Inponese eontactLens

ん
ル タ
〔
殉たノ″猪
InponeseeontactLens
TheChallenges
of KyoichiTanaka
..Aenioon
Table of contents
I(yoichi Thnaka'sBoyhoodYears. ' """""""""""2
o A mischievousboy: the oppositeof his namesake
'""""" "3
l\ew Beginnings...'.
o Working at an eyeglassshoP
o Designingeyeglasses
with his skillful hands
r obtaining a speciallicenseas an opticianat the U.S.Fifth Air ForceHospital
rFI'
- -^tewandUnknownWorld
IaKrnS on a r\
""'5
o The conceptof the contactIens
o Inventingthe contactlensesfrom scratch
o Making a contactlens
a The contactlens situationin thoseyears
a The first Japanesecontactlens,from Kyoichi'shands
o Establishingthe Nippon ContactLensResearchInstitute
oDecidingto devotehis life to contactlenses
o Developingmachinesto createhigh quality contactlensesby hand
a Competitionin the cornealcontactlens market
The Populari zal'jonof Contact Lenses ' ""' 13
the NipponContactLensCo.,Ltd.
Institutebecomes
ONipponContactLensResearch
aTrying times
a The business:
doublingcapitaleveryyear
o Eyeinga globalmarket
New Challenges... ....
"" """ 16
o Developmpntof Japan'sfirst soft contactlens
o Dedicatingthe companyto clinicaland basicresearch
oUndertakingnew rigid contactlens research
o Contributingto researchinto early intraocularlensesfor cataractsurgery
l{ew Challengesas a Way of Life """"" " ' "" 20
a Contactlensesas the window to the soul
o Establishingan internationalbusiness
aTowarda new era
'
Corporate history
22
""'24
Historyof public positions
I Proverbs and quotes by Kyoichi Thnaka ]
at the gateof Nagoyacastleon october22,i 955(24yearsold)
Tanaka
Right:A photographof Kyoichi
A mischievous boY:
the opposite of his namesake
"Kyo-chan was a real mischievous
boy I remember he was fighting
with someone almost everY daY."
Even now, everYbodY agrees at
school reunions That was KYoichi
Tanaka. The man everYbodYcalled
"Kyo-chan" now devotes himself to
contact lenses and serves as the
Chairman and representative director
of Menicon. He was born on JulY 8'
1 9 3 1 , i n K i s o g a w a - c h o ,H a g u r i - g u n ,
Aichi prefecture, as the second son
of a bamboo sculPtor, Kazan Tanaka
(real name: Yoshinao) and his wife,
Haru. Kazan named the babY KYoichi'
hoping that he would become a decent
and worthY man, but KYoichi grew
up as a mischievous and hyperactive
ch11d.
After Kyoichi entered Kuroda
Jinjo ElementarY School, he never
did his homework and was alwaYs
ready for a fight, perhaps because he
was raised with great freedom. His
teacher thought of him as a Problem
child. Also, he was the biggest boY
among his classmates During his
cheerful elementary school days he
was praised by his teacher only once'
However, it was for something related
to fighting, proving how rambunctious
Ltpe all. without (t lcmPer.
a ttd I h i n k corre('l l.Y1966
Havinga loving heart towardsall
and to allthings
withoutlosingYourtemPer'
alwaysthink correctlY
he was.
i as in the third
When KYoichw
g r a d e a t h i s e l e m e n t a r Ys c h o o l ,t h e
PacificWar broke out after the attack
on PearlHarbor Japanwon the battle,
but from the greaterpoint of view,the
country was headingdown the Path
t o d e s t r u c t i o n .I n J u n e , s o o n a f t e r
K y o i c h ie n t e r e dj u n i o r h i g h s c h o o l ,
he was drafted as a studentand sent
to one of three military plantsin the
(asof October23,1954)
birthplace
Kvoichi's
n e i g h b o r h o o dS
. hortlybeforethat,
b
r
o
t
h
e r , T o Y o Y a s uw, a s
o
l
d
e
r
his
also draftedand sentto Mitsubishi
K o g y o H a t s u d o S e i s a k u s Y oi n
Ozone,Higashi-ku,NagoYaCitY as a
r e s i d e n t i a ls t a f f m e m b e r T h e p l a n t
Kyoichiwas sent to wasjust 400-500
metersawaYfrom home,and it made
A p h o t o g r a p hf r o m j u n i o r h i g h s c h o o l
(February
16, 1946;14 yearsold)
graduation
propellersfor specialsubmarines
At first, he was delightedbecause
he thought he did not have to study
a n y m o r e . H o w e v e r ,h e f o u n d o u t
later that the Plantmanufactured
p r o p e l l e r sf o r s u i c l d eb o m b e r s .S t i l l
now,his heart is filled with deeP
sorrowand paln when thinking about
t h e y o u n g s u i c i d ec o r P sw h o d i e d
holdlngthe bombs.
Sincehe was known as ringleader
a m o n gt h e c h i l d r e n ,h e g a i n e dt h e
Be able.to make judgrnents
Ln an tnstant.
1966
Thereare opportunitiesright in front of us;
however,we often missthem.
Keepyour eYesoPento be able to
recognizean oPPortunttv
and immediatelyseizeit shouldit oppear.
H igh speed actioll
1967
Wemustneverignorethe tmportance
in business
of speed,esPeciallY
managementoperations.
Companymembersat all levelsshould
thinkabouthow to
constantlY
improvethesPeedand
of thecompanyasa whole'
efficiency
favor of the plant manager and his
superiors.He was assignedto serveas
a group leaderand becamea "leader"
for the first time in his life.
K y o i c h i w a s a n a s s i s t a n tt o a n
e n g i n e e r ,R o k u r o S e k i y a ,w h o w a s
from Nagoya.Kyoichi ran errands for
him. Sekiyawas a top-classengineer
s p e c i a l i z i n gi n l a t h e p r o c e s s i n g
technology in the plant at the age of
just 21 or 22 years old, and Kyoichi
learnedabout how to handlethe lathe
a n d s m i t h y m a c h i n e sb y w a t c h i n g
S e k i y a ' sw o r k . S i n c e h e w a s g o o d
with his hands and had alwaysseen
h i s f a t h e r w o r k , h e l e a r n e dh o w t o
use them quickly.This experience
was a poignant step in his eventual
developmentof the contactlens.
Working at an eyeglassshop
The war endedon August 15, 1945.
Kyoichi had worked at the plant for a
year and a half during his two years
ofjunior high school.He had earned
150 yen, which was a fortune for that
time. With the war's end,his small
fortune in hand, he found himself
able to feel like a child again.Looking
a r o u n d h i m , h i s h o m eh a d n o t b e e n
burnt down; however,the Kisogawacho neighborhoodhad been destroyed
i n a i r r a i d s .W h e n h e l o o k e da t t h e
s c e n ea r o u n d h i m , K y o i c h ir e a l i z e d
how closehe had cometo being killed.
That same year, his older brother,
Toyoyasu,began to help his father
with the family business,but Kyoichi
was left without work. Due to the
turmoil that existed following the
war, there was little hope for Kyoichi
to find work after graduation.He even
toyed with the thought of working at
the plant he had been at during the
war. He found himself whittling away
the hours without any specificgoals.
By the spring of 1946,Kyoichi
w a s l a n g u i s h i n gw i t h o u t s t u d y i n g
m u c h a t a l l . I n a n y e v e n t ,h e h a d
b e e n a b l e t o g r a d u a t ef r o m j u n i o r
high school.He was idling away
his summerwithout much hope of
finding work, until one day he was
t a k e n t o t h e h o u s eo f t h e c o m p a n y
p r e s i d e n to f T a m a m i z u y ai n S a k a e machi,NagoyaCity,by his father The
president'sfirst words were, "So,you
are Kyoichi,eh? How about coming to
work for me from tomorrow?"Kyoichi
w a s v e r y s u r p r i s e d .H e d i d n ' t k n o w
that his father and the presidenthad
come to an agreementover Kyoichi's
employment.
Designirg eyeglasses
with his skillflll hands
Tamamizuyawas a companyrich
in history.Establishedin 1751,it had
been a famous handbagstore, but it
was turned into a store specializing
i n e y e g l a s s e sa f e w y e a r s b e f o r e
Kyoichi came.During the war, all the
salesclerkshad be_endrafted to fight,
so the store'was-open,
but not doing
very much business.At that time, the
presidentand his wife hadjust started
to rebuild the store with the general
manager Sada Fukuda,who had
j u s t b e e n d i s c h a r g e df r o m m i l i t a r y
service.Other than that, there was a
2 5 - y e a r - o l ds a l e s w o m a na, s w e l l a s
the present.So the store was infused
(left:Kyoichi
At Tamamizuya
Tanaka)
w i t h e n e r g y w h e n K y o i c h ij o i n e d .
A m a n n a m e d T e r a n o ,w h o w a s t h e
p r e s i d e n t ' sr e l a t i v e ,a l s o j o i n e d t h e
store on the sameday as Kyoichidid.
Under these circumstances,
Kyoichi learned generalmanager
F u k u d a ' sb u s i n e s st e c h n i q u e sl i k e a
s p o n g es o a k s u p w a t e r . S o o n a f t e r
that, Fukudadecidedto leavehis job
a n d r e t u r n t o h i s h o m e t o w ni n t h e
Kyushu.Kyoichiwas assignedto serve
a s t h e c h i e f e n g i n e e r .T h r e e Y e a r s
later,he was better than anyoneelse
w h e n i t c a m e t o e y e g l a s s e sP. e o P l e
a p p l a u d e ds, a y i n g ," K y o i c h iT a n a k a
i s i n d i s p e n s a b l ea t T a m a m i z u y a . "
His name becamewell known in the
industry.
SinceTamamizuyawas the oldest
a n d l o n g e s t - r u n n i n gb u s i n e s si n
Nagoya,many wealthy-and therefore
very demanding-customers
patronizedthe store.Kyoichidevoted
h i m s e l f t o t h e d e s i g no f e Y e g l a s s
frames that were fitted to the shapeof
eachcustomer'sfacewhile making the
most of his creativity,which he had
i n h e r i t e df r o m h i s f a t h e r H i s w o r k
was well-receivedby his customers.
D u r i n g t h a t t i m e , m o s t P e o P l ew e r e
calledthe
wearing round eyeglasses,
L l o y d t y p e e y e g l a s s e sn,a m e d a f t e r
Harold Lloyd,a popular comicactor in
the 1920'sand 1930'sThus,Kyoichi's
became
eyeglasses
uniquecustomized
n
e x t r e m e l yp o p u l a r a m o n g o t o n l Y
his customersbut also those involved
in the industry. He found real joY
i n d e s i g n i n g u n i q u e e y e g l a s s e sI.t
was in these early years that Kyoichi
learnedthe reward of taking on new
challengesIn thosedaysthe average
p r i c e o f e y e g l a s s ew
s as 500 Yento
600 yen per pair. The ones designed
by Kyoichiranged from 3,000 Yen
to 8,000 yen. Evenwith such a Price
d i f f e r e n c eh
, i s e y e g l a s s esso l d v e r y
well and contributedto the sales of
Tamamizuya.
