Extending technology into new fields

Tsubakimoto uses chain geometry and motion to build equipment that pushes loads upward. ZIP CHAIN meshes two chains into a rigid column, then separates them for storage in a compact case. Its wider Chain and Motion Control businesses nevertheless had very different operating margins in the year ended March 2026: 15.1% and 4.1%. Their April 2026 combination aims to extend product combinations into customer proposals and after-sales service. Its earnings effects still need to be established through future results.

Nifco supplies automakers and other manufacturers with small parts that hold assemblies together or smooth their movement. Its domestic average product value per vehicle reached ¥9,623 in FY2025. That domestic per-car measure differs from group results, which reflect global sales volumes and costs. Consolidated sales were ¥352.7bn and the operating margin was 13.6% in the year ended March 2026. The growing role of parts in each vehicle and the conditions for group profitability need to be read together.

Seiren designs feel, color, weight and application-specific functions into car-seat materials. Its QUOLE comparisons and group production chain from yarn to cutting and sewing show what it offers automakers. Automotive-materials sales reached ¥115.258bn and operating profit ¥16.199bn in the year ended March 2026. Recovering orders, new vehicle models, cost reductions and changes in consolidation scope also shaped those results.

AMADA adds material-supply equipment and ways to pass operating information to robots to machines that cut and bend sheet metal. After delivery, it supplies tooling and consumables and provides maintenance and repairs. Group revenue for the year ended March 2026 included acquisition contributions, while its margin declined. The equipment’s role in factory work and the company’s ability to earn from that work both matter.

Nitto's electrical-release tape supports both battery fixation during use and removal for repair or disassembly. Adoption expanded in the year ended March 2026, when Industrial Tape revenue reached ¥366.607bn; the individual product's contribution is not disclosed. The roughly ¥39bn Toyohashi plant project covers electrical-release tape and adhesive materials for foldable devices, with completion planned for January 2028. Performance at the moment of removal connects customers' product designs to Nitto's capacity investment.

Hoshizaki builds temperature control, kitchen placement and easier cleaning into equipment design. High-mix, small-lot make-to-stock production and information returning from sales and maintenance support that renewal. For FY2025, the company reported a 51.7% domestic sales ratio for new and redesigned products introduced within three years, and ¥29.4bn of domestic natural-refrigerant product sales. These differently scoped measures show the economic reach of continuing to update equipment.

DOWA connects used circuit boards and smelting residues with processes that recover metals. Recovered volumes, metal prices, raw-material purchasing terms and mine earnings each affect profitability. In the year ended March 2026, Nonferrous Metals earned ¥6.9bn in operating profit and ¥19.6bn in ordinary profit. At group level, an increase in inventories reduced operating cash flow. Reading DOWA means following both the technologies connecting its processes and the materials and funding needed to keep them running.

Ricoh supplies PCs, networks and software and helps customers build, operate and maintain IT environments. Business applications and outsourced processes add different kinds of work. Office Services sales reached ¥1,009.3bn in the year ended March 2026, compared with ¥881.7bn in Office Printing; Services had already been larger in the preceding year. Recurring Office Services sales of ¥419.6bn are a subset, not an extra revenue line. Digital Services segment profit fell from ¥32.2bn to ¥27.9bn. A longer customer relationship, higher category sales and higher segment profit are separate questions.

SECOM’s online security combines alarm signals from customer premises, control-center monitoring and personnel who travel to the site. In the year ended March 2026, Security Services external revenue of ¥660,602m accounted for 52.6% of consolidated revenue of ¥1,256,896m, calculated by this site. The remaining ¥596,294m, or 47.4%, came from fire protection, medical services, insurance, geospatial information, BPO/ICT and Other. Security segment profit was ¥123,826m. Consolidated operating profit of ¥160,333m includes a negative ¥24,126m reconciliation from total segment profit, so the sales proportions cannot be used as profit shares. The expansion following SECOM’s 1962 founding, 1966 online-security launch and 1989 vision also includes acquisitions and distinct technologies and operations.

