History

The first foundation period was from 1941 to 1961. In 1941, the year of US-Japan War, 35-year-old young Masaji Ihara founded Ihara Shokai, a predecessor of Ihara Science Corporation, in Hamamatsu-cho. A private store with a capital of 1,000 yen and four employees is the beginning of the history of Ihara Science. The products handled at that time were electric wires and conduits, iron fittings, and factory batteries, which were products of Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., where the founder originally worked.

The shop changed its name to Ihara Sangyo Corporation, and started to move through a new history. It is the birth of a corporation with a capital of 50,000 yen. The left photo shows the founder and employees at the entrance with the company name of Ihara Sangyo. The right photo shows a head supervisor Makie Yamada, who supported the founder and later became vice president.

The company’s line of products was elbow and tee fittings, valves, cocks, oil feeding gauges, etc., in addition to products of the former Ihara Shokai. The form of business was still of a trading company, where it purchases goods from suppliers or commissions them to subcontract factories and delivers them to customers. However, in 1952, the company created an IS mark showing the Ihara brand, and started its business as a manufacturer.

After the age of a trading company, Ihara Sangyo enters the age of a manufacturer. Forty-five years from 1953 to 1998 was a time of great development. When competitors were still hesitant about large-scale investment, Ihara Sangyo substantially invested in molds for forged fittings. The number of users and transactions with major companies such as Toshiba Machine, Hitachi, and Fuji Electric increased.

The remarkable growth of hydraulic equipment boosted the demand for bite-type tube fittings, and in 1960, the company was able to set up its own long-sought factory in the current Kumasaka, Izu City. The factory installed advanced copying lathes which directly connected to the motor, when the mainstream at manufacturing sites was belt-driven lathes. Although the building was poor, the company established a production system equipped with the best facilities and craftsmen.

In 1958, recognized as a manufacturer of fittings that were indispensable for hydraulic equipment industry (which became a star industry during the high-growth period of the Japanese economy), the company joined Hydraulic Equipment Industrial Association (currently Japan Fluid Power Association). In 1959, Tsutomu Ihara, future second president, joined the company. This year, annual sales exceeded 100 million yen. The product that actually created the “age of a manufacturer” was “bite-type tube fitting”. This fitting was introduced with courtesy of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 1960. As a hydraulic piping fitting used in Germany, it enabled high-pressure pipe connection without welding or pipe threading. Focusing on the future potential of the fitting, the company worked on research and development independently and named it “bite-type tube fitting” to facilitate commercialization. Later, pre-set devices for the bite-type tube fittings were developed.

In the 1960s, the “bite-type tube fitting” named by the company became a JIS standard, and grew into indispensable parts for hydraulic piping equipment. In October 1962, the company changed its name to “Ihara High Pressure Fitting Co.,Ltd.” as a proof that it had developed as a branded manufacturer both in name and reality. On the “bite-type tube fitting” catalog, a new company name “Ihara High Pressure Fitting Co.,Ltd.” was printed.

The company increased the capital to 110 million yen and was listed on the over-the-counter market (currently JASDAQ) to go public. This year, the company adopted an agency system and signed a contract with Nakanishi Shoji as the first agency.

To respond to strong sales, the company urgently needed to expand production bases. It constructed a plant No.1 on the land previously acquired in Ohito-cho (current Izunokuni City), Shizuoka Prefecture.

Osaka Sales Office was opened and the first agency meeting was held. In the following year 1969, the current chairman Tokuo Nakano, future third president, joined the company.

Ihara System Engineering Corporation was established as a company that “considers piping as a system and provides wider services”, rather than as a manufacturer/seller of fittings. This company is the predecessor of the current Tsukechi No.2 Factory.

In the 1970s, there were many challenges, including the Nixon shock, the oil shock, the end of the Vietnam War, and the bankruptcy of the Ataka & Co., Ltd. Under such circumstances, Tsutomu Ihara became the second president of the company in 1971. He promoted active management, and the company was expanded by opening sales offices, investing in Sanwa Kogyo Co., Ltd., constructing a forge plant, establishing Ihara Sangyo, and so on. And in 1976, the company received a large order of large-size fittings for an oil plant in the Soviet Union.

Yamagata-Ihara High Pressure Corporation (currently Yamagata-Ihara Co., Ltd) was established in Higashine City, Yamagata Prefecture. (In 1990, it entered the U.S. market.)
With five production bases, including Shizuoka and Gifu sites, the company’s product market expanded from hydraulic to high-tech related market. Our BI-Lok also appeared at this period.

Tokuo Nakano assumed office as the third president of the company. When he became president, the company faced the deadlock of a management designed for the 20th century, such as a deficit, large debts, bad assets, and consolidated subsidiaries with liabilities exceeding assets. Immediately after assuming office, the president clarified a four-year restructuring plan, and with firm resolve, the company completed implementation of almost all of the plan.
In addition, it also flattened its organization and adopted a company system. The president himself conducted employee training for each level, based on the belief that everything comes from “people.”