History

Founder, Hamakichi Kojima, established Kojima Shoten to and began manufacturing and distributing mosquito coils and heater packs.

When Japan’s automotive industry started to move ahead in earnest, founder, Hamakichi Kojima, felt strongly that the day would surely come when automobiles would occupy a central role in work and daily life, and he resolved to take on the challenge of manufacturing automotive components.

In 1947, Hamakichi Kojima was appointed the inaugural Chair of the Tokai Kyohokai, the association of Toyota’s partner plants in the Tokai region. Until he stepped down from the position in 1961, he worked hard as a conduit between the customer and the partner plants.

Four years of research and development into plastics culminated in the company’s first order for plastic components, namely gasoline tank inlet pipe covers. They were manufactured with the hand lay-up method of layering glass fibers and polyester resin.

Produced electric swing resistor, Kojima’s first electrical/electronic component. Replacing conventional manual grills, the fins on this component moved automatically to send breeze to the driver’s seat and passenger seat, automating the operation of the resistor.