The founder, Kazu, has loved snowboarding for 25 years and has made snowboarding his lifestyle. In his early twenties, he worked for Salomon, one of the most famous winter sports companies in the world, and he remains a certified snowboard instructor.

In 2022, he opened his own snowboard shop on Rakuten Market. After discussions with many industry players, we began working with distributors and manufacturers.

However, he was deeply disappointed by the same business practices and complex industry structure as they were 20 years ago.

Even if product prices have gone up, what is the difference between 20 years ago and now?

Nowadays, consumers can easily obtain more product information than ever before. However, the Japanese snowboard industry is still closed and tries to exploit the information asymmetry between manufacturers and consumers for its own benefit.

So I started OWL Optical, a brand that provides quality products at the right price.

Snowboarding and skiing are major winter sports and leisure activities. I want my customers to spend more time and money enjoying their winter leisure experiences without spending extra money on equipment.