YAZAKI: Past, present, future. We are connected.

July 10, 1962, two years before the Tokyo Olympic Games. An opening ceremony fitting for a Buddhist country took place under a glaring tropical sun at Thai Yazaki Electric Wire Co., Ltd. (capital: 180 million yen). The new company had just been constructed at Phra Pradaeng, a district 17 kilometers south of Bangkok that is situated next to the Chao Phraya River (known as the “Mother River”).

Yazaki’s founding president, Sadami Yazaki, took the podium to open the ceremony. After thanking the Thai government, the investment committee, concerned agencies and offices, and the banks for their assistance, he addressed the assembly as follows: “We have not invested in Thai Yazaki for the purpose of making a profit. Instead, our earnest desire is to make a significant contribution to Thailand’s economy and industry and to serve as a bridge for friendship between Japan and Thailand.”

At 9:30 am, the Thai Minister of Industry flipped the factory main switch, and all the lines started at once. As the minister firmly shook his hand, a twinkle appeared in Sadami’s eye. At that moment, the dream of overseas expansion that Yazaki had so long embraced had finally become a reality.

In 1962, it was still rare for a Japanese company to establish a production base overseas. So why did Yazaki choose Thailand as the site for its first overseas base? Chairman Yasuhiko Yazaki, who followed in Sadami’s footsteps, explains it this way.

“Before the war, the founding president went to China to sell electric wires. Through that experience, he developed a feeling of awe for the Chinese business sense and the future of the Chinese market. Later when Japanese diplomatic relations with China were severed, convinced that someday they would be restored, the founding president first built a factory in Thailand to make a connection with the Thai Chinese who played a prominent role in the Thai economy. In fact, he arranged for young Yazaki college grads to study and have homestays with Thai Chinese families. In this way the founding president was a person who made decisions and acted with his sights firmly fixed on the future.

From the very beginning, all of the machines in Thai Yazaki Electric Wire’s factory operated at full capacity. They produced drawn wires, twisted wires, PVC compounds, and other products in five buildings that were classified by colors ranging from white to light green. A staff comprised of sixteen Japanese and 46 Thais worked there. In some cases, even local women were given the task of operating major machinery. One can imagine that they trained eagerly to handle those operations. Their ability to do so points to the hard work that was put in by our predecessors who guided them. It is worth noting that one astonished Chinese businessperson who viewed the factory’s modern facilities said, “This factory has all the latest equipment. It’s easy to see how much importance Yazaki places on Thailand.”

Thai Yazaki Electric Wire began by making automotive wires as its main product, as well as other wire products for commercial sales. It later expanded its production by frequently making factory expansions and supplementing equipment to meet demand. This continued until 1970. However, the company struggled in the area of development. One example occurred when it was developing an ALPES cable for communications (i.e., a communication cable with an electromagnetic shielding layer for alternating current). After an exhaustive day-and-night effort, the company finally produced its first sample, which, when shown to the client, sadly fell apart right in front of the manager in charge. “How interesting,” the manager said sarcastically, “Is that a ‘samurai cable?’” Nonetheless, Thai Yazaki tenaciously continued making improvement after improvement. Eventually, it successfully delivered a secondary cable to the Telephone Organization of Thailand, which was followed by its main aim, a primary cable. This success was achieved with expanded polyethylene insulation technology that had been developed using Yazaki’s long experience in the plastics field.

More than half a century has passed since Yazaki first entered Thailand. Having started with just over 60 employees, Thai Yazaki is now the Thai Yazaki Group and boasts a total workforce of 15,000. It has grown to be an essential contributor to Yazaki’s consolidated sales. Expectations for the Thai Yazaki Group are growing ever larger within the giant ASEAN economic bloc and in the Kingdom of Thailand, whose presence within the bloc is growing. In the “Thai Yazaki Group: A 50-Year History,” published in 2012, Chairman Yasuhiko Yazaki stated the following.

“We aim to move through globalization to ‘glocalization.’ We want to put down roots in the Kingdom of Thailand, grow to be a mature tree, and then continue growing into a giant tree.”