Akita Valerian (アキタバレリアン), leather shoe maker, bankrupt in 2025

What happened

Why it happened

• One brand, one customer base: the factory's orders ran through the Valerian Shoes name, so the brand's 2016 bankruptcy knocked the work out from under the manufacturer.
• The recovery never came: after 2016, orders stayed depressed instead of returning, leaving the plant running on a smaller and smaller base.
• Costs finished the gap: COVID cut sales and rising material prices cut margin — both arrived before any new business had replaced the lost brand volume.

Aftermath

The Yokote branch of the Akita District Court issued a bankruptcy commencement order for Akita Valerian on 17 September 2025, with liabilities of about ¥100 million. The Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture company, founded in 1986, manufactured men's and women's shoes from natural leather. When the Valerian Shoes brand received a bankruptcy commencement order in 2016, orders at the factory dropped sharply and performance deteriorated; the COVID-19 impact and rising costs for raw materials and other inputs then tightened cash flow until continuation became impossible. Reported 17 October 2025.