History of Shima

*This is a movie made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the company's founding.(Japanese)

Main event1904：Russo-Japanese War　1914：World War I　1920：Taisho Depression

1904 37th year of the Meiji Era	Founded by Sadajiro Shima in Awajicho, Higashi-ku (currently Chuo-ku), Osaka. Under the tutelage of Dr. Yoshimi Hiraga, a chemist, engineer, and educator who made a great contribution to the modernization of Japanese industry, Shima Shoten was established with the aspiration that the Japanese themselves should began to conduct international trade, which had been dominated by foreign trading houses, and to contribute to economic development.
1905 38th year of the Meiji Era	Moved to Koraibashi in Higashi-ku (currently Chuo-ku). The products handled at the time were chemicals and hardware (tinplates, iron wires, etc.), but the first product handled was a starch paste. After that, products branded with high-quality paper imported from England were also sold.
1911 44th year of the Meiji Era	Established Tokyo Liaison Office.
1916 5th year of the Taisho Era	Established Nippon Glass Industry Co., Ltd. The company imported Owens automatic bottle making machine and started manufacturing beer bottles. It contributed greatly to the development of the bottle manufacturing industry, where hand-blown manufacturing was the mainstream at the time. The scope of business expanded, and the products handled were diverse, including starch pastes, machinery, steel, blankets, glass, heavy oil, foodstuffs, and medical raw materials. Remington's hunting rifles and Overland's automobiles were also imported.
1917 6th year of the Taisho Era	Opened New York office.
1918 7th year of the Taisho Era	Established Shima Motor Co., Ltd. At that time, there were about 7,000 automobiles in Japan, but about 100 were imported annually. The business was later taken over by Nissin Motor Company.
1919 8th year of the Taisho Era	Reorganized as Shima Shoten Co., Ltd. Established Nichibei Sheet Glass, which later became Nippon Sheet Glass. At that time, the batch-type cylindrical method was the mainstream method for manufacturing flat glass, but we introduced the automatic continuous manufacturing method of Owens. It was adopted for the window glass of the Tokyo Marunouchi Building at that time. Established a local subsidiary in London.

Main Event1923：The Great Kanto Earthquake　1929：Great Depression

1921 10th year of the Taisho Era	Reorganized as Shima Trading Co., Ltd.
1922 11th year of the Taisho Era	Imported petrolatum for medical use from Sonneborn LLC, USA. This was the beginning of the lubricating distillate refined product business that continues to this day, such as liquid paraffin, wax, and petroleum sulfonate.
1928 3rd year of the Showa Era	Participated in the establishment of Nippon Volatile (currently JGC). Also carried out bulk imports of heavy oil.
1933 8th year of the Showa Era	Sadajiro Shima and Ichiro Nishishimo became representative directors.
1935 10th year of the Showa Era	Sadajiro Shima passed away suddenly. Kinu Shima follows her husband's will and became a director, protecting the business as its spiritual pillar. Shigeru Yoshimura assumed the position of director.
1938 13th year of the Showa Era	Opened Tianjin branch office.
1939 14th year of the Showa Era	Opened offices in Shanghai, Qingdao and Guangdong. Established a branch in Bombay.

Main Event1941：Pacific War begins　1945：End of World War II
1958：Construction of Tokyo Tower completed

1941 16th year of the Showa Era	All the international trade was cut off due to Pacific War.
1945 20th year of the Showa Era	Lost all overseas bases and commercial rights due to the defeat in war. At the end of the war, the entire company had less than 20 employees, but efforts toward recovery began. Shigeru Yoshimura was elected as representative director.
1946 21st year of the Showa Era	Masaru Mitsuda was elected as representative director.
1950 25th year of the Showa Era	Private trade, which had not been permitted after the war, was resumed.
1951 26th year of the Showa Era	Resumed import of petrolatum. It was used in antibiotic ointment bases and cream bases. Import of liquid paraffin also started, and it began to be used for various purposes such as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
1953 28th year of the Showa Era	Started sales of epoxy resin as an agent of Shell Chemical Co., Ltd. Expanded the handling of various curing agents. Production of compounded resins "Acmex" and "Acmelite" was started at Nihon Gosei Kako Co., Ltd. This became the starting point for the subsequent development of synthetic resin-related materials.
1955 30th year of the Showa Era	Imported wax as sole agent of P.S.I. (currently Sonneborn LCC). It was used as an adhesive for moisture-proof packaging and as an impregnated insulating material for paper capacitors. At that time, it was also used as a chewing gum base.
1956 31st year of the Showa Era	Opened Nagoya Sales Office. Munetoshi Iguchi was elected as chairman of the board.
1957 32nd year of the Showa Era	Started importing Amalie motor oil. The brand is still maintained for professionals and hobbyists.
1959 34th year of the Showa Era	Imported natural petroleum sulfonate from Sonneborn. Started sales as a textile oil agent, detergent dispersant for lubricating oil, rust preventive/emulsifier for metal working oil, etc. It is still used in major oil products. Established a representative office in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Searched for a full-fledged base in North America

Main Event1964：Tokyo Olympics, Opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen　1971：Dollar Shock
1973、1979：Oil Shock

