FUJITO x FUJINO Interview Part 2

Building a Business the Old Way

Masa Fujino still works the same way he did at the start, traveling with a suitcase full of samples, visiting stores one by one.

While many people today rely on digital tools or AI, Masa prefers talking to people face-to-face. He takes local buses, walks through cities, and builds real relationships with shop owners. “I’m still like a backpacker from my university days,” he says, smiling.

Go Fujito also followed a hands-on path. He started by making hand-printed T-shirts and selling them to friends. In the beginning, he worked part-time jobs to get by even delivering lunch boxes.

His turning point came when a tailor in Florence, Italy, saw a customer wearing FUJITO jeans and asked where they came from. That moment led Go to fly to Florence with the jeans in hand. After two years of back-and-forth, he created a special pair just for the tailor.

From there, more doors opened. A buyer from United Arrows discovered FUJITO, and the brand started growing across Japan and beyond.

MASA FUJINO

Director of PADDLERS Ltd.

In 2007, Fujino established an import agency in Osaka, representing European brands. By 2015, he expanded into exports, launching subsidiaries in the UK, USA, France, Taiwan, and Korea, establishing a truly global business network.