Haisai! That means “Hi!” in Okinawan. We’re Haisai Apparel, a crew of English speaking expats that live in Yokohama, Japan. We’re an online T-shirt shop that sells quality T-shirts. The idea came to us a decade ago, but it didn’t come into fruition until April of this year. Tired of wearing overpriced ill-fitting T-Shirts in Japan, we decided to design our own. The choices were having words misspelled or long sentences written in Japanese. As a foreigner living in Japan, that was a no go. Especially since some of us teach English. Who would anyone want a misspelled T-Shirt to wear?
Why did we choose an Okinawan name like Haisai Apparel if we’re based in Yokohama? Well, because one of us is Okinawan-Argentinian! This is a homage to Nancy’s father, who grew up in Okinawa and moved to Argentina after World War II. The other half of the team is Filipino-American. If you look at our website, logo, and lettering made up of colors that make up Okinawan culture.
We hope that you enjoy our website and our products!