Obtaini.g a special license
as an optlclan
Lir Force Hospital
atthe UoS.Fifthノ
1950was a great turning Point for
J a p a n .I t h a d b e e n f i v e Y e a r ss i n c e
Kyoichijoined the store,and that year
would also be a real turning point in
O f f i c e ) .T h e d i r e c t o ro f t h e h o s p i t a l
w h o h a p p e n e dt o b e a n o p t o m e t r i s t
was having trouble Procuring
e y e g l a s s e sf o r h i s i n j u r e d s o l d i e r s
his life
A t t h a t t i m e , e y e g l a s s e sa n d P a r t s
were not being imported into Japan.
O n l y l o c a l J a p a n e s ee Y e g l a s s e s
w e r e a v a i l a b l e .T h e y w o u l d n o t f i t
O n J u n e 2 5 t h , t h e K o r e a nW a r
s t a r t e d , a n d i t c o n t i n u e df o r t h r e e
years Japan'sstatusas a defeatedand
o c c u p i e dn a t i o n b e g a nt o c h a n g e I t
n o w b e c a m ea n i m p o r t a n t a s a U . S
However,
Japanese
baseof operations.
industry,which had suffereda great
r e c e s s i o nd u e t o p o s t w a r d i s o r d e r ,
e x p e r i e n c e da s p e c i a lp r o c u r e m e n t
boom.Industriesin Nagoya,especially
those focusingin textilesand metals,
e n j o y e d a t r e m e n d o u sb o o m i n
business.
At that time, U.S soldiersinjured
in the KoreanWar were taken to the
Fifth Air ForceHospitalnear Nagoya
C a s t l e ( c u r r e n t l yt h e T o k a i P o s t
Americanswho had more Prominent
nosesand broaderfaces.
" F i n ds o m e o n ew h o m a k e sg o o d
e y e g l a s s e st,h" e d i r e c t o r i n s t r u c t e d
one of his subordinates.
I n r e s p o n s et o t h i s , a m i l i t a r Y
m e d i c w i t h h i s i n t e r P r e t e rw e n t
t h r o u g h n u m e r o u se Y e g l a s ss t o r e s
locatedin the city with a fine-tooth
c o m b , a n d f i n a l l y f o u n d K Y o i c h ia t
Tamamizuya.
One day,the militarY medic with
h i s i n t e r p r e t e rc a m e t o K y o i c h ia n d
said,"Mr Tanaka,we needeyeglasses
who belongedto the
A customer
military
American
f o r A m e r i c a n s o l d i e r s .W e h a v e
a p r o b l e m b e c a u s et h e J a p a n e s e
eyeglassesdon't fit Americansvery
well. Couldyou visit our hospitaland
meet our director?"He headedto the
Fifth Air ForceHospitalby jeep along
T a m a m i z u y a ' sp r e s i d e n tS y o z a b u r o
T s u d a .K y o i c h i e x a m i n e dv a r i o u s
Americaneyeglasseson the spot
H e a l r e a d y p o s s e s s e de n o u g h
k n o w l e d g eo f U . S .p r e s c r i p t i o ne y e giassesbecausehe had worked with
A m e r i c a n s o l d i e r sa n d t h e i r f a m i l y
m e m b e r si n J a p a n . S o h e w a s a b l e
t o g i v e i m m e d i a t ea n s w e r st o t h e
q u e s t i o n sm a d e t o h i m t h r o u g h a n
interpreter.
"Youare wonderful.From now on,
we would like to put you in charge
o f m a k i n g t h e e y e g l a s s e sf o r o u r
hospital."
He receiveda speciallicenseas the
hospital optician, and his life began
t o t a k e o n a n i n t e r n a t i o n a lf l a v o r .
He went to the hospitalevery day to
s e e i n j u r e d s o l d i e r sw h o c o u l d n o t
visit Tamamizuya.ln the beginning,
an interpreter helped him, but after
a while, he had to handlehis job
w i t h o u t a n i n t e r p r e t e r .H e w o r k e d
very hard while communicatingwith
his limited Englishand gestures.Not
only did customers and their family
memberswho receivedprescriptions
from the hospitalcome,but Americans
r e s i d i n g i n N a g o y aa l s o b e g a n t o
arrive at the store.Therewere some
Americansoldierswho bought 10 to
2 0 p a i r s o f e y e g l a s s e tsh a t K y o i c h i
d e s i g n e d ,a n d t h e n w e n t b a c k t o a
battlefield and sold them to their
fellow soldiers.Kyoichi'seyeglasses
were stylish and fit the Americans'
facesvery well. Thanksto this special
licenseas an optician at the Fifth Air
ForceHospital,salesat Tamamizuya
steadilygrew evenfurther.
The concept of the contact lens
O n e d a y i n 1 9 5 0 ,t h e w i f e o f a
commanderin the Allied Occupation
Forcescameto Tamamizuyato get her
eyeglassesadjusted.The woman had
cometo the store severaltimes.It was
at that moment she spokethe words
which were to change Kyoichi'slife
forever.
"I havea pair of contactlenses."
C o n t a c tl e n s e s " ' s i n c ee n t e r i n g
the eyeglassfield, Kyoichi had been
aware of work being done in America
a n d E u r o p e o n c o n t a c t l e n s e s .I t
w a s a l m o s t u n t h i n k a b l et o b e a b l e
t o s e e s u c h l e n s e sh e r e i n J a p a n !A
person who had actual contact lenses
w a s s t a n d i n gr i g h t i n f r o n t o f h i m .
Naturally,Kyoichiwanted to see them
at all costs.He askedher, "If you have
them with you, cotild you kindly show
them to me?"
She replied "Oh no! They are very
e x p e n s i v ea, n d i t w o u l d b e t e r r i b l e
s h o u l d t h e y b r o k e n" W r a p p i n g h e r
arms around her handbagshe did not
let him see them, no matter how hard
he pleaded
A t t h a t m o m e n t ,h e t h o u g h t t o
himself."Since.I have no choice.I will
makethem on my own."
Kyoichiwas the type who hated to
lose at anything.Not being able to see
t h e l e n s e sh
, e b e c a m ei n c e n s e da n d
determinedto make them by himself
any way he could.It is ironic-had the
woman showedhim her contactlenses
without hesitation,he might not be
the personhe is today.He would have
likely endedup being a shopkeeperof
a small eyeglassstoresomewhere
Encounter
with the commander's
wife
Inventirg the contact lenses
from scraLch
From that day on, Kyolchi became
Now with drawings and material
absorbedwith creating the contact lens
in hand, he needed to obtain the
that he had never seen
machining tools to actually make the
From his work with eyeglasses,he
lens From that day on, after work,
possesseda basic knowledge of lenses
he started to look for small lathes,
and optics; however,he had almost no
grinders, and other tools by visiting
medical knowledge or the necessary
the shantytowns in Osu, Kanayama,
tools
and Kamimaezu These areas had
H e s t a r t e d b y l i r s t o b s e r v i n gh i s
been bombed and burnt during the
eyes in front of the mirror As soon
war They were the only places to look
as he got home after work, he sat in
for machinery and hardware in the
front of his mother's tripartite mirror
aftermath of the conflict It was hard to
and accurately drew a detailed sketch
find lathes to make such small lenses,
of an eyeball while looking straight
but after looking for a long time, he
into it, from the right and from the left
finally found a suitable lathe and
s i d e s S o m e t i m e s ,h e p e e r e d i n t o t h e
polisher. They were in extremely bad
e y e s o f h i s b r o t h e r . T o y o y a s u .f o r
shape,having been burned and become
additional research From an outside
quite rusted. He cleaned off the rust,
observer's perspective, Kyoichi
and polished the machine with oil so
would have surely seemed insane He
that lt could become useable.He ended
managed to complete drawings for a
u p u s i n g t h i s m a c h i n ef o r a l o n g t i m e
prototype contact lens based on these
6
early drawings
Next, he had to find a suitabie lens
K y o i c h i ' isn v e n t i n gn o t e s
He went to lens factories to find
materials for polishing lenses Not
only did they give him lens polish, but
material He focusedon airplane
they also introduced sales outlets to
windshields,the material of which
(commonly known as "PMMA") was
him. Thanks largely to his position
often used for the frames of eyeglasses
people helped him to complete his
He obtained some left over PMMA from
project
as Tamamizuya's top salesman, many
an eyeglass craftsman
Nlaking a contact lens
It was Februaryof 1951 It had been
three monthssinceKyolchihad heard
Aclpan.cr: rpith
a hronrl rtiew
1968
Havea broadperspective
and
constantly moveforward.
Don'tremainin thesameplace.
Continueto advancelikea gearand
alwaystry to think fast.
about contact lensesfrom the American
commander's wife He finally had made
Take thc initicttive
| 968
Takecontrolof your own work.lf you work for
themanufacturing department,
takeinitiativeand freelyuse
themachinerydo not be usedby themachines.
lf you work for the salesdepartment,
utilizeyour knowledgeof theproductsand
your psychological
skillsto
satisfythecustomer
mentallywithyourproducts,
and take the initiative with good sense.
Re:rrternLter
t /t e k i t t rl t t ess o.f-1n, ry,lc
1970
I am gratefulthat our company
markedits 13thanniversary
and
truly oppreciate
our customersand employeeswho have
beensupportingthe company.
I wouldliketo makethe utmosteffort
whileremembering
the kindnessof people.
what appeared to be a contact lens
"l flnally did 1t This should work
be able to function with the other " His
well "
to Kyoichi's strong determination
However, he had made only the
family's concerns eventually gave way
lenses No one had worn them yet.
However, it was not that he was not
at all scared. "lt'11be all right. I made
Although he was confident about his
t h e s e l e n s e s .T h e r e w i l l b e a g o o d
lenses,clinical testing needed to be
outcome,"he kept telling himself, as if
conducted He had no choice but to use
casting a spell for a few days before he
hls own eyes to test his new creation
"Kyoichi,please don't do it It ls
put the contact lenses in his eyes He
dangerous What 1f you lose your
on himsell
eyesight?"
was performing a type of self hypnosis
He finally put a lens in his eye
People around him, including his
It did not hurt Well, it wasn't as if
father and mother, opposed his risky
there wasn't any discomfort, but it
plan.
"l have two eyes, so there shouldn't
be a problem " Kyoichi replied, "Even if
certainly wasn't unbearable pain After
one became blind in one eye,I still will
and design of his lenses.
that, he repeatedly used his eyes as
guinea pigs and improved the quality
The contact lens situatrcln
in those years
Let's provide some information
service for the Great Buddha of Todai
about contact lens situation in Japan
Temple in Nara in March of 1195
at that time.
