4. The establishment years (1954-1968)

Around 1954, when KOKUYO was celebrating 50 years since its establishment, the company surpassed its best pre-war performance and became a leading company in the paper manufacturing industry. At that time, while reconstructing and establishing its production systems, KOKUYO also made efforts to maintain and enhance its distribution and sales network. Two years after the war ended, the Tōkyō branch was set up, with other branches being subsequently set up all over Japan, in succession. In this way the sales network was expanded. When establishing these sales offices, KOKUYO not only set up branches which it wholly owned, but it also started joint investments with powerful local wholesalers. Another unique aspect was the emergence of shops exclusively specializing in KOKUYO products. They came to be much talked about in the industry at the time, and as their success became clear, similar movements appeared across the country, so that by 1957, there were twenty KOKUYO specialized shops all over Japan. Another major milestone passed around this time was the entry of KOKUYO, which had hitherto been developing as a paper product manufacturer, into the steel product industry. The first steel products—filing cabinets—were launched in 1960, followed by steel desks in 1965, and other products such as home cabinets and office swivel chairs the following year.