Hiwatashi was born on 18 November 1969 in Asahi-chō, Takeo, Saga Prefecture, Japan.
[2] In 2003, Hiwatashi was temporarily transferred from MIAC to act as section chief in the office of the mayor of Takatsuki, a city in Osaka Prefecture.
[2] In 2006, shortly after the merger of Kitagata and Yamauchi into Takeo, Hiwatashi was elected mayor of his hometown.
[4] He also initiated a program to provide tablets to all of the elementary and junior high students in the city as a way to help them improve their learning.
[3] During his second term as mayor in 2008, Hiwatashi took a position as a guest lecturer at Kansai University.
By August 2013, thirteen additional stores had opened under the "FB Superior Goods" name, each for different cities or areas.
The name of the project changed to "Japan Satisfaction Guaranteed" in September 2013, and it moved to the Yahoo!