This latter man had held the reins of
After the famous Leonardo da
government after defeating the Heike
Vinci had experimented with contact
However, the plan was unsuccessful
lenses derived from basic theory in
Kagekiyo was captured and sent to
1508 (durlng the Muromachi Period
Kamakura There is a legend that
in Japan),many researcherscontinued
Kagekiyo put fish scales on his eyes to
to study them in Europe In 1892 and
pose as a blind person It is also said
1 9 1 1 ,C a r l Z e i s s ,a p r e s t i g i o u s l e n s
t h a t i t w a s K a z u s a g o r o b ew h o w o r e
c o m p a n y i n G e r m a n y ,w h i c h b e c a m e
fish scales in his eyes, rather than
interested in the potential of contact
Kagekiyo In either case, it seems that
lenses, manufactured sclerallenses
at least one of them put fish scales
i n c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h r e s e a r c h e r si n
d i r e c t l y o n h i s e y e b a l l s ,f o r m i n g a
different countries. Then, the company
thln layer, in order to pose as a blind
manufactured corneal lensesmade
p e r s o n w h i l e h e c o u l d s t i 1 1f a i n t l y
of glass in 1912 and used them to
see It is said that fish scales were
determine refractive error After
widely utilized by ninja and spies
that, plastic was invented in Germany
to observe the movements of their
and the U S around 1934, and low
enemies This idea is similar to the
risk lens manufacture that used
concept behind current contact lens,
plastic instead of glass began to be
and in a way, it is the origin of contact
s t r r di e d . T h e l' *a' br' p' e r s" c l e r a ll e n s e s
lensesin Japan
gradually developedinto corneal
lenses.
Contact lenses were brought to
Japan in 1913 Dr Shinobu Ishihara
In medievai Japan,Kagekiyo,known
i n t r o d u c e d g l a s s s c l e r a ll e n s e s m a d e
as Akushichirobe, who was the third
b y C a r l Z e i s s i n G e r m a n y .I n 1 9 3 4 ,
son of the brave Heike commander
Dr Tsutomu Sato made a glass scleral
Kazusanosuke Tadaharu, tried to kill
lens in Japan, but it was not put to
Yoritomo Minaritoto at a memorial
practical use. Before the Second
S c l e r alle n s( l e f t ) c, o r n e a l e n s( r i g h t )
World War, Dr. Minoru Nakajima,a
p r o f e s s o ro f o p h t h a l m o l o g ya t t h e
NagoyaUniversityHospital,ordered
g l a s ss c l e r a l e n s e sf r o m C a r l Z e i s s ,
used his own eyesto test them, and
admittedthe superiorquality of these
lenses.
The first Japanesecontact lens,
from Kyoichi's hands
In 1949,GinichiOkadawho, at that
time, worked for the eyeglasssection
o f t h e N a k a m u r aD e p a r t m e n tS t o r e
and researchedartificial eyes,took a
hint from contactlenses.He borrowed
sclerallenses,with which PhD.Minoru
N a k a j i m a h a d e x p e r i m e n t e d ,a n d
s t o r e d t h e m a t N a g o y aU n i v e r s i t y
H o s p i t a l H e s t a r t e d r e s e a r c hw i t h
I s a m u H o s h i n o ,w h o w a s t h e h e a d
of the ophthalmologydepartmentat
the Japan Red CrossHospital,and he
served as an advisor.After that, Dr
YutakaMizutani at the ophthalmology
department of NagoyaUniversity
Hospital started researchand made a
plastic sclerallensjointly with Ginichi
Okadain 1950.The lens was used in
an animal study.
Professionalresearcherswere able
to obtain information about contact
lenses.However,it was difficult for a
salesclerklike Kyoichi at an eyeglass
store in a small town to obtain such
information, and it was impossibleto
obtain real contactlenses.
Underthesecircumstances,
Japan's
f i r s t s m a l l c o r n e a ll e n s e so f 1 l m m
to ll.5 mm in diameterwere created
by Kyoichi,basedon his unique ideas.
Kyoichilearnedof Dr. Mizutani'sstudy
Go baclr.to
the starting point
| 977
A goal for thisyear is to
"go bockto the stortingpoint."
I would like eachof you to
wnte your own
goalsdown on a blankpaper
and makethe utmost
to occomplishthem.
,effort
in a newspaperand visited him with
the contactlenseshe had createdat
the endof 1951.
"l have been researchingcontact
lensesas well,"he said as he showed
him his lenses.
D r . M i z u t a n i w a s s h o c k e dw h e n
Iooking at the lensesthat Kyoichihad
brought.This was becausehe thought
that it would havebeen impossiblefor
Kyoichi,who was a young salesclerkof
an eyeglassstoreand neithera scholar
n o r a d o c t o r , t o r e s e a r c hc o n t a c t
Ienses.
"Well,this is interesting.Thesecan
T h e f i r s t c o r n e a ll e n s e sd e v e l o o e da n d
in JaDan
manufactured
be used as test lensesfor measuring
the cornealcurvatureradius.I propose
that we work together from now on,"
said Dr. Mizutani.
Following the encounter,Kyoichi
heard that an Americanoptometrist
had contactlensesand askedhim to
show them to him. The lenseswere
very similar to the ones Kyoichihad
created.The optometristgave him a
documentregardingGermancontact
lenses.After reading it, Kyoichi felt
certain that his researchhad been on
the right track.
T h e t e s t l e n s e st h a t K y o i c h i
d e l i v e r e dt o D r . M i z u t a n i w e r e p u t
En()ision a dreant
| 978
Havea dream,envisionit,
and toste it.
That is the keyto success.
Envisiona successfulfutureand
continueto chaseit.
A broad outlook
and 360-degreerltinking
I 980
era.
Wearein a systems-thinking
things
Weshouldconsider
fromalldifferent
aspects,
goalsat all costs.
andthenachieve
on patients' eyes, and patients were
pleasedwith their performance
"Doctor, I can see very clearly with
these lenses They don't fall out even
dawn and finally became ill
"Tanaka, are you all right? You don't
look very well "
When looking at Kyoichi's pale face,
when I look down and they don't hurt
the president of Tamamizuya was
I'11take these."
worried about him. He recommended
At first, Dr. Mizutani could not
that he receive a checkup at the
accept that the corneal lenses Kyoichi
hospital. At the hospital, after taking
had developed were contact lenses
an X ray, it was found that there was
However, after hearing evaluations
a shadow in Kyoichi's lung He was
from several patients who wore the
suffering from tuberculosis, which
lenses,he accepted them as contact
was consideredan incurable and
lenses He and Kyoichi devoted
greatly feared diseaseat the time The
themselvesto joint research more
president of Tamamizuya was worried
than ever. As patients reported
about him and gave him one month's
excellent lens performance and
leave in order to hopefully recover.
comfort while they wore them,
cho′estab ished in 1 952)
However, Kyoichi, being absorbed
manufacturing could not keep up with
with contact lenses, could not stop
the increasing number of orders for
working with them He foresaw that
the lenses that Kyoichi created Since
eyeglasses would be replaced by
Kyoichi was assigned a position of
c o n t a c t l e n s e s .W h i l e o n l e a v e , h e
great responsibility at Tamamizuya,
decided to leave Tamamizuya, where
he worked on contact the lenses from
he had worked for seven years, and
nine or ten o'clock every night after
start his own company.
work. He made lenses from dusk until
Establishing the Nippon Contact Lens
Research Institute
Toyoyasu, Kyoichi's brother,,had
Sato from Juntendo University This
helped their father with his bamboo
was the origin of the radial keratotomy,
sculpture business However, he
or RK The procedure was the focus
became interested in contact lenses
of international attention Dr Sato
as he watched Kyoichi's enthusiasm
visited Nagoya to attend a meeting for
and began to help him with his
doctors and other person involved at
research. They establishedthe Nippon
the Asahi shrine in Naka-ku. On this
Contact Lens Research Institute in
occasion,Dr Mizutani made a case
cooperation with Dr Mizutani just
presentation of a young man who wore
before Kyoichi's 21st birthday in
c o r n e o s c l e r a ll e n s e s t h a t M i z u t a n i
July 1952. They remodeled a room in
produced on his own, rather than the
their house in Kisogawa-cho into a
corneal lenses that Kyoichi created, and
laboratory and started to manufacture
Dr Sato showed a strong interested in
and sell contact
them. After that, Dr. Mizutani started
lenses on
a
comprehensive scale for the first time
to research corneoscleral lensesjointly
in Japan The history of the contact
with Dr. Hisao Magatani and Hironobu
l e n s i n J a p a nb e g a n a l t h i s p o i n t .
Atsuzawa (this effort later resulted
Drrrinpthat vear. Dr Mizutani
in the Tokyo Contact Lens Research
presented contact lenses created by
Center,which became Seed Contact
Kyoichi at a conference, and the lenses
Lens).
were well received At that time, an
However, fortunately or not, this
innovative operation for correcting
led an intense discussionover the
myopia was preseiited by Dr Tsutomu
corneal lenses developed in the West
N K W e s l e yO
, D l e c t u r i n ga t t h e C o n t a c t
L e n sR e s e a r cl hn s t i t u t e( K y o i c hTi a n a k a
p a r t i c i p a t i nign a q u e s t i o na n d a n s w e r
s e s s i oinn N 4 a 1
y 9 5 7w h e nh e w a s2 5 y e a r s
o l d)
and corneoscleral lenses developed in
the nation People involved in the
the East every time ophthalmologic
industry considered Kyoichi's contact
conferences were held Eventually,
lensesinnovative and replacedtheir
they concluded an agreement under
eyeglasses Since the average starting
whlch Kyoichi's Nippon Contact Lens
salary for high school graduates was
ResearchInstitute, formerly called the
4,600 yen in 1952, a pair of contact
Japan Contact Lens Laboratory,was to
lenses,which cost 8,000 yen, was very
develop corneal ienses and the Tokyo
expensive However, this price stayed
Contact Lens Research Center was to
unchanged for eight years. The price
d e v e l o p c o r n e o s c l e r a ll e n s e s I n t h i s
was about the same as a man's three
way, they wouid not invade each other's
piece suit
K y o i c h i d e v e l o p e dc o n t a c t l e n s e s
territory.
During this period, the Japan
after his encounter with an American
Contact Lens Society,which was
c o m m a n d e r ' sw i f e a t T a m a m i z u y a
formerly called the Contact Lens
Their sales increased rapidly Since
ResearchInstitute, was born Intensive
Kyoichi and Toyoyasu could not handle
development of and research into
all this work on their own anymore,
contact lenseswas implementedat
they asked the fourth brother, Seiichi,
each facility, and the industry began
w h o w o r k e d f o r a t e x t i l e c o m p a n yi n
developingrapidly
Nagoya, and the first sister, Naoko, to
The contact lenses Kyoichi created
a l l r a c te d p r e a t a t t e n l i o n a c r o s s
help them, and the small laboratory
became lively
Deciding Lo devote Lrislif'e
tcl conl.act
lenscs
10
Kyoichi used airplane PMMA as
lenses.He started to study materials
a material for hls contact lenses,
while visiting people specializing
but since PMMA contained many
in plastic There was a plastic
impurlties, Kyoichi was thinking that
manufacturer cal1edRehm Chemistry
it might be inadequate for sensitive
in Shirakabecho, Higashi ku, Nagoya
eyes He was seeking the safest
The late Hideo Hisano, the president
material for the human body
of the company gave Kyoichi a variety
Since plastic attracted great
attention as a new material, he placed
an order for plastic with a plastic
company in Osaka. He used it, but jt
was not an lmprovemenl
"This isn't going to work There
must be something better" While
of useful information about plastic
At the time, the economy slowed
and many companieswent bankrupt
There was a prolonged recession
and there were no more jobs despite
the desperatewishes of the public A
company for which his fifth brother,
uslng his network of personal
Yotaro, had worked went bankrupt
connections,he ran around the
due to these severe economic
country searching for a new material
conditions Therefore, Kyoichi asked
However he was unable to find an
president Hisano to hire Yotaro
adequatematerial
"lf I can't find it, I have no cholce
but to make it by myself " He decided
at Rehm Chemistry and Hisano
to develop a plastic suitable for
without expecting anything in
contact lenseseven though he had no
return He similarly asked a company
related academicknowledge
called Nikko Denki to hire Kyoichi's
H e r h o r r p hr h a t i t w a s e s s e n t i a l
to use a material suitable for contact
accepted the offer Hisano was very
kind and willing to help Kyoichi
other brother, Yuuki (the sixth son)
Later, Yotaro and Yuuki established
T h e K T l e n s ,w h i c h w a s n a m e d a f t e r K y o i c h i
Tanaka
Meiko Resin Company, and UM Co.,
tools at Chuo Rikaki Seisakusyo in
Ltd, respectively.Due to matters related
Tsurumai, Naka-ku, Nagoya City
to the company president's health,
He heated the ester to extract the
Rehm Chemistry became a subsidiary
distillate and did so repeatedly He
of Tomey Sangyo Corporation, which
repeated the process and extracted a
Eishun (the third son) later established
high-purity ester.