Meiji’s vaccine business connects KM Biologics’ development and manufacturing with Meiji Seika Pharma’s sales and information work. The company describes feedback from medical institutions leading to packaging changes. In the year ended March 2026, the broader vaccines and veterinary medicines business had ¥50.7bn in sales and ¥4.3bn in operating profit; it also includes animal medicines and newborn screening. The absence of a prior-year vaccine write-down contributed to its return to profit. Pharmaceuticals as a whole reported ¥232.2bn in sales and ¥30.4bn in operating profit, compared with Food’s ¥942.8bn and ¥68.7bn. Distinct corporate histories and operating responsibilities underpin the group’s work across food and medicines.

With NL+LiNk, a food vendor delivers to one transfer center; Nichirei Logistics Group connects its own and other companies’ centers for delivery to stores. In the year ended March 2026, logistics generated ¥301.0bn in sales and ¥18.6bn in operating profit, alongside Food’s ¥426.7bn and ¥19.9bn. Consolidated sales were ¥716.1bn and operating profit ¥39.0bn, after relevant adjustments. The ¥2.8bn logistics profit increase includes a ¥2.4bn impact from depreciation-method changes and related items. Overseas logistics sales of ¥92.6bn use January–December 2025 accounts included in the March-2026 results. From cold-preservation operations begun in 1943, making food and handling customers’ food distribution have grown into substantial businesses.

Rohto obtained exclusive Mentholatum trademark-use rights and launched ointment and medicated lip balm in 1975. It describes its 1988 acquisition of the US company as a foothold for overseas expansion. Alongside brand launches such as Hada Labo, these events help explain the breadth of a business whose FY2025 sales were 62% skincare and 18% eye care. Those shares do not measure the contribution of any single acquisition or technology.

Powersports & Engine led FY2025 revenue at ¥682.8bn, while Aerospace Systems led business profit at ¥62.4bn. Energy Solution & Marine Engineering contributed ¥55.0bn. Tariffs and competition weighed on Powersports, illustrating different operating conditions within the group. Corporate adjustments also matter when moving from segments to consolidated profit. The company becomes clearer through those differing economics, as well as its range of products.

Nabtesco supplies precision reduction gears to robot makers, and brakes and door-operating systems to rail operators and train builders. Its building automatic doors, aircraft equipment, marine controls and packaging machines also work inside customers’ equipment and operating sites. FY2025 continuing operations generated ¥307.9bn in revenue and ¥20.7bn in operating profit. Accessibility Solutions contributed ¥110.7bn of revenue, Transport Solutions ¥100.5bn, Component Solutions ¥79.3bn and Manufacturing Solutions ¥17.4bn. Company-estimated product market shares and these four businesses’ revenue totals measure different things.

Fujikura supplies optical cable that fits limited duct space, along with components and equipment for separating, joining and storing its fibers. The 13,824-fiber cable with an outside diameter of 40 mm or less, announced in July 2025, is one example. Fiber count does not directly measure network performance or revenue. In the earlier year ended March 2025, Telecommunications generated ¥451.3bn, or 46% of group revenue.

Makita’s bases introduce tools through demonstrations and user visits, repair failed products and return them to customers. Around 50 overseas countries with direct bases and around 180 sales markets describe different kinds of presence. In the year ended March 2026, overseas revenue represented about 83.0% of sales value and overseas factories made 92.5% of production units. Cordless expansion adds more applications to the work of selling products and supporting their users.

NGK supplies ceramic products for different jobs in semiconductor equipment and automotive emissions control. In the year ended March 2026, Environment represented 59.6% of sales and Digital Society 30.7%. Digital Society grew approximately 19.7%, supported by AI-related demand and inventory increases by certain customers. Expanding an application and continuing its business are separate decisions; the useful picture is one of different requirements and economics coexisting inside NGK.

Yamaha Motor expanded through two documented routes: selling production equipment developed for internal use and reusing motorcycle parts in another product. External arc-welding robot sales in 1976 and the first P-7 outboard in 1960 illustrate those routes. Today’s Robotics and Marine segments each contain many products. In FY2025, Robotics lost ¥0.6bn at the operating level, Marine earned ¥53.6bn, and Land Mobility accounted for about 63.7% of group revenue by site calculation. Reaching another type of buyer creates a business opportunity; product demand and costs shape the resulting profitability.

