When the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in 2011, its hypocenter some 70 kilometers off the coast of Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, buildings were left devastated. However, this was primarily the result not of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake itself, which many buildings were able to withstand, but of the subsequent tsunami. As a method of addressing seismic activity, the use...
The aftershocks continue from the major earthquake that struck the Kumamoto Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu April 14. Almost two months after the original quake registered a seismic intensity of 7, an aftershock of intensity 5- struck on June 13. Although it cannot be said that the 24 buildings in Kumamoto Prefecture that incorporate seismic isolation rubber came...
New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. has announced that it will be releasing its New Balance Numeric line of shoes in Japan this July. It is the first action sports line in the brand’s history. Serving as the company’s entry point into the lifestyle category of sports footwear, the new line is aimed squarely at skateboarders. New Balance, which celebrates its...
Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd. (TYO:5192) is riding strong sales of its E-Power and other energy-efficient V-belts, particularly for air-conditioning applications in factories and commercial buildings. The company’s synchronous belts for injection molding machines are also selling well. Expanding sales of high-torque belts are contributing to healthy business. Looking at the general industrial transmission belt market in Japan for the foreseeable future,...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) is looking at leveraging Japan’s forte of manufacturing and rolling out its technology on a global scale, says Yukio Saegusa, director of the company’s Advanced Tire Production System Division. To this end, the company is putting effort into optimizing production and introducing cutting-edge technology. Presently within Bridgestone’s 10 tire factories domestically, Saegusa said that the company has enhanced the...
Gates Unitta Asia Co. has released a new product, the Two Fit Belt, which acts in both capacities of synchronous power transmission and friction transmission. A multifunction belt, this new product has a curvilinear toothed synchronous belt with synchronized transmission on one side, while on the other side has a V-ribbed, high-load capacity belt with friction transmission. Primarily used to...