Kyoichi continued his struggle to
He also devised a molding method
find a safe material suitable for contact
to harden the ester He extracted
lenses
about 500 cc of distillate in a flask
Plastics used for dental treatments
over a period of a day. Adding a
attracted his attention They were
polymerization accelerator made the
created by mixing powders and liquids
distillate become a thick jelly-like
and boiling this mixture. However,
substance (prepolymer) A jelly-like
after he studied such materials;
substance-lt sounds easy,but he
he judged them unfit for contact
had almost no idea about how much
lenses. Even though he managed to
polymerization accelerator to put in
manufacture reasonable plastics after
order to make an optimal prepolymer
placing them in a mold, they contained
Thus, he conducted the same
many impurities.
experiment over and over.
He finally produced the safe
Tokyo Contact Lenses manufactured
lenses made from this molded dental
high-purity PMMA that he wanted
material.
"How can I create safe plastic
However, it was a very dangerous
suitable for contact lenses?"
temperatures when the polymerization
material because it generated high
Studying materials through trial and
accelerator was added. If it was left
error, he finally hit upon the idea that
on the shelf or in another place, it
high-purity polymethylmethacrylate
would explode instantly Refrigerators
(PMMA) could be produced after he
were a product that people could not
extracted a distillate from the ester
easily own at that time This material
used in the dental material.
exploded frequently, and the family
He bought laboratory test tubes,
was troubled by its unpleasant smell
flasks, distillation columns, and other
Developing machines
to createhigh quality contact lenses
by hand
Kyoichi had successfully developed
a safe material for contact lenses
Next, he started to develop various
machines with his brother, Toyoyasu,
in order to commercialize (that is to
s a y , m a s s - p r o d u c e )c o n t a c t l e n s e s .
Since Toyoyasu had worked at the
Mitsubishi Kogyo Hatsudo Seisakusyo,
he demonstrated his ability to develop
machines. At first, they started to
develop a polisher and asked an
iron factory in the neighborhood to
manufacture it Since many factories
had been strugglilg in the recession
following the war, they were glad to
work with the brothers Theysat in
f r o n t o f d r a w i n g sp r e p a r e db a s e d
o n K y o i c h i ' si d e a s a n d T o y o y a s u ' s
t e c h n i c a lk n o w l e d g ea n d e x c h a n g e d
ideas while discussing them
t h o r o u g h l y F i n a l l y ,t h e y d e v e l o p e d
a machinethat could polish 10 to 20
contactlensesat once.
Kyoichiconducteda qualitytest by
p u t t i n g a l l f i n i s h e dt h e s e l e n s e so n
h i s e y e s E v e ni f a l e n s l o o k e df i n e ,
i t i s p o s s i b l et h a t h i d d e n p r o b l e m s
might be found after wearing them
Presentation
at the ContactLensResearch
I n s t i t u t eh e l da t t h e G i f up u b l i ch a l l( M a y
1957;25yearsold)
g a c h i n ef r o m t h a t t i m e
A p r o c e s s i nm
( d e v e l o p ei nd1 9 6 ' l )
F o r e x a m p l e ,i f t h e e d g e o f l e n s i s
not perfectly polished,it will lead to
d i s c o m f o r t .T h e r e w a s n o m a c h i n e
t o t e s t t h i s , s o K y o i c h i ' se y e s w e r e
playingthe role of sucha machine
By going to the Kiso River about
to study and develop better contact
three kilometers from this home by
bicycleat fuli speed,he checkedthe
e x t e n t t o w h i c h t h e p r e s s u r eo f t h e
wind might impactthe contactlenses
succession.Since these machines took
and the degreeto which tears would
becomedry. Also, by leavingcontact
l e n s e so n w h j l e h e w a s s w i m m i n g .
he also checkedwhat would happen
when he openedhis eyesin the water.
In addition,he investigatedthe extent
to which water pressurefrom diving
processing machines to products
into the water might affect the lenses
H e c o n d u c t e dv a r i o u s e x p e r i m e n t s
b y h i m s e l f ,a n d u s e d t h e f i n d i n g s
ienses
After that, a variety of machines,
including a low-power measurer,
molding machine, and polisher based
on Kyoichi's ideas were made in
up a great deal of space,there was
no room left in the small laboratory.
Everything from materials and
were produced based on Kyoichi's
unique ideas. Currently, Menicon
still develops everything "from
materials to products" with its unique
K y o i c hai t t h e K i s oR i v e r( J u l y8 , 1 9 5 6 ;2 5
yearsold)
research and development approach.
This system was born when Kyoichi
prepared the required tools all by
himself.
Competition in
the corneal contact lens market
12
Just after KyoichicreatedJapan's
f i r s t c o r n e a ll e n s ,t h e C o n t a c tL e n s
R e s e a r c hI n s t i t u t e ( l a t e r J a p a n
The cornealcontactlens market,
w h i c h K y o i c h i h a d d o m i n a t e df o r
threeyears,turnedin to a competitive
ContactLensSociety)was established
by famous ophthalmologists,
i n c l u d i n g D r N o b o r u K u n i t b m o ,D r .
T s u t o m u S a t o ,D r M u t s u o K a j i u r a ,
D r . Y u t a k aM i z u t a n i , a n d D r H i s a o
market.
T h e w o r l d w a s c h a n g i n gr a p i d l y
a f t e r e m e r g i n gf r o m t h e p o s t w a r
turmoil in just ten years the Nippon
M a g a t a n i ,i n 1 9 5 1 M a s s m e d i aw a s
increasinglycovering contact lenses
a n d t h e y b e c o m ea p o p u l a r t o p i c o f
conversatl0n
In 1957,Dr Wesleyfrom Wesley
Jessen Inc., who is a secondg e n e r a t i o nJ a p a n e s e - A m e r i c aann d
was known as the foremostexpert of
c o n t a c tl e n s i n t h e U . S . w
, as invited
to Japanby JuntendoUniversity The
contactiens that he brought was
small,about 9 mm in a diameter,and
similarto the one createdby Kyoichi
T o k y o C o n t a c tL e n s L a b o r a t o r y
saw Wesley'scontactlens and entered
t h e c o r n e a lc o n t a c tl e n s f i e l d a f t e r
obtaininga licensefor manufacturing
suchlensesin Japanfrom Dr. Wesley
C o n t a c tL e n s R e s e a r c hI n s t i t u t e ,
which Kyoichihad established,grew
r a p i d l y ,a n d h i s l a b o r a t o r yb e c a m e
too small to run its operations.
K y o i c h i w e n t t o N a g o y aC i t y t w o
or three times in a weekto sell his
product Everytime he saw new
b u i l d i n g st h a t h a d r e c e n t l yb e e n
built, here and there from the train
w i n d o w ,h e t h o u g h t , " I w i s h o n e o f
the buildingswas my factory"He was
confidentthat if he providedcontact
lensesof the highestquality he could
achievehis next goal,to build a new
f a c t o r y i n N a g o y aC i t y . " l w a n t a
factory that has a floor spaceof 66
squaremetersat least I don't care if
the factorylookslike barracks-l will
build it."
T e s t i n gl e n s e sw i t h h i se y e s
( O c t o b e r1 2 , 1 9 5 5 ; 2 4y e a r s
old)
Nippon Contact Lens
ResearchInstitute becomes
the Nippon Contact Lens Co., Ltd.
a t o p h t h a l m o l o g yc o n f e r e n c e sh e l d
acrossJapan.As a result of his efforts,
peopleinvolvedrememberedhim and
h i s r e p u t a t i o n a s t h e " c o n t a c tl e n s
1952.He was certain that the contact
l e n s b u s i n e s sw o u l d g r o w a n d b e
s u c c e s s f u lN
. ow he had found the
land for his dream factory.His dream,
which he had kept alive sincehe was
1 9 y e a r s o f a g e ,w a s a b o u t t o c o m e
expert, KyoichiTanaka,from Nagoya"
grew.He was askedto lectureat many,
m a n y p l a c e s H e b e c a m ee x t r e m e l y
true.
T h e s t a r t i n g c a p i t a lw a s 1 , 2 0 0 , 0 0 0
yen.
Many famousophthalmologists
h a d v i s i t e d h i s s m a l l l a b o r a t o r yi n
Kisogawa-cho.
They were prominent
figures,includinghis collaborator,
Dr. YutakaMizutani, Dr Tsutomu
Sato at Juntendo University,Dr.
Hisao Magatani,Dr. Akira Nakajima,
Dr. YasuoTakano at the Tokyo
T e i s h i n H o s p i t a l ,P r o f . J i n O o t s u k a
at the Tokyo Medical and Dental
U n i v e r s i t y ,a n d D r . H i k a r u H a m a n o
a t O s a k a U n i v e r s i t y .A f t e r t u r n i n g
the laboratory into an incorporated
organization,many people,including
into the company,he startedreceiving
miai offers (for the introduction for
p r o s p e c t i v em a r r i a g ep a r t n e r s ) .H e
lived only for his work and tried to
declineall of them.However,therewas
one that was quite difficult to decline:
an offer from Dr. Hikaru Hamanoat
O s a k a U n i v e r s i t y .D r . H a m a n o h a d
been a mentorwho took great interest
in Kyoichi and had given him much
adviceover the years.He also advised
Kyoichion establishinghis company.
Beforeincorporatingthe company,he
met the youngersisterof Dr. Hamano's
relative in Osaka.This young woman,
Masako,was to becomehis wife after
a year of courtship.They married with
Dr. & Mrs. Hamanoas the exaltedgo-
Nobuo Nakano from Kyoto and the
later presidentShizuhiro Shirayama
visited his companyas well.
As part of his PR activities,he had
betweens.