Advantest sells test systems to semiconductor and electronic-component manufacturers, then supplies support and consumables such as interface boards. In FY2025, ended March 2026, demand for advanced-chip testers and supply capability grew while mature-chip tester demand remained soft. Sales of ¥1.1286tn, operating income of ¥499.1bn and a 44.2% operating margin reflect that demand split and product mix.

Sysmex’s work continues after installation through reagents, reference materials, scientific information and customer care. Its 79.4% stable-revenue measure includes reagents, service/support and other sales; it is not a subscription-only share. Continuing supplies and support help explain the business behind ¥500.0bn of FY2025 sales.

Asahi Kasei’s 2024 technology story traces fiber expertise into hollow-fiber dialyzers and then Planova filters for pharmaceutical production. In dialysis, waste moves from blood into dialysate; in Planova filtration, useful proteins pass through while viruses are captured. The separation task changes with the application. FY2025 consolidated sales of ¥3.0745tn cover a much broader set of businesses across Material, Homes and Healthcare.

Capacitors help reduce noise and support sudden current demand inside electronic circuits. Murata brings materials and manufacturing capabilities to making these parts. In the year ended March 2026, capacitors grew across applications including servers, while RF and communications revenue fell. Demand differs by component and application, even within the same equipment market.

Cardiac and Vascular is Terumo’s largest business at ¥676.4bn in FY2025. Devices within vessels, oxygenators outside the body, blood and cell collection, and hospital and pharmaceutical products serve different settings. The familiar thermometer opens onto a much broader set of medical jobs.

Brother extended its own sewing-part manufacturing knowledge into machine tools for other factories. Printers followed a separate route through its 1971 Centronics collaboration and subsequent in-house electronic-control and print-head development. FY2025 continuing-operations revenue included ¥570.6bn in Printing & Solutions, ¥83.0bn in Machinery and ¥61.0bn in Personal & Home, which includes sewing and cutting machines. Brother supplies equipment both for everyday tasks and for other manufacturers’ production processes.

Mitsubishi Electric’s control devices connect input signals and programs with equipment actions. Factory Automation Systems, which includes that work, generated ¥798.2bn in the year ended March 2026 and sits alongside ¥875.6bn of Automotive Equipment in Industry & Mobility. With Life at ¥2.3182tn and Infrastructure at ¥1.4634tn, factory control is one concrete supply role within a broader company. Segment revenue includes intersegment sales and does not represent shares of consolidated revenue.

Bridgestone supplies fleet operators with new and retread tires and maintenance services. Toolbox records fitted tires and inspection results; Tirematics monitors pressure and temperature; BASys manages retread production, inspection and inventory. A suitable casing can receive a new tread and return to service. The 2007 Bandag acquisition strengthened this activity. FY2025 Truck & Bus revenue was ¥1.018tn including retread, rather than a separately disclosed retread total.

For the Tung Hsiao project, MHI supplies gas and steam turbines and auxiliary equipment, while CTCI handles construction and balance-of-plant work. The contract was announced in 2025; operation is scheduled to begin in 2030–31. Across MHI, FY2025 order intake was ¥7.6536tn, revenue ¥4.9741tn and year-end backlog ¥13.2376tn. Contracting, revenue recognition, payment and the start of operation are separate points in the life of a large project. Backlog is not guaranteed future revenue.

About 65.1% of Shimadzu’s sales comes from analytical and measuring instruments used in research and quality control. It also supplies X-ray systems for medical facilities, pumps that create a vacuum in semiconductor production, and onboard equipment and spare parts for aircraft. The distinction between people using instruments and those incorporating components makes the breadth of the business clearer.

Calling FY2025 revenue flat misses the differences between Kubota’s businesses and markets. Machinery represented 87.1% of revenue, and even Farm Equipment & Engines and Construction Machinery moved differently within it. Water & Environment accounts for 12.4% of current revenue. Separating each business’s scale from its annual change gives a clearer view of Kubota’s machinery-led portfolio.

