Osaka-based manufacturer Kyowa Ltd. is this year celebrating the 100-year anniversary of its transparent rubber band, developed by company founder Hirozo Nishijima. After formulating the bands in 1917, Nishijima went on to start Kyowa in 1923, aiming to manufacture and sell bicycle tire tubes and rubber bands. In early 20th-century Japan, banknotes were often held together using pieces of bicycle...
Sakura Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5189) recently released its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2018. Company sales rose 11.5 percent year-on-year to 1.95 billion yen ($17.69 million), while operating profit decreased 62.1 percent to 20 million yen. Ordinary profit dipped 1.1 percent to 49 million yen, and quarterly net profit jumped 70.2 percent to...
Bando Chemical Industries Ltd. (TYO:5195) launched a new rice hulling roll, called Yellow Boy, on Aug. 1. The product life span of the newly developed Yellow Boy is about three times longer than the company’s previous rice hulling rolls. Rice hulling rolls are used in rice hullers to separate rice into hulls and brown rice. Most rice hullers at rice...
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) recently launched Urban Roof SF, a new two-component urethane waterproofing material in the company’s Urban Roof lineup, which targets applications in buildings and condominiums. Urban Roof SF falls outside the scope of the Japanese Ordinance on Prevention of Hazards Due to Specified Chemical Substances, which regulates materials that contain chemical substances in excess of prescribed...
Emperor Akihito visited Zeon Corp.’s (TYO:4205) R&D center at the company’s plant in Kawasaki on July 7. The Emperor’s visit included viewing the packaging process for synthetic rubber. He observed also a rubber coagulation experiment and a demonstration of processing Zeonor Film, which is used as phase difference film for liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Hiroshige Seko, Japan’s Minister of Economy,...
Kinjo Rubber Co. Ltd., a Japanese industrial rubber product manufacturer that does business in assistive technology, recently received a letter of appreciation from the commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency for installing soft mats to guide visually impaired persons at a Japan Blind Tennis Federation (JBTF) tournament. The company is providing the mats at blind tennis tournaments to support the...
