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Our Story
It all started with a big dream, and some sushi, and transformed into a grand adventure that spanned several continents. Originally starting out as a sushi chef in Takasaki, Hideki Matsumoto had worldwide ambitions. In 1980, he started a small foreign luxury car import company, called Minibox, that quickly grew into an international business. By 1983 Minibox had opened an office in London and starting from West Germany began importing and selling standard European cars from all over Europe. In 1986, he began importing from the West Coast of America and through an interest in golf as a hobby, he began researching the history of classic golf clubs.
In 1992, through his continued passion for golf, Hideki opened an American golf club and golf accessory import store. It was around this time that Hideki discovered the then relatively unknown Scotty Cameron. He immediately saw in Scotty’s putters the talent of a master craftsman and decided to sell and help promote his putters. Then, a major break, Bernhard Langer won the 1993 Masters Tournament using a Scotty Cameron Classic 1 putter, propelling Scotty and his putters to instant fame. Scotty’s brand was soon bought by Acushnet and the rest is history. Outside of business with Scotty, Hideki continued to look toward the future of golf. In 1998, he began writing the American Tour information column of Golf Digest, and in 1999 he wrote about the trends of the American Tour in the preface of Golf Equipment Universal Catalogue.
In 2007 after many deep conversations with Scotty about putting, Hideki decided to set up a putting studio in order to scientifically analyze an athlete’s putting and help give them advice on proper putting techniques. That same year, he also began writing the American Tour information page for Golf Mechanic magazine. The following year Hideki began collaborating with RODDIO and helped them develop RODDIO shafts. In 2010, the new Minibox Golf building was completed. It was designed to be an ideal golf shop as well as an excellent golf research facility. In other words, the perfect place to keep looking towards the future of golf.
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