and other wooden weapons is considered difficult, even for the most experienced craftsmen, we have developed a manufacturing method that allows us to produce resilient, uniform products.

GEN-The Online Dojo opened as a major keystone of our media business. In addition to kendo, iaido, and karate, aikido has been added as of 2022. In order to provide opportunities to learn Japanese budo anytime and anywhere, we are providing various online services to support daily practice at dojo as well as video streaming service thanks to the cooperation of various federations, organizations, and teachers.