Their new home was an apartment
on secondfloor of a building near the
ShinpoPoolin Chikusa-ku.Kyoichihad
beenliving in his laboratoryin Showa-
b e e n p r e s e n t i n g* r i s c o n t a c t l e n s e s
ku a bachelor.Now as a responsible
■■
a factory,Kyoichiturned Nippon
ContactLensResearchInstitute,which
h a d b e e n r u n i n d e p e n d e n t l yi ,n t o a
corporation.He changedthe name to
Nippon ContactLens Co.,Ltd. in 1957.
future and family life. He was, in a
sense,a late bloomerwhen it came to
women.In fact, he was so busy,that
he had almostno time for them.Just
beforeturning the researchlaboratory
T a n a k aa s a r e s e a r c h e(rO c t o b e r
yearsold)
りＪ
The land was locatedin Hazamacho,Showa-ku,NagoyaCity,near Chuo
R i k a k i S e i s a k u s y ow
, here Kyoichi
bought test tubes and flasks for
developingplastics Prior to building
busy becausenot only did he
manufactureand sell contactlenses,
but he also servedas a lecturer.
Besideshis work, drinking was his
only outlet.He was getting to that age
wherea youngman must considerhis
呻
Ｆ
﹄
へ
Ӭ
It had been six years since Kyoichi
e s t a b l i s h e dN i p p o n C o n t a c t L e n s
ResearchInstitute at his family home
in Kisogawa-cho,
Aichi prefecture,in
husband he was to have his own home
responsible head of his family, and
With time, his first son was born in
now a father.
1959 Kyoichi had matured into a
rF
I r'\ illg
I ill]es
Everything seemedto be going
Also at that time, Kyoichi's younger
smoothly Kyoichi was about to face his
brother, Eishun, who had worked for a
first major obstacle since the launch of
drug store in Ichinomiya, asked Kyoichi
his contact lens company Dr Yutaka
to hire him, and Kyoichi accepted.He
Mizutani, who had been collaborating
currently serves as the chairman of
with him for a long time, broke away
Tomey Corporation Now all of Kyoichi's
and started his own company called
siblings had entered the new business
the Nippon Contact Lens Research
of contact lenses.
Institute in Sasajima.Without a
14
Now a number of companies that
physician, Kyoichi was unable to
manufactured and sold contact lenses
continue clinical testing He decided to
e s t a b l i s hT o y o C o n t a c t L e n s C o , L t d
in Japan, including Tokyo Contact
Lens ResearchCenter (established
with capital of 3,500,000 yen in the
with the guidance of the Juntendo
Mainichi Building in front of Nagoya
University) and Nippon Contact Lens
Station. Fortunately, he also was able to
Research Institute (establishedby Dr
open the Amano Ophthalmology Clinic
Yutaka Mizutani), enter a phase of
on the third floor of the same building
marketability. The contact lens market
in cooperation with Dr. Junzo Amano,
was not a monopoly of Nippon Contact
an ophthalmologist from Gifu. This
Lens Co, Ltd (establishedby Kyoichi)
clinic became the indispensible location
anymore Despite that, sales of KT
for the gathering of clinical data and
lenses named after Kyoichi steadily
methods of refining ophthalmological
increased as a pioneer brand. Users
testing procedures and other various
acclaimed the lenses as safe, reliable,
matters in the field of ophthalmology
and having excellent comfort
Shrntoceremonyof purifyinga sitefor new
h e a do f f i c eb u i l d i n g( c o m p l e t eodn J u n e2 ,
1963;3I yearsold)
New head office building (completed on
J u n e2 . 19 6 3 )
The business:
doubling capital everyyear
Since the [actory was not big
paddy in Nishiyama-cho,Nakamura-ku
enough anymore, Kyoichi purchased
in December 1958 and built Nishiyama
495 square meters of land in a rice
F a c t o r y .O n e y e a r a n d t h r e e m o n t h s
F/・
Trt ke: re:.s:
p o rLsi b i I i t.y.fo r
perlo/'m,t.trg t(tsks
1983
Eachemployeemustperfectly
accomplishhisor hertasksln other
words,I believe,taking responsibility
for performing taskscontributesto
the companydevelopment.
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Noticeof changeof the company name
displayedat a conference(1965)
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later,he built Higashi-biwajima
F a c t o r ya t 5 , H i g a s h i - b i w a j i m a - c h o ,
Nishi-ku A private temple,which had
n o t o m b s o r B u d d h i s tp a r i s h i o n e r s ,
usedto be on this land. He bought
i t j u s t a f t e r h e r e c e i v e da n o f f e r
For severalyears,ToyoContacthired
peoplefrom Kyushu.To this day there
r e m a i n m a n y e m p l o y e e sf r o m t h a t
area.
The first time Kyoichimet Mr. Mori
w a s w h e n h e e n t e r e dT a m a m i z u y a
A t t h a t t i m e , G i n i c h i O k a d a ,t h e
owner and presidentof the eyeglass
store within the current Mitsukoshi
DepartmentStore,and Mr Mori, who
p a r t i c u l a r l y b e c a u s eh e f e l t s u c h a
property would be good luck With
990 squaremetersof the land he had
enough room the factory and a new
corporateoffice for his NipponContact
Lens Co.,Ltd (the companyname was
went on to establishKikuchi Optical a
few years later,werejointly running
changedinto Toyo ContactLens Co.,
L t d . i n 1 9 6 5 ) .A r e i n f o r c e dc o n c r e t e
three-storycorporateoffice building
was constructedOne month later,he
h a d a n e m p l o y e ed o r m i t o r y c a l l e d
an eyeglasswholesalecompanycalled
Nitto Lens Tamamizuyadid business
with Nitto Lens,and Kyoichimet Mr.
Mori when he went to the company
and pickedup productsas an errand
S h i n t o m i D o r m i t o r y c o n s t r u c t e di n
Shintomi-cho,Nakamura-ku
The reasonfor an employee
dormitory was that he had to ensure
h o u s i n g f o r e m p l o y e e sa s s o o n a s
p o s s i b l e .S i n c e t h e g r o w t h o f t h e
boy.
Althougha new office building had
b e e n c o m p l e t e dK
, y o i c h i ' sc o m p a n y
was still suffering from a shortageof
manpowerSo he startedto mechanize
h i s c o m m e r c i a lp r o d u c t i o nl i n e H e
c o m p a n yb r o u g h t a l a b o r c r u n c h ,
he started to recruit employeeswho
lived far away from Aichi, including
t h o s e i n t h e K y u s h ua r e a . A t t h a t
time, the late Fumio Mori, presidentof
Kikuchi Optical CorporationLimited
( h e r e i n a f t e r e f e r r e dt o a s " K i k u c h i
had madeall kinds of efforts and
pushedto mechanizethe production
line in order to improvethe systems.
Constructionof a new office building
accelerated
suchmechanization.
There
w e r e n o m a n u f a c t u r e r sf o r c o n t a c t
lens production.That was why Kyoichi
Optical")helpedKyoichias a good
a d v i s o r .K i k u c h i O p t i c a l w a s t h e
l a r g e s t e y e g l a s ss t o r e c h a i n i n t h e
Nagoyaarea.SinceKikuchi was from
K u m a m o t oh e r e c r u i t e d e m p l o y e e s
h a d t o d e v e l o pa l l t h e m a c h i n e so n
h i s o w n . T h o s e m a c h i n e sb e c a m e
q u i t e s o p h i s t i c a t e da n d i n n o v a t i v e .
from Kumamotoevery year He told
K y o i c h i t o r e c r u i t e m p l o y e e sw i t h
h i m , a n d K y o i c h i d e c i d e dt o h i r e
peoplefrom the Kyushuarea as well.
For instance,Kyoichibought a burnt
a n d d i l a p i d a t e dl a t h e m a c h i n e i n
Kamimaezu,Naka-kuand remodeledit.
This machinewas usedfor a very long
time. It demonstrates
how innovative
and sophisticatedthe equipmentwas
tryeing a global market
I n 1 9 5 9 ,j u s t b e f o r e H i g a s h i biwajima Factorywas completed,
the First International ContactLens
Conferencewas held in Chicago.It was
the dawn of the era of contactlenses
around the world.
I n 1 9 6 0 , G e o r g eJ e s s e n O
, .D
(Doctor of Optometry) from Wesley
JessenInc. and Dr. Peserofrom Cuba
visited the headq'tartersin Hazamacho and NishiyamaFactorywith
Mr. Mori from Kikuchi Opticaland
took a closelook at contactlens
m a n u f a c t u r i n gp r o c e s s e s I n t h i s
sameyear,Dr. Lim and Dr Wichterle
f r o m C z e c h o s l o v a k ip
a r e s e n t e da
hydrophilic soft contact lens at a
c o n f e r e n c eT. h e l e n s w a s m a d e o f
hydroxyethyl methacrylate(HEMA),
which different from conventional
r i g i d m a t e r i a l sa t t h a t t i m e H E M A
w a s f o u n d b y a c c i d e n tw h i l e t r y i n g
(O.D.,
Dr GNJessen
U S) andDr Pesero
from
C u b av i s i tt h e h e a d q u a r t e rwsi t h t h e l a t e
FumioMori,the president
of KikuchiOptical
(atNishiyama
Factory
in 1960;29yearsold)
to developartificialjoints It was the
materialthat Bausch& Lomb acquired
and marketedfor the flrst soft contact
lens in the world
"The world is a big placeand
changingfast. If I am satisfiedwith my
l e n s e sa s t h e y a r e , I w i l l f a l l b e h i n d
put many professionalsto shameeven
though he had neverbeentaught.
When he went to the U.S.for the
first time, he broughthis hand-made
s c u l p t u r e sa s g i f t s H e i n l a y e d a
pattern of ants that was made from
e b o n yw o o d o n s i m p l e ,s h i n y p i e c e s
the times."Just when he beganto feel
o v e r w h e l m e dM
, r. Mori invited him
t o a t t e n d t h e A m e r i c a nO p t o m e t r i c
A s s o c i a t i o nC o n f e r e n c ep l a n n e d t o
b e h e l d i n J u n e o f 1 9 6 1i n D e n v e r ,
o f b a m b o o .H e m a d e t h e m i n t o t i e
clips and cuff links They were quite
p o p u l a rw i t h t h e A m e r i c a n st h a t h e
U.S.
Colorado,
" T h i s i s a g o l d e no p p o r t u n i t y .
I n e e d t o s e e t h e c o n t a c tl e n s e s
developedin the pioneercountry for
myself."He acceptedMori's invitation.
It was Kyoichi'svery first trip overseas
Kyoichipreparedhand-madegifts
As his hobby,he had started making
b a m b o o - i n l a i ds c u l p t u r e a r o u n d
1 9 6 0 w h e n h i s b u s i n e s sw a s d o i n g
w e l l B a m b o o - i n l a i sdc u l p t u r ew a s a
specialtyof his father,KazanTanaka,
who was known in posterityas a
famousbamboosculptor.It seemsthat
16
Kyoichiinherited an exceptionaitalent
from his father His ski1lfor sculpture
P r e s i d e nKt y o i c hTi a n a k al,e a v i n g
t h e A m e r i c a nO p t o m e t r i cA s s o c i a t i
Conference
heldin Denver(1961)
met
He accompaniedfour prominent
membersrepresentingthe Japanese
eyeglassindustry,the late FumioMori
f r o m K i k u c h i O p t i c a l ,H i r o s h i T a n e
from PARISMIKI Inc., Himeji, Takeo
K a n a i f r o m F u j i M e g a n e ,H o k k a i d o ,
and Hiroshi Aizawafrom Sendai.