DNP gives manufacturers materials for making fine patterns, controlling light and protecting contents. Electronics, which includes masks and optical films, reported FY2025 sales of ¥251.8bn and operating profit of ¥50.7bn. It ranked last by sales and first by operating profit among the three segments, although its profit fell 11.6%. Battery pouches belong to Life & Healthcare. Consolidation includes sales and operating-profit adjustments of negative ¥1.9bn and ¥26.9bn respectively, so segment size and contribution to group results need to be read separately.

Komatsu remains centered on construction and mining equipment. At the jobsite, that equipment sits alongside distinct tasks: monitoring its condition, controlling vehicle operations, and connecting terrain with construction work. The 1,000 commissioned trucks and more than 11.5 billion metric tons moved show operating scale. Broader site coordination and next-generation vehicle platforms also include future ambitions. Distinguishing operating results from future plans clarifies what Komatsu already provides at the jobsite and where it aims to expand.

Toray materials support structures, separate through membranes, and become fibers and films. The company describes four core technologies behind that breadth. Application variety and revenue scale are different measures: Fibers accounts for 41% and Performance Chemicals 35% of FY2025 revenue, alongside the more conspicuous aircraft and water applications.

Olympus supplies healthcare professionals with endoscopes and treatment devices, and provides installation checks, operating instruction, in-use support, inspection and repair. Medical Service represented about 30% of the GI division's ¥697.4bn revenue for the year ended March 2026. This is a divisional revenue share, not a group share or a measure of subscription revenue or profitability. Supporting equipment in use forms part of the medical business.

Canon generated ¥4.625tn of net sales in 2025. Printing contributed ¥2.494tn, or 54%, Imaging ¥1.055tn, or 23%, Medical ¥580.6bn, or 13%, and Industrial ¥361.1bn, or 8%. Imaging includes cameras and network cameras, etc.; Printing is roughly 2.4 times its size by sales. Founded as a camera maker in 1937, Canon expanded from the 1960s into office equipment, optical devices and medical equipment, and now operates four industry-oriented groups. The more important connection is technological: materials know-how from printer photoreceptors is being applied to perovskite solar-cell materials, while optical and image-processing technologies are being applied to automated iPS-cell production.

KOKUYO’s furniture history includes adapting an office-table height-adjustment handle for a study desk. It also opened its Osaka headquarters to visitors, who could see employees using its furniture. In 2025, Furniture generated about 2.06 times Stationery’s sales and 3.69 times its segment operating income. Business Supply Distribution is substantial too, but intersegment transactions and reconciliation prevent treating these figures as direct shares of the group total. The ¥500bn sales goal for 2030 remains a future target.

Lumada connects data-generating products and systems with services that improve their operation. Its FY2025 revenue mix was 56% Digitalized Assets and 44% Digital Services. HMAX is a recurring-service subset combining domain knowledge and AI. Hitachi aims to apply expertise from supplying and maintaining equipment to a broader range of customer assets.

YKK supplies fasteners for clothing and bags, and windows and other products for buildings. In fiscal 2025, Architectural Products sales of ¥557.6bn exceeded Fastening’s ¥431.4bn, while operating profit was ¥39.2bn for Fastening and ¥12.0bn for AP. Business sales include intersegment transactions. Aluminum-alloy production and processing know-how linked the businesses, but they now face different demand and cost conditions. Aluminum casting and extrusion began in 1959; manufacture and sales of aluminum building products began in 1963. The relationship becomes clearer when the products’ uses and the businesses’ earnings are considered together.

AGC brought soda ash and refractory-brick production in-house when glass-making inputs became difficult to import, laying the foundations for Chemicals and Ceramics. Today Chemicals supplies essential and performance materials to many industries through wholesalers and its own sales bases. Its external sales were ¥579.5bn in 2025. Architectural Glass and Automotive together generated ¥959.1bn, about 46.6% of consolidated sales. That combination is a site calculation covering two segments, rather than a measure of all AGC glass-product sales.

