The "HASEGAWA" brand of Carbon Sinai is a name that is familiar to anyone involved in kendo. Hasegawa Chemical Industry has manufactured "Carbon Sinai" and, in the past, "Budate Men" and other products. In this article, we will tell you about the little-known development story of Carbon Sinai, as well as the chairman's management philosophy. (May 2017)

Profile

Hasegawa Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Chairman and Representative Director Representative Director and President Mr. Toshikazu Hasegawa

A management philosophy that emphasizes change

—Could you tell us about the background of your founding? President"We started out by manufacturing materials for ski bases. Innovation is important in anything. A company cannot survive if it continues doing the same thing for 100 years. We need to develop new fields and new products." -You develop a wide variety of products. President"A senior at Waseda University advised me to create a safe Sinai. It wasn't easy at first, but I didn't give up. I worked hard and managed to do it, and then I went into that field. In business, you can't stand still." -Are cooking utensils your main product now?

"Polyethylene Karugaru" used in school lunches and employee cafeterias

President"That's right. We had a hard time developing this product as well. Just like Carbon Sinai, it uses wood as the core material. This means it doesn't deform and is lightweight. We also designed it so that it can be used for different foods." —So you can use it for different purposes, such as using the pink one for cutting meat? President"That's right. This cutting board has three advantages: it can be color-coded, it's lightweight, and it doesn't deform. We marketed it based on this, but there was no need for it at the time, so no one took an interest in it." -How did it become popular? President"Slowly but surely, sales began to pick up for school lunches. Then, the E. coli food poisoning outbreak occurred. As a result, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology instructed schools to use different ingredients for different purposes, such as vegetables, meat and fish. After that, schools started buying them all at once." —The incident gave me a boost. President"That's right. The knives sold well because they were HASEGAWA brand. That's how they became our main source of income. There used to be 33 ski manufacturers, but now there are only two. Just like kendo, the number of children is rapidly decreasing." -Chopping boards never go away. President"It's not for home use, but for commercial use, such as in school cafeterias, hospitals, nursing homes, daycare centers, restaurants, hotels, and inns. Our company has now become the leader in commercial use." —What was the key to your success? President"We've made full use of the knowledge we have gained from making ski running surfaces and carbon fiberglass panels. Sales of this product are also growing overseas." —When you go to cooking product exhibitions overseas, you are often told, "That's HASEGAWA from Carbon Sinai, isn't it?" President"Originality is important in everything. We have to try new things. It was difficult at one time. We built a factory in Togane City, Chiba Prefecture and hired people, but sales of our cooking products were difficult. Sales of our main business, ski products, were also declining. Our main business performance was steadily declining, and sales of cooking products were difficult, which increased our costs, so we were in a difficult financial position." How did you manage to make a comeback? President"Our cooking products grew just before we collapsed. We need to keep up the spirit of trying new things."

Why we decided to create Carbon Sinai

—Could you tell us why you decided to create Carbon Sinai? President"It all started when a member of the Waseda University Kendo Club, Mr. Araki, who passed away recently, who was one grade above me, asked me to make a safe bamboo sword that even children could use. It wasn't until 15 years later that I actually succeeded. No matter how many times I tried, I couldn't make it. I gave up, I remembered, and then I finally made it."

The black part is carbon, and the middle contains wood as the core material.

Difficulties encountered during development

--What were some of the most difficult aspects of development? President"It breaks when you hit it, so it needs to be lighter. To prevent it from breaking, we put wood in the core and covered all four sides with carbon fiber, which made it stronger. We also made the cross section square." -So the shape is designed to withstand impacts. President"However, when I tested it by tapping it on the shaft with a machine, it broke after 50 to 100 times. Because it had a wood core, it could last for 50 to 100 times, but it just couldn't go any further than that. I was about to give up. But then, by chance, I started to pay attention to the wood fibers. The key was the direction of the fibers. I changed all the vertical fibers to horizontal."

