History

1940

As a pioneer of plastic products

March 1947

Established in order to run a general plastic business

Received the first injection molding machine produced in Japan, and started Japan's first automatic plastic injection molding business in 1948 after receiving orders from THE SAILOR PEN CO., LTD. for ball-point pen barrels.

January 1948

  • Opened Nara Plant (until 1957), and started the first automatic plastic injection molding business in Japan
  • Changed company name to SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD.

August 1948

Opened Osaka Plant (until 1971), and started production of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and lead acetate

April 1949

Commenced trial production of cellophane tape at Osaka Plant

1950

As a pioneer of plastic products

1950

Birth of Cellophane Tape

Cellophane Tape is one of SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group's longest-selling products. Following WWII, SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group grew interested in the adhesive tape on envelopes brought here by the U.S. occupation army, and commenced R&D activities before achieving practical use of the tape. Since then, SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group has accumulated a number of adhesive and coating technologies.

April 1950

Exhibited prototype of cellophane tape at the Plastics Exhibition held at the Hankyu Department Store in Osaka

August 1950

Developed an “unbreakable telephone” using thermoplastic (awarded the Industrial Technology Agency Minister Award) and Japan's first 12-ounce injection molding machine, marking the start of the growth of our injection molding business

August 1952

Opened Kyoto Plant, and commenced full-scale production of ESLON Pipe, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe

ESLON pipes are lightweight rustproof PVC pipes. The successful development of PVC pipe joints substantially raised the workability of ESLON pipes in 1955, which grew rapidly popular. The application range of plastic pipes manufactured by SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group then expanded into a large number of areas, including water supply and drainage, electricity and gas supply and other industrial uses.

March 1953

Listed on Osaka Securities Exchange (currently Osaka Exchange, Inc.)

July 1953

Opened Amagasaki Plant, and commenced production of plastic tape, and polyethylene film the following year

September 1953

Opened Tokyo Plant (until 2015), and commenced production of molded plastic products, becoming the source of supply for the Kanto region

April 1954

Listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange (currently Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc.)

November 1954

Established Adoheya-kako Corporation (currently SEKISUI JUSHI CO.,LTD.)

December 1955

Succeeded in injection molding of PVC pipe fittings and obtained certification from the Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which played an important role in the popularization of ESLON Pipe

June 1956

Opened Osaka Asahi Plant, and developed ESLON Rain Gutter, Japan's first plastic rain gutters; opened Central Research Laboratory (currently: Research & Development Institute) within Osaka Asahi Plant; Osaka Plant renamed to Osaka Izuo Plant

As with ESLON pipes, the ESLON gutters, which are characterized by being rustproof, lightweight and of high workability, also grew popular as a new product that could be used to replace the metal products that were the mainstream in those days.

April 1957

Opened new plant in Nara and transferred over molding facilities from old Nara Plant, becoming Asia's top plastic molding plant (at that time)

1957

Launched Poly-Bucket, a polyethylene bucket

1958

Commenced production of S-LEC Film, an interlayer film for laminated glass, which was commercialized the following year

1959

Officially adopted the 3S Principles as our corporate philosophy (partially revised on 1992 and 2014)

October 1959

Established SEKISUI SPONGE INDUSTRIES CO., LTD. (currently SEKISUI PLASTICS CO., LTD.)

1960

On the path of growth

March 1960

Completed prototype of Sekisui House Model A; established housing division

August 1960

  • Opened Shiga Ritto Plant, and commenced production of PVC pipes and PVC building materials
  • Separated SEKISUI CHEMICAL's housing division to establish SEKISUI HOUSE SANGYO CO., LTD. (currently SEKISUI HOUSE, LTD.)

November 1960

Opened Shiga Minakuchi Plant, and commenced production of polyvinyl butyral and interlayer films

The interlayer film is currently one of the leading products of SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group. Because of the refined material and processing technologies, demand for the product started rapidly increasing when first registered in 1987 in Japan.

May 1961

Opened Central Research Laboratory at Minase Osaka

June 1961

Commenced production of Poly-Pail, a plastic garbage bin, at Nara Plant

In the 1960s, the Tokyo Metropolitan government adopted a new garbage collection system. According to the new system each household would place its garbage in a Poly-Pail bucket outside its house, which garbage trucks would then collect. SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group commenced a campaign as a proposed activity to raise awareness of consumers of the garbage issue.

