About
A Kyoto-based company operating wellness and apparel businesses.
Our Philosophy
We think of ourselves as a wellness company — but not in the sense the word usually carries.
Wellness is not a state of health. It is the process of moving toward who you want to become.
The body is the ground that process stands on. Trained and cared for, it takes you where you want to go. We treat it as an asset — one you will use for the whole of your life.
Clothing is an extension of that body. What you choose to wear is a statement of who you are: self-expression in the service of self-realisation.
Body and clothing cannot be separated. To care for oneself, and to express oneself. Both are needed.
To sustain health of mind and body, to extend healthy lifespan, and to bring richness to life. What we work toward, through every one of our businesses, is the self-realisation that lies beyond it.
Message from the CEO
I was born in Kyoto, into a family of clothing makers. My grandfather and father ran a women’s apparel company here for decades — until it collapsed along with Japan’s bubble economy. I grew up watching a family trade being built, and then lost.
My own path led elsewhere first. I competed in Japan’s top-tier X-League as an American football player, then joined Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device company, where I supported spinal implant surgeries — attending more than 200 operations a year alongside surgeons. Witnessing so many patients on the operating table led me to a simple question: could these surgeries have been prevented? That question became my starting point. In 2022, I founded SOLERA, a normobaric hypoxic training studio in central Kyoto, built on scientifically grounded methods of preventive health. Our wellness business has since grown to include Pilates and yoga studios across Kyoto and Osaka.
With THE URAh, I am returning to my family’s trade. We believe health and clothing serve the same purpose: enriching life. Caring for the body builds the foundation of a good life; what you wear adds colour to it. Carrying forward the craft my grandfather and father devoted their lives to, we make garments in Kyoto — for the world.
Masanori Muramatsu Founder & CEO, Olive Tree Inc.