By changing the orientation of the core wood fibers horizontally, it has become more practical.

-So that was a breakthrough. President"Just by changing the orientation of the fibers, it doesn't dent or break. We had previously been unable to overcome the hurdle of 100 to 200 mechanical tests, but this one lasted up to 1000! As a result, it didn't break even after 1500 tests. We decided that this was safe and started selling it." -So the key point was the direction of the fibers in the core material. President"It took time and money, but we arranged them horizontally instead of vertically. The problem was the beating part. If we had done this process for the entire Sinai, it would have been too expensive and the whole thing would have been too soft." -Are there any products similar to Carbon Sinai? President"When Carbon Sinai was first developed, other companies probably studied it because it was expensive. But in the end, they couldn't solve the problem of it breaking. The patent has expired, so it would be easy to copy it, but no one has." -Just hearing your story, I can see that it would be difficult to recreate. President"It takes a lot of effort and technical skill. Companies without the technical ability won't take on the challenge, and companies with the technical ability won't enter the market because of the size (sales) of Kendo." - I understand that due to cost and technical issues, only your company was able to put the product into practical use.

The road to official recognition

—Can Carbon Sinai be used in matches? The president"fine" President"At the time, Takeyasu Sensei of the All Japan Kendo Federation had become the chairman of the federation and said that we had made a good product that was not as dangerous as the bamboo shinai. Takeyasu Sensei took the initiative to recommend it, and it was officially approved. Two years had passed since its release. As a recommendation from the Science and Technology Agency, we received the Science and Technology Agency Director-General's Award and the Yellow Ribbon Medal." —Your contribution to the kendo industry is great. President"Unfortunately, it is not currently being used by those with high ranks, but fortunately, martial arts became a compulsory subject in junior high schools nationwide from April 2012. Carbon Shinai, which is safe, secure and durable for classroom use, has been adopted by many junior high schools, and we are grateful that it is still being used to prevent accidents."

When it was first released, it was said to be a scam.

The president"When it first came out, people started saying, 'Plastic Sinai is a scam and it's too expensive.'" President"When we released it for 2 yen, some people said, 'You can make something like that for 1,500 yen.'" The president"Because it's made of plastic, people think it's cheap. It takes dozens of steps to complete, and it's hard to understand that it's a finished product that requires a lot of effort and investment." President"We've had some of the leading teachers from the Kendo Federation come to tour our factory. They said, 'I can't believe it's 2 yen. Aren't they making exorbitant profits?' But when they saw the factory, they said, 'There's no way they're making any money from this' (laughs)." Is it because it takes too much effort? President"It's like, 'I never thought it would take so much effort to make this, this isn't going to be profitable.'" -Finally, please tell us about your future prospects. The president"Because we offer a wide range of products, we are able to create products that are a little different from other kendo manufacturers. We hope to continue to utilize our technological capabilities to contribute to the kendo industry." -I understand that Carbon Sinai is a product that could only have been realized by your company. Thank you for today. The product page of Hasegawa Chemical Industry, who was interviewed this time, isCLICK HERE! interviewer ◎ Representative Director: Go Ueshima Born in Sendai in 1987. While in the Sendai High School Kendo Club, he studied under Mitsunobu Sato and made it to the top eight at the Inter-High School Championships. After graduating from university, he worked as the business development manager for a restaurant chain with 200 stores across the US. After working in sales at a foreign internet advertising company and as the head of the sales department and president's office at Innova Co., Ltd., he founded Bushizo Inc. in January 2017. ◎Director: Yusuke Kudo Born in Hokkaido in 1984. Graduated from Rikkyo University's Faculty of Law. While in school, he launched a free magazine and provided marketing support for an apparel brand. In 2008, he joined Yahoo Japan Corporation, where he worked in sales of advertising products such as search advertising and display advertising. In January 2017, he founded Bushizo Inc. He began practicing kendo at the age of six and continues to practice it to this day.