I was actually curious about the same thing but I guess while they're owned by a Japanese conglomerate, they were/are Canadian based? From their Wikipedia page:
Rakuten Kobo Inc., or simply Kobo, is a Canadian company that sells ebooks, audiobooks, e-readers and formerly tablet computers. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is a subsidiary of the Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakuten. The name Kobo is an anagram of book.
What a subtle detail... I'm actually disappointed in myself for not noticing this before:
Their online book store is way more expensive than the competition, but if that's the cost of supporting some fellow Canadians, I'll gladly sacrifice my capital. 🫡