Etim Essien

Founded in Tokyo in 2004 by Hironori Yamakawa, this company was among the first in Japan to offer online shopping for used cars for international export. With its cross-border eCommerce site developed exclusively for the firm, the company entered into the global eCommerce business market, selling and exporting used cars. Their selection is versatile: from Japanese-made vehicles to American / European imports that have been used in Japan, from 4-door sedans to buses, trucks, tractors, and motorbikes. The sale of auto parts to expand their range of products and services was added in April 2015. BE FORWARD’s cross-border eCommerce site marks 56 million page views per month (as of May 2015), an overwhelming number for a used car exporter in Japan, which places the company within the top 15 of Most Frequently Searched companies after Google and Yahoo (often exceeding Wikipedia’s ranking) in the dominant African markets including Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. Additionally, the company is aiming for diversified practices by offering the “Consultancy for Japanese Entities to Venture into African Markets” program and sponsoring the professional football team (“BE FORWARD WANDERERS”) in the Republic of Malawi. Currently BE FORWARD is ranked within the top 10 online eCommerce sites in Japan, with Total Annual Revenue of 49.2 billion JPY for the ’14 – ’15 fiscal year. CORPORATE SLOGAN The name, BE FORWARD, reflects our pride and spirit: no matter how many obstacles we encounter in our way and how severe they are, we will overcome them and proudly take steps forward because our goals are always ahead of us, not behind. The name of the company, BE FORWARD, was derived from a phrase by a renowned Rugby football coach, the late Chuji Kitajima. The man who led the herd at Meiji University, one of the best college teams, for 67 consecutive years as their Head Coach, was -- and still is – the most well-known man ever in the history of Rugby in Japan.