Our Roots: The 'Ukidama' Fishing Float

The story begins back in 1949. In the land of Aomori, Hokuyo Glass was established as a factory producing 'ukidama'—glass floats for fishing nets. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, scallop farming began to boom in Aomori, and demand for these floats skyrocketed.

"A single fisherman might use over 500 floats. With hundreds of fishermen out there, you can imagine we were producing a staggering number," Nakagawa reminisces.

Each Hokuyo Glass ukidama was engraved with the kanji character '北' (kita, meaning 'north') as a symbol of pride and confidence. In an era when adding an emblem was itself an unusual concept, it was a quiet declaration of the artisans' pride: "Our glass is tough."

That quality eventually traversed the ocean. After drifting across the Pacific for two and a half to three years, floats bearing the '北' mark washed ashore in the United States. Unable to read the kanji, Americans mistook the character for two F's side-by-side and dubbed it the 'Double F (FF).' This name would later be adopted for one of Hokuyo Glass's product lines.

Day after day, the artisans relentlessly crafted ukidama using glassblowing techniques. And the more they produced, the more refined their skills became. This daily practice of glassblowing would prove to be the unique and invaluable asset that would one day save the company.