A f t e r a r t e n d i n st h e A m e r i c a n
in
OptometricAssociationConference
Denver,they visitedoptometryschools
in ChicagoB
, e r k e l e ya n d F u l l e r t o n .
The tour was quite intensive,so they
d e c i d e dt o r e l a x i n H a w a i i o n t h e
last day. For Kyoichi,who was always
t h i n k i n g a b o u t c o n t a c tl e n s e s ,t h i s
was his first vacatlonsincehe devoted
himselfto hisjob.
Development of Japan's first
soft contact lens
Kyoichi had been focusing on
developing ne、
v materials for safe,
comfortable, and user―
friendly
contact lenses since he began to
manufacture them However,Dr Lim
and Dr Wichterle from Czechoslovakia
surprised the、vorld
They developed hydrophilic soft
contact lenses made of hydroxyethyl
methacrylate(HEMA)The material was
groundbreaking and totany different
from PNIN4A,M′ hich KyOichi used to
produce hard lenses This revolutionary
material could absorb M/ater,and could
deliveF oXygen through this、vater to
the cornea This developmentinspired
c o n t a c t l e n s m a n u f a c t u r e r sa c r o s s
the wor1d.Eventuallythey started to
developsoft lensesas well.
Kyoichiadvanceddevelopmentof
h i s o w n m a t e r i a la n d p r e s e n t e dt h e
Japan'sfirst soft lens aheadof other
c o m p a n i e sa t t h e 8 t h J a p a nC o n t a c t
L e n s C o n f e r e n c eh e l d a t t h e K o b e
Ishi Kaikanin 1964 It had beenfour
years sinceDr Lim and Dr Wichterle's
presentation.However,his soft lens
was still not perfected It took another
nine years beforehe finally released
his new productin 1973.It was called
W o r k s h o op f M e n i c o nS o f tc e l e b r a t i n g
20th anniversary ofthe company
1971)
the "Menicon Soft."
the lens edpe in an accurateand
Just as Kyoichi was about to
precise fashion with basic machining
commence sales of Menicon Soft, a
techniques instead of hand labor
new law that required the approval of
During this researchphase,it was
the Ministry of Welfare for the sale of
found that the manufacturing quality
contact lenses was enacted. It would
varied with the seasons The company
take another year before sales could
soon recognized that the operating
begin. Finally in 1973, Kyoichi and six
environment, especially temperature
other competitors received approval
and humidity, had to be controlled to
all at the same time. This led to an
properly manage high levels of quality
era of intense competition. Thanks to
So Kyoichi and his company made
Menicon Soft's excellent comfort and
the necessary changes to manage the
oxygen permeability, sales exceeded
environment of the manufacturing
those of the other companies This
allowed Kyoichi to further strengthen
area
"Thinking back on this era, Dr Lim
his research and development to
and Dr. Wichterle's discovery of HEMA
outpace his competitors.
and their consequent development of
His new soft lens era also allowed
^r"^-cements
in
duvdrl
the spin cast molding system was truly
manufacturing technology Owlng
drop of material into a mold they could
to the unique properties of soft
spin cast and mold a lens This method
contact lenses,many debatesover
was protected by patent Thus, we had
manufacturing techniques for lens
to devise other methods of producing
design were ignited.
soft contact lenses This caused us
r^rdr
tirEaLEr
daunting By simply putting a single
Kyoichi conducted research
a great deal of hard work and extra
and development of automated
effort. The spin cast mold only required
manufacturing techniques with many
a drop of material to be placed into a
staff researchers in order to improve
mold and it was simultaneously spun
the productivity while maintaining
and molded into a final product."
a h i g h 1 e v e 1o f q u a l i t y .
Through
Dr. Lim's manufacturing method
these efforts, he developed lathes
was truly a mass production system.
which could automatically lathe the
Kyoichi's system also involved mass
entire front surface of a contact lens
production; however, it did require
and a separate lathe which could
human care and hand work at crucial
automatlcally could lathe the entire
areas along the manufacturing
back surface of a contact lens Also, he
process. He marketed his lens as a
developed a polishing machlne which
m a s s - p r o d u c e dh a n d m a d e p r o d u c t
could simultaneously polish the front
that was tailor-made for peoples' eyes
and back surfaces of a contact lens. In
1968, he was able to develop an "edging
S u b s e q u e n t l y ,t h e J a p a n e s e m a r k e t
machine " This machine allowed the
praise and allowed his company to rise
manufacturing of the contact lens edge
to become the second largest contact
in a consistent and precise manner Up
lens company in the world With this,
until then, edging required experienced
Kyoichi established a new factory in
factory personnel to work by hand
Motozuka-cho, Nishi-ku, Nagoya City in
This new lathe could accurately make
1972
received Kyoichi's soft lens with high
Dedicating the company
to clinical and basic research
By this time, Kyoichihad already
e s t a b l l s h e da c l i i r i c a l l a b o r a t o r yt o
check actual clinical performance of
new materials and designs. For the
MeniconSoftTrial
Set
developmentof materials, however,
safety tests had to be performed
before clinical testing.For this
r e a s o n ,K y o i c h i a l s o e s t a b l i s h e d
a b i o l o g i c a ll a b o r a t o r y r e s e a r c h
d e p a r t m e n t ,w h i c h c o n d u c t e db a s i c
t e s t sw i t h r a b b i t sa n d g u i n e ap i g s .
O u t s i d e o f u n i v e r s i t i e s ,t h i s w a s
the first time for a contact lens
m a n u f a c t u r e r t o a c h i e v et h i s , a n d
w i t h n e w m a t e r i a l s ,i t b e c a m ep a r t
Menicon'sunique systemof research
and development
I n g e n e r a l ,c o m p a n i e sr e q u e s t
u n i v e r s i t y l a b o r a t o r i e st o c o n d u c t
new research.However,if an ordering
party does not have an adequate
level of knowledgein this field, it will
s p e n da g r e a t d e a l o f t i m e a n d t h e
resultswill alsonot be certain.
Currently,the researchcenter is
home to 100 or more rabbitsand
o t h e r a n i m a l s .K y o i c h i p l a n s t o
deepenthe collaborativerelationship
w i t h u n i v e r s i t i e s ,u s e t h e t e s t
facilitiesto study other aspectsof eye
disease,and developmedicaltoolsfor
the future.
Undertaking new rigid
contact lens research
A s t e c h n o l o g ya d v a n c e da r o u n d
the world, "high oxygenpermeability"
becamea buzzword.Soft lenseswere
s o m e w h a to x y g e n - p e r m e a b l eb,u t
old hard lenseswere not at all Many
c o m p e t i t o r sf o c u s e do n d e v e l o p i n g
"ultra-thin" lenses.However,thinner
l e n s e sh a d b o t h a d v a n t a s e sa n d
disadvantages.
K y o i c h i d e c i d e dt o d e v e l o pa n
i n n o v a t i v e o x y g e n - p e r m e a b lrei g i d
lens He wanted to basethis on
t h e h a r d l e n s e st h a t h e h a d b e e n
d e v e l o p i n gf o r a l m o s t 2 0 y e a r s .H e
h o p e d t o d e v e l o pl e n s e st h a t w e r e
oxygen-permeable
with excellent
comfort, exploiting features of
e x i s t i n g r i g i d l e n s e s .I t c o u l d b e a
magical product for users of rigid
l e n s e si f t h e o x y g e np e r m e a b i l i t y
b e c a m eh i g h e n o u g ht h a t p e o p l e
could even sleep in them. The
c o m p a n yr e l e a s e di t s f i r s t o x y g e n p e r m e a b l er i g i d l e n s M e n i c o n O z ,
which createda new field of contact
lenses.
MeniconOzwas recognizedas an
i n n o v a t i v el e n s a r o u n d t h e w o r l d
I t w a s o n e o f t h e e a r l y s t e p st h a t
made contact lensesever safer.The
M e n i c o n O z t r a n s l a t e do v e r t h e
corneawith the blink, creatinga tear
pump, and additionallywas oxygenpermeablein and of itself.
I n t e r n a t i o n awl o r k s h o pc o n f e r e n c e
c e l e b r a t i nM
g e n i c o n ' 3s 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y
'1982;
(November
51yearsold)
A t t h a t t i m e , d e v e l o p m e n ot f
o x y g e n - p e r m e a b lhea r d l e n s e sw a s
a g l o b a l t r e n d . K y o i c h iw a s a m o n g
the first to developand releasesuch
l e n s e sa s a p r o d u c t A n A m e r i c a n
c o m p a n y h a d d e v e l o p e da c o n t a c t
lf rou tn/, Youcan make it
lf yoir willaitd ffirr 0re strong
enough,
you can acltie1e anytlting.
| 985
lf you tty,you can make it.
lf you havea passion,you will be successful.
A strong will to becomeand achieveis necessary.
Possionis necessaryto achieveone'sgoals.
MeniconEXproductlaunch(May1986)
Tiain yourselees
r 986
lwould like all of you to make the utmost effort to train
yourselvesphysicallyond mentallyand becomepeople
who havesharpness,persistence,
and grocelike a Japanesesword,
which is madeafter beingpolishedoverand over.
I hooe that we will continueto
forgeaheadasa companyon the cutting edge.
lens that was similar to Menicon Oz,
but Menicon had obtained patents
in different regions of the world
Menicon Oz became a huge hit and
export of the product overseas
drastically increased.
In fact, Kyoichi and al1 his
researchers wore Menicon Oz and
were convinced that it was something
quite different from traditional
products. This product truly added
t o t h e s u c c e s so f M e n i c o n . A s c o u l d
be expected,competitors eventually
d e v e l o p e d s i m i l a r l e n s e s ,b u t i t t o o k
sevcn vears after the release oI
O z s e t t h e s t a g ef o r t h e c o m p a n y
t o d e v e l o pp r o d u c t a f t e r p r o d u c t ,
i m p r o v i n g t h e o x y g e np e r m e a b i l i t y
with eachone
T h e c o m p a n yr e l e a s e dM e n i c o n
E X i n 1 9 8 6 ,w h i c h i s t h e f i r s t h a r d
c o n t a c tl e n s f o r a p p r o v e de x t e n d e d
w e a r . P e o p l ec o u l d n o w s l e e p i n
. e n i c o nS u p e r
t h e s ec o n t a c tl e n s e s M
E X f o l l o w e di n 1 9 9 1 W i t h r e g a r dt o
oxygenpermeability,MeniconEX had
a D k o f 5 5 . M e n i c o nS u p e rE X h a d a
D k o f 1 3 6 ,w h i c h w a s a n i n c r e d i b l e
f i g u r e c o m p a r e dw i t h c o n v e n t i o n a l
contactlensDk of 0.
M e n i c o n O z T h e s u c c e s so f M e n i c o n
Contributing to research
into early intraocular lenses
for cataract surgery
subject of research and development.
