About
Heritage
Phiten was born from technology developed by Yoshihiro Hirata in body care and support items designed for patients of his chiropractic clinic in Japan. The popularity of these products quickly spread by word of mouth and demand grew to the point that Hirata quit his private practice and began developing his products to offer to the public. After years of extensive research and development, Hirata established Phiten as a company in 1983. From that point forward, Phiten grew rapidly throughout Japan and the surrounding region.
By 1998, Phiten had expanded into the U.S., offering an assortment of products in both the categories of sports and beauty. The Yuko Beauty Salon opened in Beverly Hills, California, offering a full-service salon experience as well as selling Phiten body support products and sport accessories. In 2002, Phiten opened a corporate retail store on the island of Oahu in Honolulu, Hawaii. Later in 2002, the company opened a store in Torrance, Calif. and a store in Seattle, Wash. in 2003.
In 2001, AQUA-TITANIUM® was developed, which allowed Phiten technology to be applied to a wide variety of materials. Most notably, this allowed the application of Phiten technology to fabric, which in turn made way for the creation of the iconic Titanium Necklace (known as the "RAKUWA" necklace in Japanese). The necklace became an ubiquitous item on the field at the 2002 World Cup and soon began appearing on the necks of baseball players, golfers, runners and many other professional athletes worldwide.
Today in the U.S., Phiten products are available online and are carried in over 13 major sporting goods retailers across the country. Its product lines contain officially licensed products by the Major League Baseball. The wide range of products are used by elite athletes across all sports, including baseball, basketball, football, running and golf.
PHITEN CO, Ltd. Japan
President,
Yoshihiro Hirata
