COMPANY
Message
「“It is our mission to contribute to the happiness and health of mankind and the realization of a bright and rich society through researching and popularizing KOUSO products.”」
Since old times, many fermented products that make clever use of microbes have existed in Japan, such as miso, soy sauce, and sake, and they are closely involved in our daily lives even today.
Yamato Kouso Co., LTD. was founded in 1946 by Kunio Yamato as “Yamato Kouso Distribution” in Kishiwada city in Osaka prefecture, and started developing the first KOUSO beverages in Japan using this traditional Japanese fermenting craft.
“It is our mission to contribute to the happiness and health of mankind and the realization of a bright and rich society through researching and popularizing enzyme products.” Based on this company policy, we pursue delicious taste and easily drinkable products and, by using fermentation techniques to bring out the best characteristics of the resources, we always work hard on creating products to support health from both inside and outside the body.
In recent years, the effect of enzyme-based products not only on health but also on dieting was recognized and demand is increasing. That we were able to contribute to society even in only a small way through our products and services is all thanks to your continued patronage. For this we are truly and deeply grateful.
Recently, the concern about safety of food products and about customers feeling safe is steadily increasing. For this reason and with the aim of not only improving productivity but also expanding quality control and safety management systems in our company, we completed the construction of our new Tadaoka plant in September 2013.
In addition, we received a certification of conformity with the health food GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), a standard for manufacturing process control meant to ensure that products are produced “safely” throughout all processing steps, from receiving the raw materials to manufacturing and shipping, and with a “defined level of quality”, from the Japan Health Food & Nutrition Food Association for our Tadaoka plant in December 2014.
Our company is and always will be devoted to constantly providing high-quality products and contributing to the happiness and health promotion of our customers.
We would be greatly honored to receive your continued support and guidance in the future.
Representative Director: Taisuke Yano
Overview
| Company Name | Yamato Kouso CO., LTD. |
|---|---|
| Representative Director | Taisuke Yano |
| Funding | April, 1946 |
| Establishment | August, 1955 |
| Capital | 15,000,000 yen |
| Business Description | Development, manufacture and sales of KOUSO Fermented Drinks, KOUSO foods, KOUSO skincare products and KOUSO bath powder products |
| Address（Head Office・Tadaoka Factory） | 2-3-17 Takatsuki-Kita, Tadaoka-cho, Senboku-gun, Osaka, 595-0801, JAPAN（google map→） |
| Related Companies | Yamato Kouso Hanbai CO., LTD. Nihon Seibutsu Kagaku Kenkyujo CO., LTD. Lisset International CO., LTD. |
| URLs | [ Corporate Website ] https://www.yamato-kouso.com/ [ Online Store (Japan) ] https://yamatokouso.com/ [ Online Store (Overseas) ] https://global-shop.yamatokouso.com/ |
| TEL | 0725-45-2200 |
| FAX | 0725-44-1173 |
COMPANY CREED
It is our mission to contribute
to the happiness and health of mankind
and the realization of a bright and rich society
through researching and popularizing KOUSO products.
STORY OF YAMATO KOUSO
After the end of the Pacific War, while the entire nation of Japan was thrown in chaos and dying from emaciation, Kunio Yamato discovered the wisdom of his ancestors. “I want to enable as many people as possible to live healthily…”
Kunio Yamato was roused by this single straightforward desire and set out to develop the first enzyme beverage in Japan.
After the Pacific War, the food situation went from bad to worse and rice was almost never distributed. Potatoes, bean cakes, and scrapped potatoes were the main part of food rations, and demonstrations demanding rice became a frequent occurrence in all parts of the country. However, distribution of food did not increase in the least, and while people had to acquire food by going to farm villages or on the black market, throughout the country people started dying from starvation.
Day after day, people were not able to eat enough and grew weak in body and mind, until they spent every day without even a glimmer of hope for the future.
Kunio Yamato was deeply troubled and distressed about this way of the world, and it was at this time that he discovered various books left behind by the ancestors. He came into contact with the ”大和本草(Yamato Honzo)” and ”養生訓(Yojoku)” written by 貝原益軒 (Ekiken Kaibara), the “医心方(Ishinbou)”, which is called Japan’s oldest medical journal, as well as an enormous number of works about medicinal herbs and plants used as folk remedies, and was deeply impressed. Letting himself be guided by the wisdom bequeathed to him by the ancestors, Kunio Yamato went on to work on developing the first KOUSO beverages in Japan. “I want to enable as many people as possible to live healthily…” Guided by this ambition, Kunio Yamato rapidly concentrated on immersing himself in research and development.
In April 1946, an institution of Yamato Kouso Distribution was established in Kishiwada, in the south of Osaka.
Today, enzyme-based health foods have established a certain position for themselves, but at the time the company was founded, nobody even knew what enzymes were. In addition, due to the low awareness of and interest in enzymes and health, enzyme products needed to overcome a great number of difficulties. Kunio Yamato started teaching about enzyme nutritional science and the proper way and importance of people’s daily eating habits, and was very active in holding lectures about what is known today as “dietary education” throughout the country. At the same time, the recovery of Japan’s economy was accompanied by a gradual increase in the awareness of the importance and popularity of natural and enzyme-based products, due to various kinds of harm like food contamination, adverse effects of medicines, or environmental destruction caused by air pollution.
