OFSR/Factory
Moiwa, Niseko
OFSR Factory
Kōjō 工場
noun · Japanese · \ˈkō-jō\
1.A factory.
2.The small space where a thing is made by hand, from first cut to final wax.
Crafted by hand in Niseko.
A limited number of boards leave the Kōjō each winter. Each one shaped, pressed and finished with the finest materials we can source, by the hands of craftsmen who know every stage by touch.
OFSR/The Craft
Moiwa, Niseko
手仕事
noun · Japanese · \te-shi-go-to\
1.Handwork. Work done by hand.
2.The craft of skilled hands, from first cut to final wax.
Every Offshore is shaped, pressed, finished and tuned
in our Niseko Kōjō. We make only a limited number
each year. One board at a time. Each one made to order.
Subtle mastery you can feel, even when you cannot see it.
The spirit of the place, stowed away like a secret.
A board is only half finished in the workshop.
The rest happens on the hill.
The turn you remember for years.
Easy mornings with friends you did not plan.
The unexpected line that changes the day.
These are the moments it was made for.
That's the joy.
01 / Where we are
The place.
The Kōjō sits at the foot of Moiwa, on the quiet side of Niseko.
In summer, everything around us is lush and green. In winter, there can be a lot of snow between you and the door.
The lifts at Moiwa Resort are within walking distance.
We chose this place for much the same reason people come here to ride. Deep snow. Trees with room to ride between. A mountain close enough to become part of everyday life.
A hill small enough to know by heart.
Offshore Snow Shapes / OFSR Kōjō
447-18 Niseko-cho, Abuta-gunHokkaido 048-1511
Japan
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02 / Everything under one roof
The way we work.
From the first cut of the core to the final wax, every Offshore is built here.
Cores are cut and profiled. Steel edges bent. Topsheets prepared. Sidewalls poured. Boards laid up, pressed and cured. Bases ground, edges tuned and wax finished by hand.
Keeping every stage under one roof means the people building each board know every detail of it, from the first cut to the final tune.
Nothing is anonymous.
Every board passes through familiar hands.
03 / Materials
What goes in.
- Core
- Paulownia + mountain ash
- Base
- Carbon-sintered
- Sidewalls
- Poured urethane
- Fibreglass
- Triaxial + biaxial
- Composites
- Carbon + flax
- Reinforcement
- Innegra
- Resin
- Supple REZ
- Edges
- Hardened steel
- Wax
- Gallium, two coats, polished by hand
- Topsheet
- Sublimation printed, in house
04 / Seven stages
How a board gets made.
The same seven stages you follow in your account once you order.
- 01
Order confirmed
Your Offshore enters the build schedule.
- 02
Edge completed
The base is cut. German steel is bent to the exact outline of your shape.
- 03
Finished core
Paulownia and mountain ash, cut, profiled and weighed. The heart of it.
- 04
Printed topsheet
Your graphic is prepared in-house.
- 05
Ready to press
Core, fibreglass, composites, resin, base and topsheet come together. Into the press.
- 06
Waxed and finished
Trimmed, ground, tuned and finished with two coats of wax.
- 07
Dispatched
Packed for delivery, or waiting for you at the Kōjō.
We photograph the work as it happens.
If you order a board, you watch it become itself.
05 / A small team
The people.
Offshore is made by a small team of craftsmen, shapers and riders here in Niseko.
Years of knowledge at the bench, in the workshop and on snow come together in every board.
The same hands move between timber, steel, resin, pressing and finishing. The people making the boards also ride them, test them and refine them.
It means every stage is understood as part of the whole. Not simply how a board is made. How it should feel when it leaves the Kōjō.
This way of working takes time.
Small is not a limitation.
Small is the point.
06 / Demo boards
Ride one first.
There is only so much a specs chart can tell you.
We keep a selection of demo boards at the Kōjō, with the lifts at Moiwa within walking distance.
Take one up the mountain. Bring it back. Try another.
Found your shape? If you order a new board, we credit the demo fee towards it.
07 / Come and see
The showroom.
Upstairs at the Kōjō is our small showroom.
Current boards on the wall. This season’s graphics. A few things from winters past. And below, the place they are made.
Come in. Pick up a board. Talk shapes. See what we are working on.
If the press is running, you can see it.
Visit the Kōjō
447-18 Niseko-cho, Abuta-gunHokkaido 048-1511
Japan
+81 80 1117 5744
info@offshoresnowshapes.com
08 / How to get one
Made to order.
Every Offshore is made to order. Start with the shape. Then choose how it looks.
Craft carries our seasonal graphics. Urushi reinterprets traditional Japanese lacquer artwork. SR is released in limited seasonal editions. iD lets you design your own topsheet. Custom begins with your artwork. Studio+ begins with a conversation.
Order online, by email, or here at the Kōjō. Once confirmed, your board enters the build schedule, and you follow it through every stage until it is ready for collection or delivery.
We make only a limited number each year.
Ordering early secures your place in the build schedule.
Shaped in Niseko.