March 1962

Launched the "Clean up our streets" movement as a campaign commemorating our 15th anniversary, which started a cleaning revolution across Japan using Poly-Pails

July 1962

Opened Musashi Plant, and commenced production of plastic tape and PVC tape

January 1963

Commenced production of SEKISUI Bath, the first FRP bathtub made using press forming in Japan

April 1963

Established SEKISUI PLASTICS CORPORATION in Pennsylvania, U.S., for the production of expandable polystyrene paper (first entry into the U.S. by a Japanese manufacturer)

January 1964

Established TOKUYAMA SEKISUI INDUSTRY CO., LTD., and commenced production of polyvinyl chloride resin

1965

First drop in income, deficit, and nonpayment of dividends since being established Reduced capital by half in 1967

1967

Organized SEKISUI Tentomushi Matsuri ("Ladybird Festival") in various parts of Japan; SEKISUI brand gained foothold as a name for high-quality household plastic products

March 1968

Commenced SOFTLON polyolefin foam business, and sunoko bathroom mats won widespread popularity

The originally developed innovative crosslinking and foaming technology achieved excellent heat insulation and shock absorption. In the initial stage of the business the material was widely used in bathroom mat products. It is now being used in a wide variety of areas as insulating material for construction and electric appliances, automobile interior materials, and cushioning materials for smartphones.

1970

Promoting diversification

May 1970

Opened Sakai Plant (until 2007), and commenced production of plasticizers

October 1970

Exhibited SEKISUI HEIM, a prefabricated modular house, at the International Good Living Show in Tokyo

1971

Completed assembly plant for steel-frame prefabricated modular house SEKISUI HEIM at Musashi Plant in March; full-scale entry into housing business with launch of SEKISUI HEIM in June

SEKISUI HEIM used prefabricated modules, and more than 80 percent of its process was done at the factory, and thereby achieving high quality, high performance, and high cost performance. This method successfully attracted attention within Japan's housing industry, which had been urged to supply reasonably priced but high quality houses. It was not long before SEKISUI HEIM to become one of the leading pre-fab housing manufacturers.

October 1971

Established NASEKI INDUSTRY CO., LTD. (currently SEKISUI HEIM INDUSTRY CO., LTD.)

1972

Shifted head office to Dojima Kanden Building (currently Osaka Head Office)

March 1972

Established SAN-ES HEIM MANUFACTURING CO., LTD. (currently SEKISUI HEIM INDUSTRY CO., LTD.)

1974

Commenced full-scale production of synthetic lumber FFU

ESLON Neo Lumber FFU is a lightweight and corrosion-resistant but natural-wood-like texture material that is strengthened using long glass fibers of rigid urethane foam. These features have allowed the material to become widely used in various fields, which, among others, is favorably used as railroad sleepers not only in Japan but also all over the world.

1975

Launched ESLON RCP, a reinforced plastic composite pipe

1979

Commercialized Micropearl, a functional plastic particle

Micropearl features micro-level fine particles of equal size and the added value of various functions, and has contributed to improving quality of display devices such as liquid crystal panels.

March 1979

Started the medical project within the Central Research Laboratory

November 1979

Awarded the Deming Prize, the highest honor for total quality management from production to sales and service

1980

Promoting diversification

October 1981

Adopted system of two head offices, one in Tokyo and another in Osaka; Tokyo Head Office opened at Toranomon, Tokyo

March 1982

Launched wooden-frame prefabricated modular house Two-U Home at Sendai; subsequently launched nationwide in Japan in 1984

April 1982

Opened Gunma Plant, and commenced production of PVC pipe and exterior paneling for prefabricated modular houses

December 1983

Established SEKISUI AMERICA CORPORATION in the United States

1985

Launched Insepack, the world's first unbreakable plastic vacuum blood collection tube

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group organized a medical project in 1979 and launched the world’s first plastic vacuum-blood-collection tubes in 1985. The unbreakable but burnable tubes greatly contributed to improving hygiene.

1986

Brought in production method from Rib Loc Systems, located in the Netherlands, and developed the SPR method for pipeline renewal

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group quickly responded to the aging infrastructure issue. The SPR method allows operation without having to dig while maintaining the sewage flow, can be used to refresh old pipes to the level of new pipes in terms of durable years, and, thus, now it is one of the standard sewage pipe rehabilitation methods in Japan.

July 1987

Opened Applied Electronics Research Center (currently Advanced Technology Institute, R&D Center)

October 1989

Opened Nitta Plant (until 2007)

1990

Selection, consolidation, pushing forward

September 1990

Opened Housing Research & Development Institute (currently Housing Technology Institute)

1990

Kleerdex Company, LLC (name changed to KYDEX, LLC in 2009; merged with ALLEN Extruders, LLC in 2014; currently SEKISUI POLYMER INNOVATIONS, LLC) joined SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group

April 1992

Established Kyoto Technology Center (currently Kyoto R&D Laboratories)

October 1995

Housing Research & Development Institute awarded Award from the Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office for design of HEIM Serano

1995

  • Launched three-stories house "DESIO", which was the first house to be fitted with a home elevator as standard, as a commemorative product for 25th anniversary of the housing business
  • Developed and produced Japan's first polyethylene water pipe


September 1996

It became 100 billion yen (current capital)

October 1996

Established new corporate logo

1996

Full-scale entry into refurbishing business (Fami S business)

April 1997

Established Female Athletics Group (currently SEKISUI Fairies)

1997

Commenced sale of houses equipped with solar power generation systems

August 1997

Acquired Komatsu Kasei Co., Ltd. (currently VANTEC CO., LTD.) to strengthen Pipes business.