Kyoichi try to manufacture the same
It was the intraocular lens
He
Kyoichi accepted his request He had
about this
his biological research department
had been thinking
problem since he first started
conduct animal tests repeatedly Dr
to develop a contact lens. While
Hayano tested lenses in a clinical
getting acquainted with numerous
setting in 1958 and presented a case
ophthalmologists at universities
report at a conference in 1960 As a
and talking about various subjects
result of their effort, they developed
with them, he thought that if the
Japan'sfirst intraocular lenses in
intraocular lens were developed, it
7977, and subsequently received
could be lauded as deserving a Nobel
approval from the Ministry of Health
Prize.
and Welfare. It took about 20 years
lenses are for
to develop these lenses.Later, Dr.
congenital cataracts, cataracts
resulting from injuries caused by
Hayano reminisced during a lecture,
"President Tanaka was good with
traffic and other accidents,and senile
his hands Although he was young,
cataracts In general, crystalline
he utilized a lathe machine and
lenses are extracted from cataract
manufactured the first anterior
patients by surgery, but this causes
chamber intraocular lens in Japan.
a high degree of hyperopia and
This is the lens for which we will
patients have to wear eyeglasseswith
be remembered." His words reflect
thick convex lenses to make up for
his thanks and the extent to which
the missing lens If intraocular lenses
Kyoichi focused on this project
Intraocular
w e r e d e v e l o p e d ,t h e l e n s e s c o u l d b e
implanted during crystalline lens
extractlon surgery.
In 1954, Prof Saburo Hayano,
an assistant professor at Shinshu
University, started to research
人 工 水 昴 体 ロ エ に成 功
intraocular lenses and requested that
自内障に新たな´
光″
Kyoichl had one more noteworthy
19
A newspaper
articlereportingdevelopment
o f a n a r t i f i c i acl r y s t a l l i nlee n s( i n t r a o c u l a r
tensl
Contact lenses as the window to the soul
Times have changedfrom KYoichi's
younger days.He started by developing
c o n t a c t l e n s e sw i t h e x c e P t i o n a l
e n t h u s i a s mi n a n i m P o v e r i s h e d
postwar Japan. He ended uP
e s t a b l i s h i n ga n i n t e g r a t e dc o m p a n y
covering everything "from materials
to products,"which is still Menicon's
fundamentalpolicy. However,he does
not force younger peopleto follow his
way of life.
He makesa sPeechat the comPanY
i n i t i a t i o nc e r e m o n ye v e r yy e a r a n d
a l w a y s s a y s t h a t t h e " e Y e sa r e t h e
windowto the soul,and I believethat to
help peoplewho suffer from hyperopia
o r m v o p i at o r e c o v e rt h e i r v i s i o n i s
c e r t a i n l ya w o r t h y j o b . J u s t a s m a l l
contactlens,with a thicknessof less
than onemillimeterand a diameterjust
around nine millimeters,can provide
you with clearvision.With suchlenses,
you can seethings that Youcould
hardly see before.For thesepatients,
thesesmall lensesare more valuable
than expensivejewelry. The contact
l e n s b u s i n e s s ,w h i c h y o u b e c a m e
involvedin, providesemotionalsupport
for many,many people.I believethat it
is a wonderfulbusinessto be proudof,"
This speechtruly showsKYoichi's
feelingsof great honor in providing
cleanvisionto peopleand the reward
of taking on new challenges.
trstablishing
an international Business
which to this day remains the most
o x y g e np e r m e a b l er i g i d l e n s i n t h e
w o r l d . I t h a d b e e n s o m et i m e s i n c e
companiesin the contactlens industry
had started to competein developing
b i f o c a l c o n t a c tl e n s e s ,d e s i g n e df o r
an aging society.Of course,Kyoichi
f o c u s e d o n - ' d e v e l o p m e not f t h o s e
of. As soon as this bifocalcontactlens,
Menifocal,was released,it met with
enthusiasticresponse
W h i l e m a n y c o m p a n i e sh a d
withdrawn their corporatesupport for
﹁ 疇薔鵬肝
薔疇口耐
challengesas always.
H i s d o g g e dd e t e r m i n a t i o nw a s
a c t u a l l yr e a l i z e dw h e n t h e c o m p a n y
releasedMeniconSoftS in 1994.It was
a thin and high oxygenpermeablesoft
waler content Then in
lens with 72o/o
1997,MenicondevelopedMeniconZ,
not satisfied,and he was still concerned
aboutvisionquality
H e t o o k f i v e m o r e Y e a r sa n d
t h o r o u g h l y i m p r o v e dt h e d e s i g nt o
finally developa lenshe couldbe proud
口購麟層
issuing instructions to his staff.
E v e n a f t e r t h e c o m p a n yg r e w i n t o
a n i n d u s t r i a lg i a n t , h e t o o k o n n e w
bifocal lensesas his next challenge.
The design for bifocal lenses,which
was considereddifficult, was almost
completedaround 1995,and resultsof
clinicaltestswerefavorable.The lenses
s h o w e de x c e l l e n tv i s u a l a c u i t y a n d
other attributes.However,Kyoichiwas
薔麟
T h e c o m p a n y t h a t K Y o i c h ih a d
started with his brother ToYoYasu
h a d g r o w n t o b e c o m eo n e o f t h e
major international contact lens
m a n u f a c t u r e r sb y 1 9 9 1 K Y o i c h i
r e m a i n e da c t i v e o n t h e f r o n t l i n e s ,
F u l lv i e wo f M e n i c o nh e a d q u a r t eb ru i l d i n g
(March1995)
E m p e r o r 'M
s e d a lw i t h B l u e R i b b o n
(November
1995)
the arts due to economicslowdowns,
M e n i c o n a c t u a l l y i n t e r e s t e di t s
a c t i v i t i e s .A M e n i c o ng a l l e r y c a l l e d
"Menio"was openedto provide young
aspiringartists with opportunitiesto
displaytheir work. MeniconCup was
a n a l l - s t a r c h a m p i o n s h i pf o r j u n i o r
(Septembe(
1997)
MeniconZ released
h i g h s c h o o l s o c c e rt e a m s .M e n i c o n
a l s o s p o n s o r e dt h e p e r f o r m i n ga r t s ,
providing an opportunity to listen to
music It createdan environmentfor
people'sspiritual enrichmentthrough a
seriesof classicalmusicconcertscalled
the MeniconSuperConcertSeries.
Menicon'snew headquarterswere
c o m p l e t e di n 1 9 9 5 . A m o n g o t h e r
m i l e s t o n e st,h e c o m p a n yo b t a i n e d
I S O 9 0 0 1c e r t i f i c a t i o ni n 1 9 9 6 a n d
t h e C E m a r k , w h i c h i n d i c a t e st h a t
p r o d u c t sm e e t i n t e r n a t i o n a lq u a l i t y
assurancestandards.This represents
a higher standardthan the JIS mark.
The CE mark standardwas essential
t o d o b u s i n e s si n E u r o p e .F o r s u c h
r e a s o n s t, h e c o m p a n ye s t a b l i s h e da
quality management
systemin order to
promoteits businessdevelopment
on a
global scalemeetingthe often stricter
qualityassurancestandards.
As a result of these efforts,Kyoichi
won the award for pharmaceutical
c o n t r i b u t o r sg i v e n b y t h e M i n i s t e r
of Health and Welfare in 1992
and the Medalwith BlueRibbon
f o r p h i l a n t h r o p y ,i n v e n t i o n s o r
improvements
in the autumnof 1995.
Toward a new era
With the 21st century rapidly
a p p r o a c h i n gK
, y o i c h io f t e n t h o u g h t
about Menicon in the coming
generationand said the following.
"lndustrialstructure had changed
due to market entry of foreign
companiesand other factors.The 21st
century is just around the corner.This
comingagewill be a'youngpeople's
era.'
My responsibilityis to developfuture
leadersof Meniconand the contactlens
industry for the next generation"
June2000, the last year of the 21st
century,Kyoichihandedoverhis mantle
t o h i s f i r s t s o n ,a n o p h t h a l m o l o g i s t ,
Dr. HldenariTanaka.He decidedit was
time to watch over the future of the
contact lens field from the position of
the Chairmanof the company.
Since the foundation of the
company,Kyoichihad devotedhimseif
continue the tradition of originality
created since the foundation of the
company, as to further develop it, take
on new territories, and create new
businessesfrom a modern viewpoint.
In 2001, Menicon celebratedits 5Oth
anniversary, 51 years after Kyoichi
met an American commander's wife by
chance.The company announced a new
mission in front of a great number of
ophthalmologists, medical personnel,
and industry officials For Menicon's
next 50 years, the company continues
to take on new challenges under the
banner of "Menicon Eye Wave" and its
slogan "We are responsible for making
the eyes of all people shine."
Kyoichi said, "The first stage of my
product making for Menicon has been
completed. I believe that it is time for
the younger generations to fly ahead in
wholeheartedly
to contactlenses,and
D r H i d e n a r iT a n a k ah a s t h o r o u g h l y
inherited this spirit from his father.
Newly appointedpresidentDr. Tanaka
the world as they take over Menicon's
formulateda new companyphilosophy,
known as "neo-originalmanagement."
vision has already begun.
I t s y m b o l i z e sh i s d e t e r m i n a t i o nt o
A n e w s p a p earr t i c l er e p o r t i n g
inauguration
(June29,2000)
of newPresident
originality and work to further develop
it"
Menicon's second stage of Kyoichi's
(Omitted titles from names)
D r a n d M s T a n a k a s n e w P r e s i d e n( lte f t ) ,
Mr andMs Tanaka
asnew
C h a i r m a(nr i g h t )
CnrI)oraLe
Year
1950
11 l s tO r v
Hi s t o r y
Month
Nov
KyoichiTanakadecidesto start researchinto contactlensesafter hearingfrom an American
contactlenses
wife that shepossessed
military commander's
1951
Japan'sfirst corneallensdeveloped
1952
NipponContactLensResearchInstituteestablishedin Kisogawa,Haguri gun,Aichi
1957
NipponContactLensCo , Ltd establishedwith capitalof 1 2 million yen inHazama, Showa-ku,
Nagoya
Aug
ToyoContactLensCo, Ltd established(counselingroom in the Mainichi Building)
Dec
NishiyamaFactoryestablishedin Nishiyama,Nakamura-ku,Nagoya
1960
Apr
The ShintomiDormitoryfor employeesestablishedin Shintomi,Nakamura-ku,Nagoya
1963
Jun.
Nishi ku, Nagoya
New headofficebuilding constructedin Higashi-biwajima,
1958
Soft contactlensespresentedfor the first time in Japanat the Sth JapanContactLensConference
1964
held at the Kobe lshi Kaikan
Companynamechangedfrom NipponContactLensCo, Ltd to ToyoContactLensCo,
1965
1966
Aug
Nishi ku, Nagoya
New headofficebuilding constructedin Higashi-biwajima,
"BallastorLens" contactlensesfor high myopiareleased
1967
Nov
Trademark"Menicon"registered
1968
JUn.
Aug.
;969
1970
1stcontactlensworkshopheld at the headquartersin Higashibiwajima
Continuinseducationon contactlensesstarted
Mar
Dec
Company'sproductsput in a time capsuleat the JapanWorld Exposition70
"Menicon8" released
"Softgonioscope(TT type)"released
1971
22
1972
Nov.
