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 supplies agricultural, marine and livestock products and food to business customers, 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 producers and buyers, Japan and the world.
We deliver agricultural, marine and livestock products and food to the people who need them. As a trading company, we connect producers with buyers and our region with 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
Representative Director / CEO
Soichi Saito
SoA Co., Ltd. was founded on March 5, 2026.
Our challenge is to expand human potential, and the potential of Japan, through agriculture. As a first step, we started our farming business in Kawagoe.
Japanese agriculture holds great untapped potential. Yet at the same time, high walls stand in the way of new challenges. Securing farmland, investing in equipment, acquiring skills, building a stable management foundation — even with ambition, taking that first step is far from easy.
I see this not merely as a problem, but as a great opportunity. If we can create an environment where anyone can take on the challenge, agriculture can give more people dreams and hope, and become a force that supports Japan's future.
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 is that the future of a region is created by those who take on challenges. New value is born from people who sweat in the field and keep moving forward despite hardship.
That is why I stand on the farmland myself and keep taking on challenges, getting muddy in the process. Starting from rice growing, I want to connect agriculture with food, distribution, technology and many other fields to create new value.
What we aim to be is not merely a company that produces crops. It is to create a place where challengers gather, potential grows, and a new future is born.
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. believes in that future and will 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)
- Established
- March 5, 2026
- Representative
- Soichi Saito, Representative Director / CEO
- Location
- Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan (near Tokyo)
- Business
- Agriculture (rice production and sales, farm visits for companies and municipalities) Trading (B2B supply of agricultural, marine and livestock products and food) 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 prepare for overseas trade, we take part in the following programs and communities and receive support through them.
- TIB STUDIOTokyo Innovation Base (Tokyo Metropolitan Government)
- Shibusawa MIX Startup Creation and Growth Support ProgramSaitama Prefecture
- GFP (Global Farmers / Fishermen / Foresters / Food Manufacturers Project)Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
- 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)
- Food Tech Public-Private CouncilMinistry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
* These are programs we participate in, are registered with, or receive support from.