Fred Wada devoted his life to accept the various Japanese athletes from Japan. His devotion allowed him to become a member of Tokyo Olympic Committee when Tokyo stood as a candidate for the Olympics in 1964. He was the only person as Japanese American in the committee.
The selection of Tokyo to be the Olympic city was truly unexpected. Tokyo got more than half the votes and had a great lead between the next city in the IOC elections.
Mr. and Mrs. Wada were always behind the scenes. They visited 10 countries in South America where the had opposed feelings toward Japan but asked for their support for the Tokyo Olympics. Mr. and Mrs. Wada stopped their businesses for a month and brought present from his out of pocket toward those countries. Without his devotion towards the Tokyo Olympics, it would have never happened and the history of Japan could have been very different today without him.
In 1950, Fred Wada founded JATAI, importing Japanese goods into the United States. He was one of the first to do so following the war hoping to bridge the gap between US and Japanese relations.
After the company's early work was concluded, Jatai was headed up by Mr. Kay Obayashi whose expertise in foreign commerce steered the company into the import business, and within a few years, was importing hair cutting razors and blades from Shishido cosmetics under the SORI brand. Thus, began Jatai’s long and respected history in the beauty and barber industry.
Within a few years, Jatai changed its manufacturer to Feather Safety Razor Co. Ltd. in Osaka, Japan. It was a critical decision, and began the relationship that exists today as the exclusive distributor of Feather’s beauty and barber products in North America.
The company's first product was Feather's Switch-Blade Shear with Replaceable Blades, and at its introduction it was one of the most expensive shears on the market. 35 years later, this high-quality shear is still the most innovative and economical shears.
In 1991, Jatai and Feather together developed a revolutionary razor, the Feather Styling Razor with a patented blade guard. This new razor concept was introduced when razors had fallen out of favor and few were used in the salon. However, the advent of this unique razor, and the education that went with it, changed hairstyling forever; expanding a stylist's creative universe offering capabilities that shears could not.
During this period, Jatai became the exclusive distributor for Ikemoto Brush Co. which produced the DuBoa hair brush, Green Bell, producer of the Seki Edge brand of personal care items, and Lucky Trendy Grip Clips.
Jatai has always been a company in a leadership role with leadership products. Its mission has been to provide beauty professionals with the finest tools, implements, and education to keep its customers on "the cutting edge" of razor and scissors technology. All of Jatai's products bring 'lasting value' and enhance stylists' artistic capabilities.
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