April 1998

Awarded housing sector's first Science and Technology Agency Director General Award for development of SEKISUI Two-U Home

2000

Selection, consolidation, pushing forward

February 2000

Acquired Hinomaru Co., Ltd. (currently SEKISUI HONOMARU Co., Ltd.) to strengthen sales system in the Kyushu region

September 2000

Athlete Naoko Takahashi won a gold medal at the women's marathon during the Sydney Olympic Games (first time in Japan's women's track-and-field history)

2001

Launched Fi-Block, a fire-resistant thermal expansion material

March 2001

Implemented Divisional Company Organization System, and the three business divisions were renamed Housing Company, Urban Infrastructure & Environmental Products Company, and High Performance Plastics Company

July 2002

Established SEKISUI (QINGDAO) PLASTIC CO., LTD., a joint venture for business in water supply piping materials, in China (2023 Divestment)

December 2002

Established SEKISUI HIGH PERFORMANCE PACKAGING (LANGFANG) CO., LTD. in China to produce packaging tapes

April 2003


  • Established SEKISUI S-LEC (SUZHOU) CO., LTD. in China to produce interlayer films
  • Acquired majority of shares issued by South Korea's YOUNGBO CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (consolidated subsidiary listed on Korea Exchange), strengthening polyolefin foam business in the Asian market
  • Reorganized the housing sales structure in the Chugoku region by establishing SEKISUI HEIM CHUGOKU CO., LTD. (currently, SEKISUI HEIM CHUSHIKOKU CO., LTD.)

June 2003

Established BEIJING SEKISUI TRANK MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. (currently SEKISUI MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY (CHINA) LTD.) in China to produce and sell vacuum blood collection tubes

2004

Established SEKISUI OASIS CO., LTD. and commenced business in home nursing care services

August 2004

Reorganized the housing sales structure in the Tohoku region by establishing SEKISUI HEIM TOHOKU CO., LTD.

April 2005


  • Established SEKISUI FULLER COMPANY, LTD. as a joint venture for adhesive business with U.S. company H.B. Fuller Company
  • Established SEKISUI Refresh CO., LTD. in South Kora to produce and sell pipe rehabilitation materials

July 2005

Reorganized the housing sales structure in the Kyushu region by establishing SEKISUI HEIM KYUSHU CO., LTD.

March 2006

Established SEKISUI INDUSTRIAL PIPING CO., LTD. in Taiwan to produce and sell plastic valves and pipes

October 2006

Acquired DAIICHI PURE CHEMICALS CO., LTD. to strengthen medical (diagnostics) business

May 2007

Established the first subsidiary in India, SEKISUI CHEMICAL INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED

July 2007

Reorganized the housing sales structure in the Tokyo, Chubu and Kinki regions by establishing TOKYO SEKISUI HEIM CO., LTD., SEKISUI HEIM CHUBU CO., LTD.

April 2008

  • Introduced an executive officers system
  • Established SEKISUI MEDICAL CO., LTD. by merging medical division with DAIICHI PURE CHEMICALS CO., LTD.

July 2008

Acquired XENOTECH, LLC.(currently SEKISUI XENOTECH, LLC.), a U.S. company in the pharmacokinetics contract services business (2022 Divestment)

August 2008

  • Opened Taga Plant as our main plant for the Electronics field
  • Reorganized the housing sales system in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions by establishing SEKISUI CHUSHIKOKU CO., LTD.

July 2009

Acquired polyvinyl alcohol resin business from group companies of the Celanese Corporation Group based in the United States, and established SEKISUI SPECIALTY CHEMICALS AMERICA, LLC and SEKISUI SPECIALTY CHEMICALS EUROPE, S.L.

September 2009

Established a joint venture in Thailand for production and sales, the first overseas venture in our housing business

December 2009

Acquired expandable polyolefin foam manufacturer SEKISUI ALVEO BS GmbH (previously Polymer-Tec GmbH) in Europe

2010

To maintain a strong corporate presence for 100 years and beyond

April 2010

Established a joint venture DS POVAL with DENKI KAGAKU KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA for production of polyvinyl alcohol resin

September 2010

Merged two medical-related subsidiaries in China to form SEKISUI MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY (CHINA) LTD.

January 2011

Acquired diagnostics business from U.S. pharmaceutical company Genzyme Corporation, and established SEKISUI DIAGNOSTICS, LLC and related companies

April 2011

Acquired performance film manufacturer Suzutora Corporation (currently SEKISUI NANO COAT TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.)

