is one of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's top makers of

fibers Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

and

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

, including

synthetic fiber Synthetic fibers or synthetic fibres (in British English; see spelling differences) are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants (like cotton) ...

s (

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

and acrylics) and natural fibers, such as

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

History

Toyobo was established in 1882 by Eiichi Shibusawa as a cotton-spinning company in a context of post-

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. By the 1930s, Toyobo was the world's largest cotton-spinning company. In the 1960s, the company started to manufacture synthetic fibers and films. In August 2013, Toyobo bought the Spanish company Spinreact for 22.3 million euros. In 2015, Toyobo provided 40% of the yarn for

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. Th ...

s worldwide, and 50% of Japan's food packaging films. In March 2017, Toyobo introduced Cocomi, a t-shirt that tracks a driver's heartbeats and activates an alarm if somnolence is detected. In August 2017, Toyobo established a new group in Europe, Toyobo Chemicals Europe GmbH, with a focus on marketing specialty chemical products, and a new manufacturing base for airbag fabrics. In March 2018, Toyobo paid $66 million to settle a case of defective bulletproof vests sold to the US Government between 2001 and 2005.

Activities

Toyobo's textiles are designed for clothing, home furnishings, and for industrial uses. Textiles include

spandex Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Virginia, US. The ge ...

yarn for apparel, polyurethane fiber for

pantyhose Pantyhose, called sheer tights, or tights, are close-fitting legwear covering the wearer's body from the waist to the toes. Mostly considered to be a garment for women and girls, pantyhose first appeared on store shelves in 1959 for the advertis ...

, yarns for

airbags An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. T ...

and tire cords and synthetic fibers for apparel. Toyobo is also engaged in the spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing, sewing, and the wholesaling and trading of textiles in Japan and internationally. Toyobo also manufactures plastic films, and

resins In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...

. Biochemical products such as

reagents In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...

, medical products (e.g. fiber membranes for artificial organs), and purification devices are also manufactured by the company. The company operates across Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, United States, and Germany and is listed on the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...

, being a component of the

Nikkei 225 The Nikkei 225, or , more commonly called the ''Nikkei'' or the ''Nikkei index'' (), is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It has been calculated daily by the '' Nihon Keizai Shimbun'' (''The Nikkei'') newspaper since 1950 ...

stock index In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an index that measures a stock market, or a subset of the stock market, that helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calculate market performance. Two of the pri ...

Gallery

References

External links

Official global website
{{Authority control Textile companies of Japan Defense companies of Japan Chemical companies of Japan Clothing companies of Japan Disaster preparedness Medical technology companies of Japan Manufacturing companies based in Osaka Japanese companies established in 1882 Manufacturing companies established in 1882 Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Japanese brands

History

Activities

Gallery

See also

References

External links