We Are Tomodachi Winter 2018

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13global market. “I realized that sincere desire to make a good product lets us leap over the language barrier and the borders between countries,” Sawanobori said.Apple also elected to use Japanese technology to sharpen, model by model, the iPhone’s built-in camera. Kantatsu Co., Ltd, a supplier for lens parts, boasts among the world’s foremost die machining technologies, precise to less than one ten-thousandth of a millimeter. For Apple’s latest mass-produced units, Kantatsu developed its own manufacturing line that assembles the units, automatically and accurately lining up the multiple lenses’ central axis.Kantatsu’s baseline design and mold fabrication hub is the Sukagawa Plant in Fukushima Prefecture. General Manager of the Business Strategy Division at the plant, Masahiro Oizumi, comments, “After the Great East Japan Earthquake disrupted traffic networks and supply chains, Apple’s engineers came frequently from the U.S. to Fukushima. This really encouraged our workers.” He added, “We are pleased that we can contribute to job creation in Fukushima by manufacturing parts for iPhone.”Artisans’ expertise and passion, alive in the unique technologies of Japanese small and medium enterprises, thrive in the tiny, innovative products in your palm.Nobunari Sawanobori, President of Teikoku Printing Inks Mfg. Co., Ltd., established in 1895. In 1992, the company was the first to develop more environmentally friendly water-based ink containing no hazardous substances at the time oil-based ink on metallic panels of industrial products dominated the market.Masahiro Oizumi (right), General Manager of Business Strategy Division and Hiroyuki Tomori, General Manager of Personnel & General Affairs Division (left) at Kantatsu Co., Ltd. Established in 1979, Kantatsu has the biggest market share in Japan in micro lenses for smart-phones and is one of the few companies in the world that can manufacture high-spec lens units.Sawanobori says, “Our high-precision ink, developed in 2016, can draw refined lines and at the same time paint flat surfaces evenly.”