July 2011

Established SEKISUI DLJM MOLDING, a joint venture in India for vehicle components molding business

December 2012

Acquired pipe materials business from Mitsubishi Plastics, Inc.

March 2013

Awarded Okochi Memorial Prize for development of SPR method

April 2013

Established PT. ADYAWINSA SEKISUI TECHNO MOLDING, a joint venture in Indonesia for vehicle components molding business

May 2014

Established S AND L SPECIALTY POLYMERS CO., LTD., a joint venture in Thailand for production of chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin

December 2014

  • Established SEKISUI VIETNAM PIPE SOLUTIONS CO., LTD. for water infrastructure sales in Vietnam
  • Acquired all shares of HEALTHY SERVICE CORPORATION, and commenced full-scale entry into business for the elderly (launched new brand HEIM Garden from 2015)

February 2015

Awarded Okochi Memorial Production Prize for development of sound insulation interlayer film for laminated glass

June 2015

Acquired a portion of shares in ENAX, Inc., a company which develops, produces, and sells lithium-ion batteries

December 2015

Acquired all shares of Eidia Co., Ltd., a company which produces and sells diagnostic reagents to strengthen life science field (Merged SEKISUI MEDICAL CO., LTD. and EIDIA Co., Ltd. in 2017)

March 2016

  • Established SUMIKA SEKISUI FILM HOLDINGS CO., LTD., a business merger between Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD., and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan in the polyolefin film business
  • Established SEKISUI MATERIAL SOLUTIONS CO., LTD. through merger of SEKISUI TECHNO TRADING HIGASHI NIHON CO., LTD., SEKISUI TECHNO TRADING NISHI NIHON CO., LTD., and SEKISUI POLYMATECH CO., LTD.

November 2016

Executive Advisor Naotake Okubo awarded the Deming Prize for Individuals

December 2016

Announced Smart Power Station, which is capable of energy self-sufficiency

Via use of a solar power generation system, Home Energy Management System (HEMS), and a storage battery and interconnecting them to an electric vehicle, the Smart Power Station can help realize energy self-sufficiency.

April 2017

  • Medium-term management plan “SHIFT 2019 -Fusion-” (for FY2017 to FY2019)
  • Established SEKISUI HEIM INDUSTRY CO., LTD. by merging four housing production companies in the three metropolitan areas of Kanto, Chubu and Kinki

August 2017

  • Expanded business into automotive, transport and other fields and strengthened core technologies including materials formulation and processing technologies by acquiring rights of group management of Polymatech Japan Co., Ltd. (currently SEKISUI POLYMATECH CO., LTD.)
  • Established PeptiStar Inc., a joint venture which develops, produces, and sells specialty peptide drug substances

December 2017

  • Strengthened development and sale of fireproof and non-flammable products by purchasing Soflan Wiz Co., Ltd. (currently SEKISUI SOFLAN WIZ CO., LTD.)
  • Developed the World's First Innovative Production Technology that Transforms Waste into Ethanol

March 2018

Acquisition of all the shares in VEREDUS LABORATORIES PTE. LTD., a genetic testing Company in Singapore

April 2018

Management integration of production subsidiaries in Urban Infrastructure & Environmental Products Company, established HIGASHI NIHON SEKISUI INDUSTRY CO., LTD.

April 2019

  • Management integration of production subsidiaries in Urban Infrastructure & Environmental Products Company, established NISHI NIHON SEKISUI INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
  • Start of SEKISUI's SMARTHEIM DENKI Power Trading Service for customers living in SEKISUI HEIM

October 2019

Release of complex large-scale town “Asaka Lead Town” of SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group's Urban Development

November 2019

  • Tokyo Head Office Relocation to The Okura Prestige Tower
  • Acquired manufacturer of composite mold materials for aircraft and drones AIM Aerospace Corporation (currently SEKISUI AEROSPACE CORPORATION)

2020

Innovation for the Earth

April 2020

  • Establishment of Joint Venture to Commercialize “Waste to Ethanol" Technology called SEKISUI BIO REFINERY CO., LTD.

May 2020

  • Long-term Vision ”Vision 2030” (for FY2020 to FY2030)
  • Medium-term Management Plan ”Drive2022” (for FY2020 to FY2022)

August 2020

  • Innovation Center Established in Research & Development Institute (MIC) within the Research & Development Institute of High Performance Plastics Company

2021

  • 50th anniversary of the establishment of housing business "SEKISUI HEIM"

November 2021

  • Women's track & field team SEKISUI Fairies wins first Queen's Ekiden

April 2022

  • Transition from the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange to the Prime Market

June 2022

  • Launch of New Waste to Resources Biorefinery Business Brand “UNISON TM

May 2023

  • Medium-term Management Plan ”Drive2.0” (for FY2023 to FY2025)