Kokuyo

Where Kokuyo sells, as far as the global site says

This is the "Global Site" of KOKUYO CO.,LTD., the Japanese company named in the copyright line. It is a catalog and contact site rather than a shop: there are no prices, no cart and no shipping page. The site names two showrooms, the Tokyo Showroom and the Umeda Showroom, and offers a Virtual Showroom Tour for anyone who cannot visit. Its resources menu includes an ASEAN Catalogue, which is the clearest sign of the markets this English-language site is aimed at, but the site does not list the countries it delivers to or name dealers outside Japan. The practical route for a buyer is the Contact Us form, and a buyer outside Japan and Southeast Asia should ask first whether Kokuyo serves their country.

The site also carries corporate pages (About Kokuyo, Corporate Social Responsibilities, a CSR section and a Founding Spirit page) and a Latest News section; the footer copyright line still reads 2020. Its homepage slogan is "Enrich the World through our Products and Services".

The office chairs, each with a one-line pitch

The office chairs page lists its models one by one, and each gets a short line of the brand's own copy rather than a specification sheet. In the order the site shows them:

• ING opens with the line "There are more than 360 joints and about 700 skeletal muscles in the human body", which is the framing Kokuyo uses for a chair built around movement.
• Agata is described as "an exclusive chair for exclusive high-flyer", with firm yet comfortable support for all postures.
• Airfort and Airgrace share the same key feature, which the site describes as a "concealed adjustable lumbar support air bag". These are the two models where Kokuyo names a lumbar adjustment, and they are the reason this listing also fits a lumbar support category.
• Entry is billed as simple in design but offering "beyond simplicity".
• Fabre has a light design with a thin rounded back that, in Kokuyo's words, "overturns the concept of an office chair". Fabre also appears on the homepage.
• Inspine is built around "the use of wire", according to its one-line description.
• Mitra is "the chair that comes with full specifications but is easy to use".
• Wizard3 is presented as the latest evolution of the Wizard series identity.
• Duora is defined by "the curvature of its backrest", and it is one of the models featured on the homepage.
• Bezel has what the site calls "a unique mechanism in which the seat surface leans forward independently", which is the only seat movement the page describes.
• Scirocco is introduced with the aim, in the brand's words, "to reduce the strain on the shoulders and lower back due to posture collapse". That is Kokuyo's own claim, and the page does not explain how the chair achieves it.

The homepage also shows Uptis, FreeWagon, Chess4, Sentir and Region, without describing them.

What the chairs page does not give is any number: no seat height range, seat depth, armrest travel, tilt range, weight rating or dimensions, and no warranty length or certification. The one line per chair is a teaser for a product page, and a buyer comparing Kokuyo with other task chairs will need the individual product pages, the ASEAN Catalogue or a showroom visit for measurements.

Reading the lineup

Taken together, the one-line pitches sort the range roughly by what each chair leads with. Entry and Mitra are the plain-spoken options: Entry on simplicity, Mitra on having full specifications while staying easy to use. Agata is the one Kokuyo pitches at the "high-flyer". Airfort and Airgrace lead with the lumbar air bag, and for both the site says it is "the key component of that functionality". Duora and Inspine lead with the back, one with the curvature of its backrest and the other with wire. Bezel and Scirocco lead with posture, one through a seat that leans forward on its own and the other through the strain-reduction aim quoted above. Fabre is the design piece. Because the listing gives no measurements, this is a way to shortlist two or three models before asking for their product sheets, not a way to choose between them.

Beyond chairs

The seating menu also covers training chairs, collaboration seating and booths, lounge seating and occasional seating. Workstations come in fixed and height adjustable versions, and storage covers filing and lateral units, bookcases and pedestals. Accessories include collaboration boards and space dividers.

The tables page gives short lines for each model. Region is sold on "five height designs" meant to support both intensive concentration and natural light. Calm is a flip top table "designed for elegance and the ease of use", Confest is pitched on boosting efficiency and saving cost, Fitme is a personal module for various meeting and conference settings, Leafline is a flappable table for training, Viena is a meeting table in different sizes, and Perso is a mobile table to move around the office. Among the space dividers, Stripel is a fabric screen that partitions the office openly while keeping light and openness, and Manitto uses cloth woven by one-piece knitting that the site says does not look heavy.

Concepts, advice and resources

Two concept collections, Days Office and inGreen, sit in the product menu. The homepage describes the inGreen idea as furniture designed around the user's style, habits and practicality. Under Product Advice there is a Care and Maintenance section, and the Solutions menu covers Work Transformation, Work From Home and A New Way of Work. The resources section lists Essential Material, a Diverary Inspiration Room, KOKUYO Campus, an Online Live Office, Case Studies and the ASEAN Catalogue. These pages point to a company that sells whole office fit-outs as well as individual chairs, though the chair page itself does not say whether a single chair can be ordered.

Who Kokuyo suits

Kokuyo suits organizations in Japan and Southeast Asia planning an office fit-out who want chairs, desks, tables, storage and screens from one Japanese maker, and who can visit the Tokyo or Umeda showroom or use the virtual tour. Among the chairs, the Airfort and Airgrace stand out for anyone who wants an adjustable lumbar air bag, and the Bezel for someone looking for a forward-leaning seat. The limits are clear from the site itself: no prices, no specifications on the listing pages, no stated warranty and no published list of countries served. Anyone outside the ASEAN region should start with the contact form and ask whether Kokuyo sells and supports chairs where they are.