370 



IHE INDIA RUBBER "WORLD 



[AUGUSX 



i9°5- 



THE RUBBER FACTORIES OF JAPAN. 





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THERE is presented on this page what is believed to be a 

 complete directory of rubber manufacturing concerns 

 in Japan, including first the name of each company 

 in Japanese type (the lines 

 reading down the page), followed by 

 the Japanese words in English type, 

 and finally the English equivalents for 

 the native names. 



The total capacity of the rubber fac- 

 tories of Japan is not yet large, but the 

 promoters of the industry have shown 

 a degree of energy and persistence thai 

 is characteristic of the people of that 

 country, and a marked impetus has 

 been given to the industry of late by 

 the pressure of the government's de- 

 mand for goods of every kind in conse- 

 (|ucnce of the war. 



From the beginning the insulated 

 wire industry has formed an important 

 branch of the rubber industry in Japan. 

 The people of that country were early 

 in appreciating the advantages of the 

 industrial uses of electricity, and the 

 domestic manufacture of wire for elec- 

 trical transmission has acquired con- 

 siderable dimensions. Hand in hand 

 with this development has been the 

 progress in insulating wire, including 

 the employment of rubber. 



The Yokohama Electric Wire Manu- 

 facturing Co. have perhaps the largest 

 capacity in the line of rubber insula- 

 tion. Of late their factory has been 

 undergoing enlargement, and their rub- 

 ber insulation department has been 

 placed in charge of an expert imported 

 from the United States. 



The Fujikura Insulated Wire and 

 Rubber Co. (Tokio) likewise has been 

 growing of late, including the installa- 

 tion of machinery during the past year 

 which has doubled the capacity of the 

 works— now almost equal to that of the 

 Yokohama company. The size of the 

 works is indicated in part by the fact 

 that the new engine and boilers are of 

 loo IIP. The work of this company, by 

 the way, is no longer confined to wire 

 insulation, but embraces the output of 

 various other products of rubber. The 

 factory was established in 1884 by Zen- 

 pachi Fujikura, who at his death in 

 1901 left it on a profitable basis. He 

 had been interested in other industries 

 as well, being a director in the Oriental 

 Rubber Co., Limited. A nephew. Mr. 

 Kenzo Okada, now in an important 

 connection with the works, spent sev- 

 eral years at one time in the United 



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States, making a practical study of the rubber industry. 



The Mitado Rubber Manufacturing Co. (Tokio) is perhaps 

 the largest of the companies in the mechanical rubber branch. 

 The production also embraces toys. 

 This company is the outgrowth of a 

 small beginning made some 15 years 

 ago by a young Japanese who gained 

 some insight into the rubber industry 

 on a visit to America, 



The Oriental Rubber Co., Limited 

 (Tokio), which ranks with the last 

 named in extent, was founded about 

 1880 by a Mr. Ogiwara. By 1900 the 

 capital employed had been increased 

 to 500,000 yen [=about $250,000 gold]. 

 The company manufacture hose, valves, 

 gaskets, and mold work generally, em- 

 ploying about 225 hands and using a 

 steam equipment of 200 HP. 



The Meiji Rubber Works (Tokio), 

 represented at the Osaka Exhibition in 

 1903 by an extensive display of garden 

 and other hose, packing, valves, balls, 

 mats, and matting, issues a catalogue 

 of these products filled with illustra- 

 tions very similar to those appearing in 

 American rubber goods catalogues. 



The Japan Rubber Co., Limited 

 (Tokio), organized in 1900, was the re- 

 sult of consolidating the Yoshida and 

 Hashimoto factories, with a view to 

 meeting the competition of concerns 

 much larger than either of them work- 

 ing singly. The capital at last accounts 

 was I 50.000 yen [ = about $75,000, goldj, 

 and the output is mechanical goods. 



As far as druggists' sundries go, the 

 Japanese rubber manufacturers have 

 not as yet attempted to do more than 

 experiment with them in a very small 

 way. In a very few years, however, 

 they doubtless will have entered the 

 field, because to day both England and 

 America furnish many goods for that 

 market. In rubber footwear nothing 

 at all is done nor have any of the fac- 

 tories attempted to make hard rubber 

 goods. What little rubber clothing is 

 in use is all imported. The machinery 

 used in these factories is the product 

 of either English or American found- 

 ries, with the exception of some few 

 machines built in Japan. The crude 

 rubber which they use as the basis of 

 their work comes chiefly from Eng- 

 land, while fabrics and compounding 

 supplies come largely from the United 

 States. So far, the country has done 

 no reclaiming, and no one there is mak- 

 ing substitutes. 





