Transforming the future of the nishikigoi business with a unique perspective and ideas
Nishikigoi (ornamental koi carp) are now one of the representative brands of Cool Japan, with enthusiasts all over the world. Their popularity is growing, and scenes of overseas enthusiasts buying a single fish at auction for tens of millions of yen, sometimes even hundreds of millions, have made the TV news. Still, for most people, questions such as “How do you actually buy nishikigoi?” and “How much do they cost? I have no idea of the market price” are common.
KoiFan, an e-commerce platform for nishikigoi, answers these questions from buyers around the world and also transforms how the producers who raise and sell Japanese nishikigoi, the koi breeders, sell their fish.
“KoiFan is the industry’s first and Japan’s first e-commerce platform for buying nishikigoi, known as swimming jewels, safely and smartly. The site naturally has the functions a major e-commerce mall needs, and as an industry first, we are also working on adding an AI-based valuation system for nishikigoi,” says Takafumi Genji, Representative Director of KaaP Inc., who came up with KoiFan and develops and runs the site. Genji has loved ornamental fish since childhood and at some point became captivated by nishikigoi. When wanting to keep them, Genji ran into the consumer’s questions mentioned above, “unclear ways to buy” and “unclear market prices,” which led to conceiving KoiFan.
Genji founded KaaP in September 2019, and in December 2019, as a startup born in the Reiwa era, took part in the pitch event “Mirainno Pitch 2019” organized by Osaka Innovation Hub. Less than six months after founding, the company won the OIH Award in the general division, drawing attention for the uniqueness of focusing on a niche field and for a business model with high social value that contributes to the industry’s development and to sharing Cool Japan with the world.
Starting a company out of a wish to contribute to the happiness of people in Japan and around the world through business
Traveling alone as a high school student in Malaysia, a multiethnic country, Genji saw diverse people living distinctive lives that differed by country and region. From then on, Genji held a wish: “Through business, I want to contribute to the Japanese society I grew up in while realizing a world where diverse people around the world can live peaceful, happy lives.”
With an entrepreneurial mindset since the teenage years, after graduating from university Genji joined a general trading company that develops businesses with large-scale investments to raise living standards for people around the world. There, Genji worked on many businesses, including accounting in the infrastructure division, selling overseas industrial land to Japanese manufacturers, and supporting Japanese manufacturers at a group company in Vietnam, experiencing all kinds of aspects of business.
At the same time, the wish grew stronger: “I want to do business more involved with the products and technology Japan is proud of, and make not only that industry but people around the world happy.” Genji developed several business ideas. After about five years at the trading company, Genji started the business at the end of June 2019. Of the many ideas, the one Genji chose was a business focused on nishikigoi, the ornamental fish that had been a personal hobby.
It started from the situation that, while nishikigoi were booming around the world, ordinary people did not know how to buy them or what they cost. “First, wanting to dispel this opacity peculiar to the industry, I began market research. What gradually became clear was that, because of labor shortages and long-standing business practices, breeders could not sell overseas except through overseas buyers. I was surprised that enthusiasts around the world therefore had no way to get the fish except at two to four times the price of buying from Japanese breeders. And as I learned that many of the more than 500 koi breeders in Japan are small and aging, my wish grew stronger that we must make it possible for more and more young people to enter the industry,” Genji recalls.
After examining the data from this market research, the idea of the industry’s first and Japan’s first e-commerce platform for nishikigoi was born.
Refining the business by taking part in pitch events where entrepreneurs gather
While developing the system and doing PR to build a more solid business model, Genji took part in several startup-related events. Someone met there advised taking part in Osaka Innovation Hub’s pitch event. “While exploring all kinds of things toward commercialization, I decided to take part in Mirainno Pitch, but at the time the business model was not complete.
But it was good that I got a lot of advice from Osaka Innovation Hub’s coordinators and could refine the business, including building the cash flow and logistics models. And receiving the OIH Award in the general division and being recognized also gave me confidence,” Genji says, explaining how taking part in the event helped refine the business.
Even before the event, Genji had received a lot of support from producers in the industry who supported the business concept, as well as from staff at local governments and financial institutions, but being highly rated by the judges and others at the event deepened Genji’s confidence in the business.
Taking on the global nishikigoi market with the advantage of being an industry first
Genji released a beta version of KoiFan in February 2020 and is now aiming for the official release while gaining users and promoting awareness and participation among breeders in Japan. The roadmap going forward is to complete and launch the valuation system, add translation into foreign languages, partner with overseas businesses to start selling directly abroad, and begin selling data for efficient koi breeding. Genji is in the middle of working toward it.
“There is strong demand for nishikigoi in China, Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. We want to start by expanding in Southeast Asia and Europe, and then enter the Chinese market, where demand is greatest. Through our service, we want to spread the joy and happiness of keeping nishikigoi, revitalize our partners, the koi breeders, and the industry, make it an industry popular with young people, and see more young successors. If I can contribute like that, I will be happy too.”
Finally, asked “What is the appeal of nishikigoi?”, Genji said, “The beauty of their patterns, of course, but above all, they get attached to people. That is why I want to make it easier for everyone to buy them and spread their appeal. In fact, nishikigoi do not fight or compete for territory, so they are said to be creatures that symbolize peace. So I think spreading nishikigoi around the world can contribute, even a little, to world peace, my long-held dream.” Those words overflowed with the original spirit of a social entrepreneur: “for society and for the people of the world.”
Interview date: January 28, 2020
(Interview and text: Manabu Kitagawa)