In FY2025, the year ended March 2026, five Astellas Strategic Brands generated ¥480.3bn, up 43%. They are marketed medicines for conditions including cancers, an eye disease and menopausal symptoms. XTANDI remained the largest product at ¥960.8bn, about 44.9% of group revenue. Alongside selling medicines, Astellas conducts R&D internally and with pharmaceutical, biotech and academic partners. R&D expense was ¥314.8bn. The roughly ¥1 trillion of mid-2030s pipeline sales potential in its plan is an ambition, not current revenue or a guarantee of regulatory approval.

Alongside water-related products, TOTO supplies ceramic components to equipment manufacturers. Electrostatic chucks hold wafers, AD coatings protect equipment surfaces, and engineering ceramics support precise motion. Their functions and production methods differ. Engineering ceramics draw on sanitary-ware forming and firing control and faucet polishing. The Advanced Ceramics Business generated ¥50.3bn in sales and ¥20.4bn in operating profit in FY2024, then reported record sales and profit in FY2025. In April 2026, TOTO said it had decided on about ¥30bn of investment to expand electrostatic-chuck and AD-component R&D and production capacity.

Shiseido reaches regional consumers and travellers with cosmetics and fragrances. Japan Business accounted for 30.4% of FY2025 sales and China & Travel Retail for 35.3%. The 69.6% outside Japan Business is calculated from reportable segments, not a geographic overseas-sales ratio. The duty-free channel, including Fukuoka Airport, makes that distinction concrete. Improving margins in Asia Pacific, the Americas and EMEA is also part of its 2030 strategy.

Daikin combines equipment and services for customers installing, operating and replacing air conditioning. Its FY2025 Solutions ratio of 28% includes equipment sales and engineering in replacement projects. The denominator excludes Chemicals, Filters and other businesses, so it differs from both group sales and the reported Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Equipment segment, which includes Filters. Daikin brings refrigerant and other technologies together with global sales and service networks, and plans to extend its work toward entire HVAC systems and buildings. The 40% ratio for FY2030 is a future projection.

Kao generated ¥1.6886 trillion in sales and ¥164.1 billion in operating income in FY2025. Fabric & Home Care contributed ¥389.1 billion, about 23.0% of group sales by site calculation, and is part of Hygiene Living Care. On an external-customer basis, the five businesses account for 32.5% (Hygiene Living Care), 25.7% (Health Beauty Care), 15.5% (Cosmetics), 2.3% (Business Connected) and 24.0% (Chemical). Kao serves consumers with everyday products, companies and organizations with professional hygiene solutions, and manufacturers with industrial materials. A concrete additive illustrates the last role: customers use Kao’s chemicals in making their own products.

Zojirushi provides containers that keep food and drinks hot or cold, appliances that apply heat to cook, and prepared meals. FY2025 sales were ¥91.151bn and operating profit ¥7.436bn. Cooking appliances generated ¥64.384bn, about 70.6% of sales, with ¥42.6bn of rice-cooker sales included within them. Living products, lifestyle appliances and other businesses serve different purposes. Food service is small at ¥0.6bn, but extends the business from selling a product for customers to use to preparing and serving food at a shop. Its FY2028 plan sets different growth targets for rice cookers, microwave ovens and living products.

FANUC supplies CNCs for other companies’ machine tools, its own processing machines and robots that handle parts, then maintains products after installation. In FY2025, the year ended March 2026, sales were ¥857.8 billion and operating income ¥183.8 billion. Division sales were ¥208.5 billion for FA, ¥378.6 billion for Robot, ¥129.6 billion for Robomachine and ¥141.1 billion for Service. Robot was largest at 44.1%; the other three divisions totaled 55.9% by site calculation, although Service includes support for robots. Sales outside Japan were 87.1% by site calculation. More than 280 service locations support products used in over 100 countries.

KEYENCE sales engineers propose applications to customers and return firsthand information from their sites to product planning. Planning and development aim for general-purpose products usable across industries. Partner factories make the products, and domestic and overseas warehouses ship them to customers. In FY2025, the year ended March 20, 2026, sales were ¥1.1693 trillion and operating income ¥595.8 billion. Overseas sales accounted for 66.6% by site calculation. Sales work that uncovers individual customer problems connects with products that can be sold to many customers.

