r2 (アールツゥ), Fukuoka apparel importer, bankrupt in January 2026

r2 Corporation was founded in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka in June 2001 to import and wholesale clothing and fashion accessories such as hats and scarves. Its edge was original designs produced through a long partnership with a Chinese factory, which let a small company sell items no one else stocked. Sales peaked at about ¥320 million in the fiscal year ending May 2010.

The business then deteriorated on two fronts. The COVID-19 pandemic hit demand, while consumer purchasing trends moved away from the kind of accessory and clothing wholesalers r2 supplied. At the same time the cost side turned hostile: logistics costs soared, the weak yen raised import prices and transport costs climbed.

In July 2023 the company changed its representative in an attempt to turn the business around, but sales kept falling and the recovery never came. r2 applied for bankruptcy on 7 January 2026, and the Fukuoka District Court issued a bankruptcy commencement order on 30 January 2026.

Tokyo Shoko Research estimated liabilities at about ¥48.4 million and described the case as a typical example of the combination of changing consumption and surging costs. The design-and-import model that made the company in 2001 had become its weakness: a fixed Chinese factory line was slow and expensive to adjust as demand shifted.