Company Information

Toshiya Nozawa
President

NOZAWA CORPORATION: Nearly 130 Years of "Always Bringing the New"

Our dedication to “Always Bringing the New” has helped us grow our business for over a century, since our founder Kouzaburo Nozawa began importing indigo dye from the West in 1897. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the customers, shareholders, and local communities that have given us their undying support for all these years.

Our company began as Nozawa Kouzaburo Shoten, Trading Company in Kobe. After our founder discovered slate board (fiber cement) in one section of the former Foreign Settlement (now just across from the head office) in 1906, he became the first to import that material into Japan. Then, in 1913, Nozawa became the first slate board producer in Japan, beginning its plan to change from importer to manufacturer.

From that time, we have focused on being a pioneer in the building materials industry. As Japan is prone to disasters like typhoons and earthquakes, our first concern is preserving safety, both of human life and of assets, which is the driving thought behind our years of developing domestic materials production. We began domestic production of slate and promoting raw materials self-sufficiency, and have since developed a wide range of original technology including our patented "flexible sheet," highly workable Mablite, and the world's first mass-produced extruded cement panels ASLOC. We also expanded into the agricultural field by successfully producing fertilizer from building materials with the mineral fertilizer Minemag. Throughout the decades, we have seen the needs of the market and move to fill them out of our dedication to “Always Bringing the New.”

Kobe, where our head office still stands, was struck by the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 and the building that once held our offices, the Kobe Former Foreign Settlement Building No. 15, was completely demolished. Since the building was a nationally registered important cultural property, we felt a responsibility to the nation and local community to rebuild it. It is now open to the public as a restaurant to serve as evidence of Kobe's recovery.

The Great Hanshin Earthquake was followed by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, then the Kumamoto Earthquake of 2016, and in February 2021 another earthquakes of magnitude 7.3, the same as the Great Hanshin Earthquake, off the coast of Fukushima. Now, global warming is driving increasing incidents of heavy rain and typhoons, and as they will only continue to grow worse, it is difficult not to worry about the future of Japan, a nation already prone to natural disaster. At the same time , Nozawa has been closely monitoring those environmental changes and developing new technology to help customers preserve the value of their assets for longer, as shown by the 2017 launch of ASLOC Neo, the first total revision of ASLOC in its 47 years.

In 2021, we celebrate fifty years, a full half century since ASLOC first appeared. It has served in many construction projects in those years, and is a growth-driving flagship product that accounts for fully 50% of sales. We believe that one reason it has been so beloved in the construction industry is because it shows that we have constantly sought evolution.

As we go forward, Nozawa will respond with speed to the changing situations and needs of society with new products. We have also continued to expand our market. In addition to Minemag, a mineral fertilizer created through joint industry-academia work by applying inorganic material modification technology amassed over long years of building material development, we have also developed integrated exterior green wall systems to meet customer environmental impact reduction needs; ASLOC Solar Wall, an exterior wall system with integrated solar cells to support energy conservation; and ALCUS, an exceptionally safe exterior wall material for super high-rise buildings created through new extrusion technology. We also have addressed the lack of skilled workers by developing t he industry’s first LS Process, which reduces labor needs by 30% compared to conventional processes, significantly reducing the need for labor at construction sites.

As we approach the 130th anniversary of our founding, we “strive to be a business that safeguards the lifestyles and safety of people, offers materials and systems to help create ideal environments, and contributes to the development of society”. This philosophy feeds a belief that our role is to continue to develop and provide products that society needs, and to pass our values on to the next generation. Based on our history and achievements, we are determined to continue contributing to society by using our knowledge and efforts to keep the happiness and fun memories of people everywhere safe, creating comfort and peace of mind.