37 | History of Glass: Japanese Glass Makers, Handmade Glass Factories 7

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Sasaki Glass was the first company in Japan to start automated glass manufacturing, aligning with the trend of mass production and consumption. It made significant strides by developing and launching Hard Strong HS Glass. With its high-end crystal becoming popular in the American market, the 1970s was a period when Sasaki Glass significantly contributed as a leading Japanese glass tableware manufacturer in the industry.

Then-president Shuichi Sasaki, born in 1913 (Taisho 2), graduated from Keio University's Faculty of Economics in March 1937 (Showa 12), after which he became an unlimited liability partner at Gomei Kaisha Sasaki Garasu-ten. In 1947 (Showa 22), he assumed the role of President of Sasaki Glass Co., Ltd. In the same year, 1947 (Showa 22), he became Chairman of the Tokyo Glass Products Wholesale Commercial Cooperative, an industry association that our company is also a member of. In 1968 (Showa 43), he was awarded the Blue Ribbon Medal. In 1973 (Showa 48), he became Vice Chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As Chairman of the Tokyo Commercial Activities Coordination Council, he is said to have skillfully managed the issue of adjusting the opening of three stores (Hankyu, Seibu, and Printemps) in Yurakucho. As his roles outside of his main business, such as representing Kanda Myojin Shrine, increased, he lost oversight of his core business. Due to large debt guarantees for affiliated companies, mismanagement, and failures in financial engineering, the company's performance deteriorated like a downhill slide. There is a story that when his son, Munekazu Sasaki, became president, despite the company being listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, he was shocked upon learning about the financial situation.

Despite Munekazu Sasaki's strenuous efforts, the debt amount was too substantial. Although measures such as debt forgiveness were attempted, they were unsuccessful, and the company filed for corporate rehabilitation under the Civil Rehabilitation Law in 1999 (Heisei 11) and went bankrupt. The figures at the time were a capital of 5,525 million yen and liabilities of 40,213 million yen. This bankruptcy of a company listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange became major news. In the glass tableware industry, combined with the bankruptcy of Kamei Glass in 1997 (Heisei 9), which I will discuss later, there were concerns about glass supply, a lack of new product planning, and a decline in the image of the glass industry. These factors led to significant impacts, such as the bankruptcy and closure of wholesalers in the 2000s.

Fortunately, Sasaki Glass Co., Ltd. merged with the houseware division of Toyo Glass, which is a member of the Toyo Seikan Group, specializing in container and packaging manufacturing and also producing glass bottles, in 2002 (Heisei 14). This integration created Toyo-Sasaki Glass Co., Ltd. and marked a new beginning.

I will talk about Toyo-Sasaki Glass next time.