About
About us
SoA Co., Ltd. is a startup that begins with agriculture, established on 5 March 2026 in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan. Soichi Saito is Representative Director and CEO. We cultivate and manage 3.8 hectares of farmland in Kawagoe to grow rice, run a trading business that exports fine Japanese agricultural, marine and livestock products and food, and provide website production, app development and AI adoption support. This page covers our philosophy, a message from the CEO, and our company profile.
Philosophy
A company where you can make what you want to do happen.
What we want to build is a company where each person can make the thing they want to do happen. Agriculture is the first stage for that.
You only live once, so you should do what you want to do. That belief is where SoA starts. We exchange views regardless of position or age, embrace change, and give shape to what each person wants to do. That is the company we are building, starting from Kawagoe.
Vision
Connecting each person's potential to the future.
A place where anyone can give shape to what they want to do. We will spread such places from Kawagoe to the region, to Japan and to the world.
More places where people who take on challenges gather, learn, grow and realize their dreams. That is what we aim to be.
Mission
Create. Connect. Open.
We create value in the field, connect people and markets, and open up opportunities to take on challenges. Our three businesses come from this mission.
Create
Stand in the field and create value.
We stand in the paddies ourselves and grow rice. The facts and knowledge we confirm in the field are the foundation of everything we do.
Connect
Connect Japan's producers with buyers around the world.
We bring fine Japanese agricultural, marine and livestock products and food to the people overseas who need them. As a trading company, we connect Japan's producing regions with buyers around the world.
Open
Make the first step lighter.
Farmland, sales channels, technology. We open the footholds we have gained to the next people who take on a challenge. One person's wish becomes someone else's first step. We set that chain in motion.
Values
How we act
Look for the way it can be done, not the reason it can't.
This is how we decide when we are unsure. Before listing why something is hard, we think about how it could be done. Where there is no precedent, we start from how to make it possible.
Think first, then try it.
We think for ourselves and start small. What we learn by trying feeds the next move.
Speak openly, whatever your position.
We share opinions regardless of seniority or title. Based on facts checked in the field, we look for the best answer together.
Build a place where anyone can make it happen, whatever their age or experience.
Someone's wish is the seed of a business. The person who proposes it leads it, and the company supports them all the way with its farmland, sales channels, technology and colleagues.
Keep changing, without fear of change.
We read change early and change ourselves first. We believe continuous change is what makes both the company and its people grow.
Message
Message from the CEO
“When more people speak of their dreams, Japan can grow further.”
Representative Director / CEO
Soichi Saito
Profile
- Graduated from Seijo University
- 2018: Joined East Japan Railway Company; worked in planning alongside station and conductor duties (Ueno-Tokyo Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line)
- 2025: Left the company
- March 2026: Founded SoA Co., Ltd. and became Representative Director and CEO
SoA Co., Ltd. was founded on March 5, 2026, in Kawagoe, Saitama.
What we value most is bringing out the potential in each person. Our name, SoA, stands for “Seeds of Aspiration.” We nurture the seed of what each person wants to do and help their potential grow. The name is also read as “soar,” to rise high.
In my previous career at East Japan Railway Company, I was involved in work that supports communities and people's daily lives. What I learned there is that the future of a region is shaped by people who take on challenges. And I came to want to build, with my own hands, a place where people's potential can grow further.
The first stage I chose for that is agriculture. Japanese agriculture holds great untapped potential. Yet anyone starting out faces high walls: securing farmland, investing in equipment, learning the skills and building sales channels.
I see these walls as a great opportunity. That is why I stand in the fields myself and grow rice, checking each season's work with my own hands. We will open up the knowledge and footholds we gain in the field to the next people who take on a challenge.
Starting from rice growing, we have expanded into a trading business that brings fine Japanese products to the world, and a digital business that delivers the systems we have refined in our own operations. Agriculture is not the goal; it is a means for each person to give shape to what they want to do.
What we aim to be is a company where people who take on challenges gather, potential grows, and new businesses are born one after another. I believe that small challenges beginning in Kawagoe will, in time, move our region and move Japan.
When more people speak of their dreams, Japan can grow further.
SoA Co., Ltd. will bring out the potential in each person and keep taking on challenges.
SoA Co., Ltd. Representative Director / CEO Soichi Saito
Company
Company profile
- Company name
- SoA Co., Ltd. (株式会社SoA)
- Name
- Initials of “Seeds of Aspiration”; pronounced “soar”
- Established
- March 5, 2026
- Capital
- JPY 4 million
- Representative
- Soichi Saito, Representative Director / CEO
- Location
- Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan (near Tokyo)
- Business
- Trading (export wholesale of Japanese agricultural, marine and livestock products and food) Agriculture (rice production and sales, rice for businesses, farm visits for companies and municipalities) AI & Digital (website production, app and system development, AI adoption support)
- Farmland
- 3.8 ha (about 9.4 acres) in Kawagoe, cultivated and managed by SoA
Network
Programs and support
To build our business and carry out overseas trade, we take part in the following programs and communities and receive support through them.
Export support
- GFP (Global Farmers / Fishermen / Foresters / Food Manufacturers Project)Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
- Rice Overseas Market Expansion Strategy ProjectMinistry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)Registered as a strategic rice exporter and as an export production area
- JAPAN STREETJETRO (Japan External Trade Organization)
- Japan Food Export 10,000 Exporters Support ProgramJETRO (Japan External Trade Organization)
- New Exporters 10,000 Support ProgramJETRO (Japan External Trade Organization)
- Saitama Prefecture Overseas Marketing Promotion ConsortiumSaitama Prefecture
- Saitama Prefecture Hands-on Support for Agricultural ExportsSaitama Prefecture, Department of AgricultureReceiving one-on-one support from an export specialist
- e-VenueJETRO (Japan External Trade Organization)
- North America Japanese Food Global Gateway Program (year-round catalog)JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization)
Startup support
- TIB STUDIOTokyo Innovation Base (Tokyo Metropolitan Government)
- Shibusawa MIX Startup Creation and Growth Support ProgramSaitama Prefecture
Industry network
- Food Tech Public-Private CouncilMinistry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
* These are programs we participate in, are registered with, or receive support from.