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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[Septemuer 1, 1920. 



The Rubber Trade in Japan. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE JAPANESE RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



IT WAS about thirty-four years ago that the Japanese rubber in- 

 dustry started. N. Tasaki, owner of the Tsuchiya Rubber 

 Works, which later became the Miiatsuchi Rubber Manufactur- 

 ing Co., was the first man in Japan to learn the process of rub- 

 ber vulcanization. Since then Japanese rubber manufacturing 

 has made considerable progress. Some manufacturers learned 

 their methods from foreign engineers, some from books on rub- 

 ber manufacturing, and thus more than thirty years have passed. 

 At present there are 130 factories in Tokio. 



A general survey of the rubber factories in Japan indicates 

 that all divide themselves into five heads : 



lufacturing Co. line. 



The Mit-ltsuchi Rubber Ma 

 The Meiji Rubber Factory 

 The Rubber Co. line. 

 The Dunlop and the Ingr; 

 Othe>- lines. 



The Tsuchiya Rubber Works, afterward the Mitatsuchi Rub- 

 ber Manufacturing Co., was established thirty-four years ago at 

 Kamiyoshi-cho, Asakusa, Tokio. Messrs. T. Tasaki and H. 

 Tsuchiya were the owners of this factory. They were of the 

 Matsumae clan, Hokkaido, and fishing and refloating wrecked 

 ships, by using diving apparatus and rubber hose, was their oc- 

 cupation. Their equipment required frequent repairs, especially 

 the rubber parts. In order to mend these they :)urchased at 

 Yokohama scrap rubber discarded by the Navy Office, dissolved 

 it in volatile oil and made a jelly-like material with which the 

 damaged parts were plastered. 



As their fishery did not prosper, they established a factory at 

 Kamiyoshicho, Asakusa, Tokio, for manufacturing diving dresses. 

 This factory was the first one in Japan. In those days these div- 

 ing dresses were sold only to the railway and steamship com- 

 panies, so that the demand was soon exhausted. Then they un- 

 dertook to become repairers of these dresses, also manufactur- 

 ing stamp-stands for the Department of Communication. 



It was about 1882 or 1883 that rubber became known a little 

 among the Japanese people, but owing to the deficiency of manu- 

 facturing knowledge and experience, the rubber industry in 

 Japan was still in its infancy. As no other rubber factory had 

 been established in Japan in those days, the Tsuchiya Rubber 

 Co. held a monopoly. Owing to the limited demand for their 

 goods, however, it suffered from financial difficulties, yet bravely 

 continued the business until a method of vulcanization was 

 learned on December 2, 1886; this day it was decided to in- 

 corporate. In 1889 bulbs and packings were added to the list 

 of goods and in the following year some rubber manufactures 

 were exhibited at the Domestic Industrial Exhibition. The fac- 

 tory was removed to Narihira-cho Honjo, in the same city in 

 1892, and in 1893 the company became a partnership and the 

 name was changed to the Mitatsuchi Rubber Manufacturing Co. 

 Besides former productions, manufacture of ebonite and suction 

 hose was now begun. During the Chino-Japanese war, they 

 profitably met the requirements of the War and Navy Offices. 

 Since then the rubber manufacturing industry in Japan has made 

 constant progress. In 1897, rubber balls were manufactured, and 

 in three years enough were produced so that the imports of 

 foreign-made balls became unnecessary. In those days, rubber 

 balls were mainly imported from Germany, the total amount 

 being $120,000 a year. At present, a great number of them are 

 exported. 



The company now known as the Fujikura Insulated Wire & 

 Cable Co., Tokio, was a pioneer in the production of rubber- 

 covered wire. The progressive policy of Mr. Fujikura, who 

 founded the industry in 1885, has been continued since his death, 

 in 1902, by T. Matsumoto, the present president of the company. 



The concern adheres closely to the standards of the British 

 Cable Makers' Association and the Japanese Government to in- 

 sure the maximum of efficiency in the products. 



Much of the success of the company is also due to Kenzo 

 Okada, nephew of the late Mr. Fujikura, who became a partner 

 in the factory in 1901. He will be remembered by not a few 

 rubber men in the United States where he worked for several 

 years acquiring a knowledge of the industry. 



In 1887, K. Yoshida, getting a water bottle of rubber from 

 abroad, endeavored to manufacture this line of rubber goods, and 

 at last, with the assistance of F. Komae and his brother, R. 

 Yoshida, who were then students of the Doshisha University in 

 Kyoto and had many chances of reading foreign books on rub- 

 ber, worked out a manufacturing method. By 1889, there were 

 but few factories in Japan. K. Suzuki, who learned the method 

 of making rubber solution in naphtha, began to manufacture 

 stamp-stands, with the capital furnished by S. Nomoto; but un- 

 fortunately his undertaking did not go well. Mr. Mori also in 

 these days inaugurated a shop with a view of making rubber 

 seals. 



The Tokio Rubber Manufacturing Co., a limited partnership, 

 was established in 1892. G. Matsumoto and S. Morita were the 

 capitalists. They engaged Mr. Saito as an expert and were doing 

 a brisk business when the engineer died and the factory had 

 to suspend. In 1896 this company was purchased by K. Kamijo 

 and the firm name was chapged to the Tokio Rubber Factory, 

 K. Kamada being engaged as engineer. 



In 1901 G. Yonei, who died last year, bought this factory and 

 changed the name of the company to the Meiji Rubber Factory. 

 This is one of the oldest and largest rubber factories in Japan. 



The Tokio Rubber Co. was established in 1899, H. Tanaka in- 

 duced S. Nomoto, Z. Fujikura and E. Shibusawa to assist the 

 company, and engaged Mr. Ogihara, an engineer educated in 

 America, with the object of manufacturing rubber goods. Un- 

 fortunately the goods were not successful and therefore they 

 bought over Mr. Arihara, of the Mitatsuchi Rubber Manufac- 

 turing Co., to manufacture "Tabi" soles ; but this second attempt 

 also did not bear good fruit. 



A few years later Messrs. Y. Yashida and Hanaki, who were 

 then employed by the Meiji Rubber Factory, purchased the 

 Tokyo Rubber Co. and reduced its capital from $150,000 to 

 $75,000. 



The Nippon Rubber Co. was established in 1900 by the com- 

 bination of two companies, vrith W. Yamasaki as director. One 

 was the Yashida Rubber Factory, which had been established at 

 Hisakata-cho, Tokio, by the cooperation of Messrs. S. Yoshida 

 and W. Yamasaki in 1896; the other, the Nippon Rubber Co., 

 established at Hashibacho, Asakusa, in 1900, R. Motohashi being 

 the director. 



In 1900, the Meiji Rubber Factory engaged Mr. Ferguson, an 

 Englishman. In those days there was no factory which kept a 

 foreign expert. 



This new attempt gave a little animation to the-Japanese rub- 

 ber manufacturing industry, but a large development was still 

 far in the distance. The following figures show the amount of 

 the business in those days : 



CRUDE RUBBER IMPORTS. 



A little after the Russo-Japanese War, the Dunlop Rubber Co., 

 Far East. Limited, was organized in 1907. At first it imported 

 rubber goods from the Dunlop company in England and the 



