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| 1949 |
Rengo
Shiki obtained listings on stock exchanges. Demand for corrugated
boxes recovered. |
| 1961 |
The Tonegawa
Paper Mill was constructed in Iwai City, Ibaraki Prefecture.
1956-65 New corrugated board and corrugated box plants were built
and new production lines were added in Sapporo, Hakodate, Sendai,
Nagano, Maebashi, Kawasaki, Shimizu, Shiga, Kyoto, Wakayama, Hiroshima,
Matsuyama and Tosu. |
| 1963 |
President
Teijiro Inoue passed away at the age of 82. |
Postwar reconstruction efforts began on a
small scale at the six plants that had suffered only little war damage:
the Yodogawa and Katsushika Paper Mills, as well as the Kawaguchi,
Kyoto, Yodogawa and Kokura Plants, all of which produced corrugated
board and corrugated boxes. In order to prepare for subsequent capital
increase, Rengo Shiki obtained a listing on the Osaka Stock Exchange
in 1949 and on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the following year. At
that time, the capital of the company was \10 million.
The special procurement that accompanied the Korean War, which broke
out in 1950, led the Japanese economy to revival. As demand for corrugated
board also grew sharply, Rengo Shiki introduced technology from overseas
to modernize its facilities. In view of its position as the top-ranking
manufacturer in the industry, the company led the modernization of
the industry by, for example, inviting other companies in the industry
to its plants. Shortly, a forest protection policy was announced,
prompting a shift from wooden boxes to corrugated ones, and demand
rose for packaging for mandarin oranges, apples and other fruit and
vegetables, as well as for seafood, which had theretofore been packed
using wooden boxes (Photo 9).
Ten years after the war ended, the Japanese economy shifted from rehabilitation
to rapid economic growth. With the improvement of the lives of consumers,
demand for corrugated boxes continued to grow sharply, achieving double-digit
growth every year. In particular, the spread of televisions, refrigerators
and other home electric appliances led the growth of the market (Photo
10). Rengo Shiki opened new plants at a rate of at least one per year
in order to establish a system for supplying a sufficient volume of
corrugated boxes and at the same time built the new Tonegawa Paper
Mill in Iwai City, Ibaraki Prefecture to establish an integrated production
system starting with paperboard (Photo 11).
In 1959, Rengo Shiki celebrated the 50th anniversary of its foundation.
When President Inoue took this opportunity to publish his autobiography
entitled "Shogai no Ippon-sugi (a Japanese cedar in my life)",
the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper asked him to contribute to its
column entitled "Watashi no Rirekisho (My Personal History)."
The life full of ups and downs he had when he was young fascinated
readers, and in addition, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation aired a serial
television drama program "Ruten" (Vagrancy) in 28 installments
over a half-year period, obtaining a high audience rating. In the
following year, Tsuneo Ishihama published the novel "Ruten",
which was adapted for the stage and performed at the Nakaza theater
in Dotonbori, Osaka, and the Shochiku movie "Ruten" was
also popular (Photo 12). Three years later, Mainichi Broadcasting
System, Inc. aired a television drama trilogy based on this subject,
starring Hisaya Morishige. In 1963, in the midst of the ongoing "Ruten"
boom, President Inoue closed his career at the age of 82. |
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| [Photo9] |
Corrugated boxes containing
frozen whale meat
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[Photo10] |
Product catalogs published
by Rengo Shiki in 1958 |
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[Photo12]
A poster for the Shochiku movie "Ruten" |
| [Photo11] |
The first machine produced
at the Tonegawa Paper Mill
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