TomeySangyoCorporation(affiliate)established
20th anniversaryof the company;"MeniconSoft"workshopheld at the WestinNagoyaCastle
Dec
New headquarter constructed in Biwajima, Nishi-ku, Nagoya
Apr
NagoyaLearningCenterestablishedon the fourth floor of the headoffice (currentlyBiwajimalaboratory)
Aug.
"Menicon Soft" released
1973
1974
May
MotozukaFactory,an additionalfactoryfor soft lenses,establishedin Motozuka,Nishi ku, Nagoya
Oct.
held at the WestinNagoyaCastle
1stToyoContactLensInternationalWorkshopConference
1975
Mar.
clinicaltestsstarted
Prototypeof intraocularlensdeveloped;
1976
Jun.
1977
Nov
MeniconEuroneestablishedin France
25th anniversaryofthe company;"Menicon02"Japan'sfirst RGPlens,presentedat the ToyoContact
LensInternationalWorkshopConferenceheld at the WestinNagoyaCastle
"Menicon Oz" released
1979
Trademarkof Meniconregistered
Nov
Toyo Medical (affiliate) established
New headquarterfor TomeySangyoCorporationcompleted
Meniconestablishedat3-2I-19,Aoi,Naka-ku,Nagoya
Salesdepartmentlaunchedunder the nameof Meniconafter beingseparatedfrom
manufacturingdepartment
Researchand manufacturingdepartmentcontinuedunderthe nameofToyo ContactLensCo, Ltd
MeniconSoftM" released
1982
Oct.
Headquarterof Meniconconstructed
Nov
30th anniversaryof the company;InternationalWorkshopConferenceheld a l r h e W e s t i n N a g o y aC a s t l e
"MeniconOzSP"high oxygenpermeablehard contactlensreleased
'Javal
Award"from the ContactLensAssociationof Optometry
Receivedthe
"LaboratoryCenterAward"receivedfrom the Mediumand SmallBusinessResearchInstituteat the
TokyoChamberof Commerceand Industry
1983
1984
Nov.
SekiFactoryestablished
1985
May
1986
May
The first Japaneseapprovalfor manufacturingintraocularlensesobtained
"MeniconEX" released
1987
Oct.
SekiFactoryexpansion
Nov
Toyo Contact Lens Co, Ltd (research/manufacturing) and Menicon (sales)integrated; New Menicon created
Mar
subsidiary)establishedin Germany
MeniconGermany(overseas
"MeniconSoft MA' released
1988
Distributioncentersopenedat five locationsacrossJapan
Year
1989
History
Month
ul
」
InternationalDesignExpo'89 (July 15th November26th) sponsored
Number of visitors to "Asahi Menicon Pavilion" reaches 1 million
"-H
Attendedthe 7th InternationalMedicalContactLensSymposiumin Singapore
1990
Apr
1991
1992
an
」
Third building ofSeki Factorycompleted
"MeniconSuperEX" released
Oct
Sponsorshipfor a seriesof classicalmusicconcertscalled"MeniconSuperConcert"seriesstarted
Nov
4Oth anniversaryofthe company;internationalsymposiumheld at the NagoyaCongressCenter
ヽ4ay
subsidiary)establishedin France
MeniconPharma(overseas
"MeniconSoft 72" released
Sep.
1993
1994
Oct
Contributors
Receivedthe "Ministerof Healthand WelfareCommendation
for Pharmaceutical
Received"TakagiAward"from the PreciseMeasurementTechniquePromotionFoundation
Nov.
Dec.
Receivedthe "Awardof the Minister of SocialInsuranceAgency"
Receivedthe "ChunichiShinbumAward"at the 6th ChunichiIndustrialTechnolosvPrize
Feb
New Meniconmergeswith ToyoContactLensCo , Ltd
May
MeniconPharmaestablishesa new factoryfor manufacturingcare productsin France
Feb
An official supplyagreementconcludedwith the JapanProfessionalFootballLeague(JLeague)
The Menicongallery"Menio"opensat the MainichiBuildingto support young designers
Apr
Aug
Oct
1995
ヽ4ar
Aug
1996
1997
U S FDAapprovalfor "MeniconSuperEX" received
"MeniconSoft S"released
"MeniconSoft 72 Toric"released
New headquarterbuilding completedin Aoi,Naka-ku,Nagoya
Sponsorshipfor "MeniconCup,the EastWest Gamefor Japan'sU-15YouthClubSoccer(U-15)"starts
Oct
MeniconR&DCenterestablished
in Kasusai.
Aichi
Nov.
TanakaKyoichireceivesthe Medalwith BlueRibbon(awardceremonyon Nov 12 at Imperial Palace)
Jan.
Jun.
A fund at the Massachusetts
Instituteof Technology(MIT) establishedby Menicon
"TeamMeniconSARD"formedand debutedat 24 Heuresdu Mans
Aug.
Obtained ISO:9001 and CE mark
Dec
Menicon's website“ MENICON SEE EYELAND"launched
May
"Meni OneLens,"Japan'sfirst intraocularlensesfor dogs,released
"-v
"Menicon Z" released
1998
Aug
1999
Nov.
Biwajimabuilding completedat Biwajima,Nishi ku, Nagoya
New business"Lightfor cataractdogs"launched
Feb
Memorialp.laquefor the birthplaceof contactlensinstalledat Tamamizuya
Jun
Dr HidenariTanakaappointedas the President,KyoichiTanakaappointedas the Chairman
2000
"Menifocal" bifocal contact lens released
2001
Jul
Nov
2003
2004
New "MelsPlan"membershipsvstemstarted
Menicon's5Othanniversaryheld at the NagoyaCongressCenter
"-v.
MeniconTechnoStationcompletedin Kakamigahara,
Gifu
"Monthwear(Menisoft)"soft contactlensfor one month use released
May
Meni-One established as independent company
Dec
MeniconHoldingsEuropeestablishedin France
Jan
Menicon UK established in England
Oct
TanakaKyoichireceivesthe "SpecialPrize"from the U,S ContactLensManufacturersAssociation(CLMA)
Jul
Menicon-Mandarin Asia Pte Ltd established in Singapore
Oct
"Monthwear Toric" soft toric contact lens for one-month use released
"Chevalier Award" of the Lordre national du merite from France received
LVIAT
Jul
Oct
KyoichiTanakareceivesthe "FoundersAward"from the AmericanAcademyof Ophthalmology
"EpicaCold(MeniCare
Soft)"multi-purposesoft contactlenssolutionreleased
"Avansee"foldable intraocular lens released
MemorialAward"
KyoichiTanakareceivedthe "Higashi-kuninomiya
"Oxygen-permeabLe
hard Lensfor 30-day continuousweanng" obtainsapprovalfor manufactureand sale
in Japan
2?t
ヽ
じ
Hisl,or
of' public
l)osit iorrs
name
Organization
ContactLensTradeUnion
Tltle
Vicechairperson
Executive
director
Chairperson
(namechanged)
ContactLensAssociation
Apr 1966-Sep 1967
0ct 1967-NIar 1968
Vicechairperson
Apr 1968-NIar 1970
V i c ec h a i r p e r s o n
Apr 1970-NIar 1972
Chairperson
Apr 1972-Mar 1974
Vicechairperson
Apr 1974-ヽ4ar 1978
Executive
director
Apr 1978-N/1ar 1980
Chairperson
Apr 1980-ヽ4ar 1982
Apr 1990-Apr 1994
H o n o r a rcyh a i r p e r s o n
Apr 1994-present
ｐ ｐ ｐ
Ａ Ａ Ａ
Vicechairperson
ｐ
Ａ
Vicechairperson
ｕ
Ｊ
Executive
director
Commissioner
2イ
Apr 1982-卜/1ar 1985
Apr 1985-NIar 1990
Honorarychairperson
V i c ec h a i r p e r s o n
JapanContactLensCommittee
Apr 1963-A/1ar 1964
Apr 1964-Mar1966
Commissioner
Chairperson
ContactLensAssociation*1
.Jaoan
Apr 1962-Mar1963
V i c ec h a i r p e r s o n
Vicechairperson
JapanContactLensAssociation
(namechanged)
Y e a ra n d p e r i o d
1962-ヽ
4ar1964
1964-X/1ar 1966
1980-Mar1982
1982-Mar1985
1985-Mar1990
of
JapanFederation
MedicalDeviceAssociation
Commissioner
Feb 1984-ヽ 4ar 1990
JapanMedicalInstrumentAssociation
Commissioner
Oct 1985-Dec 1986
A i c h i O p t i c i a n sA s s o c i a t i o n
Commissioner
Jun 1976-May 1980
( f o r m e r l yA i c h iO p t i c i a n sR e t a i l eA
r ssociation)
Vicechairperson
Commis
4ay 1983
Jun 1980'、
Jun 1983May 1990
( f o r m e r l yN a g o y aO p t i c sR e t a i l eA
r ssociation)
Advisor
gindnss
胤糧解i:諄
海
AichiTelevision
Broadcasting
ProgramCouncil
Association
Friendship
Japan-Europe
Councilor
Jun 1990-present
Apr 1989'Mar2000
Committee
Jul 1995Jun 1998
Chairperson
Jul 1998Jun 2001
Advisor
* 1 : J a p a nC o n t a c tL e n sA s s o c i a t i o n
T h e J a p a n C o n t a c t L e n s A s s o c i a t i o nw a s e s t a b l i s h e dl u l y 1 2 , 1 9 6 2 ,f o r o p h t h a l m o l o g i s t sw h o p r o v i d e m e d i c a l
c a r ew i t h c o n t a c t l e n sa n d c o n t a c tl e n s m a n u f a c t u r e r tso e x c h a n g eo p i n i o n s
T h e o r g a n i z a t i o ni s n o t t h e c u r r e n tJ a p a nC o n t a c tL e n sA s s o c i a t i o n
Jul 1996Jun 2003
Menicon: Compan;rProfile
1951
Established February 8′
Established
asa corporation
organization
in 1957
Capital:
1,769′
larch 2006)
340,000 yen(aS Of卜
Representative
Chairperson:
Kyoichi
Tanaka
President
andCEO:
Hidenari
Tanaka
Numberof employee:
901(aS of March 2006)
Business
description:
Contactlensbusiness,
careproduct
business.
etc.
Headquarters
address:
3-21-19,AoしNaka―ku′NagOya′AichL
460-0006′
」
APAN
Telephone:
+81(0)52-9351515
Partners:
H o s p i t a l s o, p h t h a l m i cc l i n i c s ,
e y e g l a s s t o r e s ,d r u g w h o l e s a l e r s
acrossthe nation,overseasclients
(exportingto 20 or more countries
a r o u n dt h e w o r l d ,f o c u s i n go n t h e
U.5,Europe,
Oceania,
Asia,and other
areas)
The Man Who Created
the JapaneseContact Lens
Pub‖shedin November23,1991
Revised in March 2007
Menicon
ku′
3-21-19′
A oL Naka―
Nagoya′AichL 460-0006′
JAPAN
Telephone:+81(0)52-935-1515
Produced
by DentsuInc.
Inc.
Editedby DentsuPublicRelations
Author:NorikoFushiya(NihonSyuzaiCenter)
*Aenicon
Aoi,Naka-ku,
Nagoya,
Aichi,460-0006,
JAPAN
3-2'l-19,
515 URL:
www.menicon.com
Telephone:
+81(0)52-935-1