Yasuo Kogure, Representative Director of Uridoki Co., Ltd.

2026.02.04

Contributing to society by expanding reuse and making Japan a more prosperous, recycling-oriented society

■ Profile
Graduated from Keio University Graduate School. In 2005, he started a student business and created a service for buying entire manga volumes in bulk. He then transferred his shares in 2014 and started Serial in the same year. He founded Uridoki Inc., which operates a C10B purchasing platform for reused goods, and became its representative director. The company will be listed on the Nagoya Stock Exchange Next Market in October 2025. His books include "Reuse Revolution" (Gentosha).

Yasuo Kogure, CEO of Uridoki Inc., started a business as a student offering a service for buying entire manga volumes in bulk, and is now developing a C2B platform that connects individuals with professional appraisers. We spoke to him about the journey of this challenging entrepreneur, including the business ideas he came up with from his own experiences and his global vision for enriching Japan through reuse.

■About my student days

When I was in junior high school, the internet was still just a tool for transmitting information, but I was convinced that in the future, services that would allow people to not only interact with each other over the internet, but also to actually buy and sell goods would become mainstream.
Driven by the desire to create a service that allows transactions to be made over the Internet, I decided to start my own business in my third year of university. Initially, I started the business with my friends from university while learning skills such as programming, web design, SEO, and marketing.

■Turning the inconveniences you experience into a business

At first, we tried our hand at custom jewelry and apparel, but it was difficult to get them on track. We were talking about manga at work, and I was reminded of a real-life experience I had in the past. When I was a student, I decided I wanted to read all the volumes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure at once, so I went to a nearby bookstore to buy some. However, there were only a few copies left on the shelves, and when I asked the store clerk, he told me, "We only have what's in stock. It will take some time to order them."
In the end, I went to about five bookstores and finally managed to get the whole set. However, all 63 volumes are quite heavy. I thought, "It's going to be a pain to carry them all home, and it's going to be too hard to get all the volumes in the first place."
"Even though people want to read, why is it so hard to get hold of these books?" This question, born from a real-life experience, became the catalyst for a new business. So, I thought of specializing in selling complete sets of manga, and since they are heavy and difficult to transport, I would deliver them through online mail order. When I put this idea into practice, I received a great response not only from people in Japan but also from overseas.
By working in the reuse industry that he encountered through that business, he was faced with new challenges and decided to take on his next challenge, "Uridoki."

■Realizing a "CtoB platform" that connects individuals with professional appraisers

Our vision is to create a "world-changing CtoB platform." Specifically, we provide a platform that connects individuals who want to sell things with reuse companies that want to buy them, and we fully support the companies' purchasing services.
When you think of "individuals selling items," many people may think of services like flea market apps. However, the crucial difference is who the buyer is. While buyers on flea market apps are usually ordinary individuals, buyers on Uridoki are professional appraisers.
As buyers change, the distribution price also changes significantly. Unlike CtoC transactions, which are influenced by individuals' financial circumstances, Uridoki's purchases are made by professional appraisers, so we can proactively provide appraisals for high-priced products. Focusing on this strength, we have been thoroughly committed to distributing high-priced products such as brand-name goods, jewelry, and alcohol.
Many of our employees say they want to make Uridoki the masterpiece of their lives. They take great pride in being able to develop the service with their own hands and contribute to society through reuse.
Furthermore, the people who excel at our company all have one thing in common: they have a deep understanding of our company's services. We place great importance on horizontal communication across departmental boundaries, from marketing, sales, development, and even administration.

■ Circulating wealth in society through the power of reuse

Until now, we have mainly dealt in high-priced items such as brand-name goods, jewelry, and alcohol, but going forward, we would like to broaden our scope and venture into mid-price categories. Specifically, these are areas such as apparel, accessories, musical instruments, and kimonos. We will steadily delve deeper into each vertical, starting with peripheral areas one by one. This steady accumulation is our growth strategy.
We are also confident that by having people from overseas purchase these products, we will be able to obtain foreign currency, which will help make Japan even more prosperous.

■Message to university students

I like the words of Gandhi: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Do your best to complete your actions today so that you will have no regrets, and never forget to learn. If you stop learning, your growth will stop there.
While I was doing research in graduate school, I came across an interesting paper. Simply put, it was a paper asking, "Which is more important to start a business and succeed: studying or networking?" According to the paper, which is more important differs depending on whether you are starting a business or not.
Studying is important in the pre-startup phase. Without sufficient knowledge and experience, you won't even be able to notice the business opportunities that are right in front of you. By studying and accumulating knowledge, you will be able to see the challenges facing the world.
On the other hand, in the post-startup phase, "connections" become important. It is important to ask successful business owners for advice and support. Connections with people are the driving force behind business growth.
And the time when you can easily acquire both "study" and "connections" is the precious time when you are a university student. Isn't it the only time when you have enough time to study and take action?
If you're struggling because you don't know what you want to do, it may simply be that you're not taking in enough information. If there's a field that interests you, try actively taking in more information. As you expand your knowledge in this way, you're sure to find something that catches your eye. That will lead you to what you want to do.

Interview with Student Newspaper Online on December 25, 2025 by Satsuki Sakakura, a third-year student at Tokyo Metropolitan University

Kyohei Nakazawa, second-year student at Waseda University / Satsuki Sakakura, third-year student at Tokyo Metropolitan University / Risa Ukita, second-year student at Tokyo Woman's Christian University / Ren Ichikawa, first-year student at Musashino University