ASICS sells running shoes and lifestyle footwear through specialist retailers, wholesale retail partners, owned stores and other routes. Performance Running was its largest FY2025 category at ¥363.5bn in sales. SportStyle and Onitsuka Tiger together generated ¥277.8bn in sales and ¥92.7bn in site-calculated category profit, above Performance Running’s ¥86.0bn. Foreign markets accounted for 80.5% of sales, and OneASICS membership reached 23.13 million, adding different geographic and customer relationships to the picture.

Shimano combines components such as shifters and brakes to design how riders control a bicycle. Precision metal processing supports both reliable bicycle shifting and smooth fishing-reel operation. Bicycle Components generated 76.1% of FY2025 sales and 82.9% of operating income. Group sales rose 3.4%, while operating income fell 20.6%, showing why advances in product function and earnings growth need to be considered separately.

Unicharm combines a large human-care business with pet toiletries and food. Processing technologies for nonwoven fabrics and absorbent materials support diapers and toiletry products; food has a different role, providing nutrition suited to a pet’s age and condition. Pet plus wellness care represented 38% of FY2025 sales, while 44% by FY2030 is a target. Geographic reach and the ability to grow sales and profit in each market are separate questions.

Sony participates in producing works, reaching audiences and supplying equipment and imaging components. Games, Music and Pictures together generated ¥8.31tn in FY2025 segment sales before intersegment eliminations; ET&S generated ¥2.26tn and I&SS ¥2.15tn. Anime production and distribution illustrate one connection within the group, rather than a single production chain shared by every business.

Nikon supplies optics and precision technologies for researchers’ observations, photographers’ and filmmakers’ work, and manufacturers’ production processes. Microscopes preceded cameras, while acquisitions including Optos and SLM also shaped the portfolio. Imaging accounted for 42.8% of revenue in the year ended March 2026. The new plan proposes investing cash from three businesses into Precision Equipment and Digital Manufacturing. That planned allocation sits alongside a ¥112.4bn group operating loss for the year, including a ¥90.6bn impairment in Digital Manufacturing.

At TDK, thin-film process technology used to make HDD heads also serves thin-film inductors in power circuits. Energy Application Products accounted for 54.7% of ¥2.505 trillion in sales for the year ended March 2026; Passive Components, Sensors and Magnetic Applications remain substantial, and roughly 90% of sales are overseas. Applications spread from cassettes into multilayer components and batteries, while acquisitions also broadened the portfolio. TDK still calls its approach “Evolve the Ferrite Tree.”

HOYA’s mask blanks enter semiconductor circuit-patterning processes; its HDD glass substrates become the bases of magnetic disks. The company emphasizes customer-specific technical alignment in the first business and consistent high-volume production in the second. Revenue was ¥947.7bn in the year ended March 2026, with a company-reported mix of 62% Life Care and 38% Information Technology. Supplying lenses to optical retailers and operating Eyecity stores are also important parts of the group. Initial-phase investment in two new EUV and HDD plants is planned at roughly ¥92bn combined. Looking at customer processes and supply requirements helps explain the strengths of the businesses that expanded from optical glass.

Ajinomoto develops ABF with package-substrate manufacturers and supplies it through in-group varnish production and outsourced coating and storage. Analysis and quality-assurance technologies developed through food also support the work. In the year ended March 2026, two food segments represented 77.5% of sales, while Healthcare and Others, including electronic materials and pharmaceuticals, earned ¥66.2bn in business profit.

Fujifilm combines technologies developed for photography with acquired businesses and manufacturing capacity. Alongside office and printing products, medical systems, photography and semiconductor materials, its Bio CDMO develops and manufactures drugs for pharmaceutical customers. The 12/16 U.S. figure describes capacity covered by contracts and informal agreements on planned manufacturing volumes, rather than sales of manufacturing equipment.

Yamaha supplies instruments to players, reaches venues through installers and rental companies, and provides vehicle makers with hardware and cabin-specific sound design. Music Connect aims to extend its musician relationships into practice and learning after the purchase.