The Hokkaido Industrial Hemp Association (HIHA) was established in 2014 to promote industrial hemp in Hokkaido, Japan, appealing for legal change to the domestic hemp industry and supporting cultivator licensing and the importation of superior overseas hemp strains. In 2014, HIHA was the first private sector organization in Japan to obtain a cannabis researcher’s license in Hokkaido, with trial cultivation providing valuable data.

HIHA is also an associate member of the European Industrial Cannabis Association, participating in international conferences, touring the EU and other developed hemp countries, and engaging in international joint research with France, China and Canada. In cooperation with the Hemp Study Group of the Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly, HIHA hosted ASACON 2019 – the International Conference on Environmental and Health Friendly Industrial Hemp – where hemp scientists from around the world presented their latest work.

Now, as of 2020, we are proud to be partnering with MM411 to provide, for the first time in Japan, hemp education to help in our cause to spread knowledge about hemp, develop next generation hemp experts, advance the science of hemp and change perceptions of industrial hemp in Japan.