Finally, in August 2018, Yamato Kouso Distribution was closed as part of its developmental strategy and thanks to the support of a great number of people, Yamato Kouso Co., Ltd) was founded.
After that, our company built up on its incessant research as Japan’s first enzyme beverage maker and was able to apply this expertise to further products such as enzyme-based food products, cosmetics, and bath salts.
Today, the circle of regular users of Yamato Kouso products is not limited to Japan, but is spread out through the world.
The ambition of our founder Kunio Yamato permeates the company even today, and all of our employees work together to carefully manufacture products that can contribute to the happiness and health of all people.
HISTORY
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Yamato Kouso Distribution, which is a former association of YAMATO KOUSO CO.,LTD., is founded by Kunio Yamato in Kishiwada City, Osaka. First to develop, manufacture and sell KOUSO deink(fermented plant extract) in Japan.
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Dissolution of the Yamato Kouso Distribution Association. Establishment of Yamato Kouso Co.,LTD. with a capital of 1 million yen.
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Capital stock increased to 3 million yen to enlarge company factory.
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Establishment of Yamato Kouso Hanbai Corporation in Shinagawa, Tokyo with a capital of 10 million yen, for marketing in eastern Japan.
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Construction of new facilities in Kishiwada, Oomachi to meet expanded needs.
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Founder Kunio Yamato retires, Yasushi Yano succeeds as the second president of the company. Capital is increased to 9 million yen for business expansion.
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Establishment of Yamato Kouso Hanbai Corporation Osaka Office in Chuo ward, Osaka city, for sales in the Kansai area.
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A new factory is established in Tadaoka-cho, Senboku-gun, Osaka, to expand business application of enzymes to cosmetics and quasi-medical products. Capital is increased to 15 million yen.
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Company headquarters are relocated to Tadaoka-cho, Senboku-gun, Osaka for improved business.
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Manufacture of enzyme bath powder and fermented skin care products begins.
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Additional buildings are added to the headquarter factory to increase production capacity.
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Establishment of Lisset International Corporation as an KOUSO cosmetics company with a capital of 10 million yen in Chuo ward, Osaka city, for expanded sales.
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Expansion of the headquarter factory to increase production capacity.
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Construction of a specialized factory for KOUSO Fermented Drink (fermented plant extract) on the adjoining property next to the headquarter factory to meet increased demand.
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Export to Taiwan begins.
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Export to Korea and the U.S. begins.
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Export to Hong Kong and Singapore begins.
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Construction of a specialized factory for KOUSO foods products to meet the increased demand.
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Authorized as a certified corporation for management reform project under the Act for the Promotion of New Business Activities by Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (New Business Activity Promotion Act).
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Acquisition of Environmental Management System (Eco-Action 21) certification (Certification and Registration No. 0009302)
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Taisuke Yano succeeds as the third company president.
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Acquisition of GMP Compliance Certification (Certification No. 228-C-01) by the Tadaoka Factory.
QUALITY CONTROL
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01Receipt of the conformity certification for “Material GMP” and “Product GMP”
Our company’s Tadaoka plant has received a conformity certification for both “Material GMP” and “Product GMP”. Nowadays, food safety is growing more and more important, and it is absolutely essential to put in place reliable quality controls and safety management systems. Our company is and always will be devoted to constantly providing high-quality products and contributing to the happiness and health promotion of our customers.
GMP is short for Good Manufacturing Practice and stands for a standard of appropriate manufacturing.
This standard of production and quality controls for dietary supplements that is authorized by the Japan Health Food & Nutrition Food Association is a set of rules and a system meant to ensure that products are produced “safely” throughout all processing steps, from storing the raw materials to manufacturing and shipping, and with a “defined level of quality”.
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02Thorough quality control
Our staff of experts performs physical, chemical, and microbiological examinations as well as evaluation using sensual tests. All our products are tested against strict quality standards and we endeavor to deliver products that we have confidence in. Also, not only the final product is tested, but various examinations are performed at all stages of the production process starting from the raw materials, and we work hard on manufacturing high-quality products through thorough quality control. In addition, we put our manufactured products through a number of storage tests to confirm the product’s stability, and have put up a system to evaluate the quality of our products even after they have arrived in the hands of our customers.
We believe that it is our mission to engage in each and every of these efforts with a high awareness of our responsibility. -
03Completely hygienic clean rooms
The air in the packing room itself is controlled by a number of filters, and the room is a class 10,000 purity zone. There are an additional three clean booths (cleaning, filling, capping), and these are class 100 purity zones. In this way, our products undergo even more meticulous hygiene controls, which also enables their use in the development of new products.
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04Inspections (safety guarantee)
As the interest of customers in food safety is steadily increasing, we also perform tests for pesticide residues and radioactive materials in our company.