46 HOME ORGANISATION Shinya Masuda, Managing Director of JPT Europe Ltd, discusses their brand King Jim and the demand for Japanese products Tell us a little bit about the company. Where are you based? When did the company start? We’re a Japanese company and importer of Japanese products. King Jim is one of our Japanese brands we distribute in the UK. Our parent company in Japan was established in 1942 and we started our UK branch in London in 2000. Who founded the company and why? Originally, our company started exporting Japanese publications including newspapers to Japanese emigrants overseas. As the times changed, our mission shifted more to exporting Japanese culture worldwide. In the UK, nowadays we present an extensive range of items such as characteristically welldesigned stationery and traditional gifts directly imported from Japan. How has the company evolved? As the demand for Japanese products increases, we’re expanding our range of items we import to the UK. King Jim is also one of them. There are many stationery brands in Japan which are not well known abroad yet. There’s still great potential for Japanese products to be discovered in the UK market. What do you specialise in? King Jim is best known for their filing products. They’ve developed many officeuse stationery items in Japan. Talk us through the current products you’re particularly excited about. Do you have a favourite? We’re excited about the TEPRA Lite LR30 Bluetooth label printer. As explained, King Jim supplies many office products and the TEPRA brand is one of the office-use label printers. However, it can modify the specifications and can adopt to more personal use at home – for your day-today products in the home. With this item, labelling and organising your home will be much easier and prettier. Do your products suit all levels of crafters? Yes. With the original app in your smartphone, you can produce welldesigned labels very easily. The app has various templates, frames, fonts, emojis and even you can print images (b/w) on labels. You can also choose different designs of tapes to print on. Craft has boomed over the last year! Have you noticed any new trends? As we’re spending more time at home, the demand for organising your personal area is increasing. The TEPRA Lite is one of the solutions for this need. How often do you launch new ranges? King Jim launches new tapes regularly. This year, King Jim collaborated with the
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