In the year following the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, my grandfather, Zenkichi Niwa, faced with challenging times, decided to start a personal business called "Maruzen Shoten," taking a character from his own name. In 1949, with determination, he embarked on the production of safety pins, a specialty product of Nagoya at the time, and established our predecessor, the "Maruzen Safety Pin Manufacturing Company."
Initially, with only a few employees and handmade production, mass production was extremely difficult, resulting in a pile of defective products and daunting days ahead. My father, the second generation, Isamu Niwa, who grew up watching my grandfather's efforts, keenly realized the importance of productivity and precision, especially for such small items as safety pins. He promptly introduced automation and computerization to the factory.
Looking back, it was a decision of incredibly high risk, something unimaginable now. I believe it was the passion of my father and the employees of that time, who wanted to create the world's highest quality product, that became the driving force for the next step.
Continuously listening to the voice of our customers, our company continues to develop and provide products, including safety pins, clips, and hobbies. Under our unique integrated system, each product we produce becomes a fearless warrior challenging the world stage. Over half a century ago, aiming to be the best in this industry and pioneering in factory automation, the aspirations of our predecessors truly lay the foundation of our company.
Without forgetting those teachings, and with an unwavering commitment to embracing change and the passion for craftsmanship, we will continue to pursue top-level quality with relentless corporate efforts.
President Hideki Niwa