Companies
Noritake Beyond the Teacup
How a Nagoya porcelain brand turned its kiln know-how into grinding wheels, electronic materials and industrial furnaces
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How a Nagoya porcelain brand turned its kiln know-how into grinding wheels, electronic materials and industrial furnaces
How a Niigata fishing-float maker became the brand behind Asia's badminton champions
How Tamiya turned plastic kits, RC cars and the Mini 4WD into a hobby brand known around the world
How Mani turned tiny surgical and dental needles into a global, high-margin business
The machine tool maker that has designed its own CNC control since 1963 — and why that moat matters now
How Japan's sheet metal machine giant is bringing lights-out fabrication to the world's smallest workshops
From Himeji lamp maker to the ultraviolet and laser-driven light sources inside lithography, inspection and packaging tools
The Yokohama fastener maker earning strong margins on parts that cost a few yen - and barely care whether the car burns fuel
The strain wave gear is a public invention - and one Japanese company has spent 50 years owning the ability to build it
How a 2003 merger of a gear maker and a brake maker ended up supplying most of the world's precision robot reducers
The Sendai company that hired the engineers Japan's appliance majors let go - and rebuilt the value shelf
How Osaka's other vacuum-flask house turned a 1923 workshop into a private global appliance brand