LW NEWS, which started in February 2004, comes to an end today. Why did I start LW NEWS? Back then, our GBL store in Nakameguro was in its second year and still quiet. On weekends, I worked at the store, passionately talking to customers about TSURIAMIKI, their merits, and my desire to pass this cultural heritage on to the next generation. Although we had a website, visitors rarely returned. After much thought, I decided to create a blog-like page (even though blogs didn’t exist at the time) to keep people engaged. Back then, I uploaded everything in HTML—slow speeds, limited data capacity—it’s hard to imagine now!
For me, LW NEWS became a life’s work, a way to share not only my thoughts but also the passion and philosophy of the artisans who work behind the scenes at LOOPWHEELER. It became an integral part of my daily routine. In some years, like 2019, I made as many as 406 posts—more than one per day! Your support for these 21 years has been my greatest motivation. I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Starting December 2, our website will be renewed under the new domain loopwheeler.jp. LW NEWS will also continue in a slightly different style, with about 1–2 posts per week, available in both Japanese and English. I hope you’ll continue to follow along.
The primary reason for this website renewal is our strong desire to launch overseas e-commerce. Thanks to your support, we’ve welcomed many international customers daily, most of whom discovered LOOPWHEELER through word of mouth—just like it grew in Japan.
We deeply appreciate this, and it has strengthened our determination to share the essence of LOOPWHEELER with our own words and deliver it with our own hands to customers abroad. However, navigating international e-commerce and conveying the depth of TSURIAMIKI in English alone is a challenge beyond our capabilities.
It was at this time that I met Shingo Yuhara, CEO of forest inc., and his co-founder Michael Akira Takahashi. Despite being a young company, they aim to go public with the mission of “bringing Japanese brands to the world as work that will transform the next 100 years.” They’ve launched the cross-border e-commerce site Omakase, handling Japanese-made goods and traditional crafts, delivering them directly to customers overseas.
Mr. Yuhara is a big LOOPWHEELER fan and has visited all three stores in Sendagaya, Osaka, and Fukuoka. His strong desire to work with us convinced me, and we decided to form a business partnership to grow LOOPWHEELER’s e-commerce business together. Staying true to our founding philosophy—creating the world’s most authentic sweatshirts and sharing Japan’s unique TSURIAMI culture—we will begin a new chapter on December 2.
We hope you’ll join us in this new challenge to make LOOPWHEELER a brand that lasts 100 years. We’ll continue to work hard to create products that make you think, “LOOPWHEELER is so great, It has to be LOOPWHEELER!”.
Thank you for your continued support.
November 29, 2024
Satoshi Suzuki
PS: The LW Bear in the photo is a handmade creation by our pattern maker, Ishimoto, using leftover TSURIAMI loopback fabric. The bears are finally reaching No. 96, 97, 98, 99, and 100—marking a significant milestone.