Life Spiral Up.
— What we aim for
A society where everyone has access to safe water and is blessed with rich food.
That richness circulates through the region and is passed on to the next generation—
this is the future we aim for.
— What we do
Protecting water lifelines with plumbing, cultivating soil in farms,
delivering food in restaurants, and nurturing the next generation in nurseries.
Everything connects and circulates—that is our mission.
From yesterday to today, from today to tomorrow.
Co-creating a future where the lives of everyone involved
steadily improve, like ascending a spiral staircase.
There is a reason why we chose the word "Spiral" instead of linear growth.
A spiral staircase may look like it represents going in circles, but in reality, it is steadily gaining altitude. Our daily work is the same. Even if it looks like a repetition of similar tasks, we surely grow by accumulating "small improvements" and "new realizations."
Also, a spiral means "circulation." Employee growth leads to company growth, company growth creates contributions to the region, and regional richness supports employees' lives again—creating this virtuous cycle through business is our raison d'etre.
The targets to whom we promise "Spiral Up" are not just employees.
Thoughts of the Founder
I-kan Corporation's core business is plumbing, supporting lifelines. However, our expansion into farms, restaurants, and childcare is not merely diversification. It is an inevitable evolution to embody a certain 'wish' that our late founder continued to embrace as a company dealing with 'water'.
We at I-kan are a company maintaining urban infrastructure through "Water" and "Air," which are indispensable to people's lives. If you compare the "pipes" distributed throughout the walls, floors, ceilings of buildings, and the city underground to the human body, they can be called the "blood vessels" responsible for life support.
These "pipes" play the role of delivering clean water and air, essential for life, to every corner. To build beautiful cityscapes and comfortable living spaces, it is best if these important pipes are not visible to the eye. Unnoticed by people, they quietly and ceaselessly support our lives and urban functions 24 hours a day.
Another role of these blood vessels is to promptly dispose of the city's waste products. Properly treating and purifying wastewater and returning it to the rivers and seas is also our mission. "I want to restore the beautiful river where I played as a child." This has been I-kan's theme since our founding. Our ideal is not to talk about the beauty of rivers and the fun of playing there in the past tense, but to actually reproduce it and pass it on to the next generation.
Founder (The Late) Shigeyoshi Nakamura
In 2025, our "Under the Renri Tree" community area was certified as a "Nature Coexistence Site" by the Ministry of the Environment.
View Biodiversity Initiatives →Certified Area
1.3ha
Demonstrating green infrastructure combining "Rainwater Utilization x IoT." Building sustainable water cycle systems responding to climate change.
Deepening understanding of biodiversity and nurturing future leaders through "Regional Clubs" involving students and residents.
Hamamatsu City has one of the highest net outflows of young people (ages 15-24) among core cities nationwide. We hear voices saying, "There are no attractive jobs locally" or "I have to go to Tokyo to do what I want."
But we think differently. Hamamatsu has rich nature, a solid industrial base, and a warm community. There is value here that cannot be found in the city. Isn't what is missing "attractive ways of working" and "integration of life and work"?
That is why I-kan expands not only plumbing but also restaurants, farms, nurseries, and lodging. To create an environment where people think, "I want to work here, live here, and raise children here."
The "Renri Tree," where two different types of trees have joined as one trunk, stands in the center of our headquarters. This tree, naturally fused over many years, was designated as a Natural Monument (Regional Heritage) of Hamamatsu City in 2024.
What the Renri Tree teaches us:
Rather than forcibly competing, different things respect each other and fuse into one over time, creating strength and beauty that neither could achieve alone—this is the very essence of our business.