1963 38th year of the Showa Era	Established US subsidiary Shima American Corp. in Chicago. Revive the overseas bases lost at the end of the war and take a new step as a trading company, with mainly drive system products from Japan, such as bearings, chains, and V-belts. Shima American was the first Japanese subsidiary in Illinois. In line with the purpose of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, which is to ensure the safety of imported pharmaceutical raw materials, we have made efforts to establish the Japan Pharmaceutical Trade Association (a testing and inspection agency designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare). Served on the board of directors.
1964 39th year of the Showa Era	Established Shima Kosan Co., Ltd. Manage the operation of owned real estate.
1966 41st year of the Showa Era	Moved the Osaka head office to the current Yodoyabashi location.
1971 46th year of the Showa Era	Shintaro Yoshimura assumed the position of president. Started expanding sales of urethane-based adhesives as an agent of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (at that time).
1974 49th year of the Showa Era	The company was involved in a large-scale bankruptcy of a business partner and incurred a large amount of debt, but overcame it with its creditworthiness and the efforts of all employees. What we learned about the severity of management was to be useful in dealing with the bubble economy later.
1976 51st year of the Showa Era	Conducted joint development of WITCO's rust inhibitor SACI. It has been adopted as a heavy anti-corrosion paint for vehicles exported to Europe and the United States.
1977 52nd year of the Showa Era	Started sales of urethane-based adhesives (film laminates for food packaging) of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (at that time). Achieved top share in the industry. Together with coating equipment and resin films, it became the main product for the food packaging market.
1979 54th year of the Showa Era	Established a base in Taipei, Taiwan.
1980 55th year of the Showa Era	Focusing on Kanebo’s (at that time) PVA products, expanded into the automotive and semiconductor fields. Currently, it is used as a highly absorbent material in fields such as medical equipment and polishing aluminum discs.

Main Event1990：Reunification of East and West Germany　1992：Bubble burst　1995：The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

1985 60th year of the Showa Era	Completion of "Ginza Shima Building".
1990 2nd year of the Heisei Era	Joint development of ceramic coating agents with paint manufacturers and processing manufacturers. It has been commercialized in various fields such as housing exterior wall materials, road lighting reflectors, and far-infrared products, leading to the current room-temperature curing coating agents. Started exporting automobile parts and equipment for Futaba Industry. We have established a cooperative system for setting up overseas bases, importing and exporting, offshore V to V delivery, etc., and have reached the present. Kazuo Kotani assumed the position of president.
1991 3rd year of the Heisei Era	Osaka "Shima Building" completed. Completed renovation of the company building.
1992 4th year of the Heisei Era	The end of the bubble economy. The management policy of not engaging in speculation protected the company from the storm of the bursting of the bubble economy, and business performance remained stable. Steady management creates the foundation for subsequent development. Opened Singapore branch. This marked the beginning of market development in Southeast Asia. Although it was a latecomer, it was blessed with suppliers/partners, and expanded sales of mainly oil products, abrasive materials, synthetic resins, etc. to Japanese companies throughout Southeast Asia. Started joint development of separators for lithium batteries. This was the beginning of the current battery materials business.
1994 6th year of the Heisei Era	Koshi Shima assumed the post of president.
1996 8th year of the Heisei Era	Opened Shanghai Liaison Office.
1998 10th year of the Heisei Era	Shanghai liaison office incorporated as Shima Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Market development has also started in China, with a focus on oil products. Currently, we also handle cosmetic raw materials and industrial parts.
2000 12th year of the Heisei Era	Singapore branch incorporated as Shima Trading Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Main Event2001：the World Trade Center attack (9-11)　2011：Great East Japan Earthquake

2001 13th year of the Heisei Era	Acquired ISO14001 certification at all offices in Japan. Established a sales office in San Jose, USA.
2002 14th year of the Heisei Era	Established Pacific Sunrise Holding Co., Ltd. in Thailand (49% investment). We have also established a distribution base for processing fluids, and are expanding our business to include resin-related products. Established Shima Asia Pacific (M) Sdn. Bhd. in Malaysia. As a full-fledged sales base, it serves as a development base for markets south of Malaysia and India.
2004 16th year of the Heisei Era	Became the sole import agent for PCS measurement equipment in the UK. An epoch-making tribology measuring device such as ultra-thin film thickness measurement of lubricating oil. Currently, it is being used for other purposes as well.
2007 19th year of the Heisei Era	Became the general import agent for UV-absorbing microcapsules of Aquea Scientific in the United States.
2008 20th year of the Heisei Era	Opened a measuring instrument showroom. Demonstration and sample testing of tribology measurement equipment and ultraviolet water sterilization equipment.
2009 21st year of the Heisei Era	Became an import agent for CIT in France. Became a sole distributor for volatile silicone D5 substitute and anti-aging agent Fiflow.
2010 22nd year of the Heisei Era	Opened Seoul Liaison Office. The handling of battery materials has expanded, and it has become an important base for market development of conductive materials such as carbon nanotubes, positive and negative electrode materials, and charge/discharge devices. Became an import agent for Vantage in the United States. Became a sole agent in the personal care market for plant-derived raw materials. Became an agent for FRX Polymers, Inc. in the United States, and started selling polymer-type phosphorus-based reactive flame retardants. Became sole agent for epoxy resin in Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, and India. We have been developing applications for thermoplastic resins and thermosetting resins by imparting excellent flame retardancy.
2011 23rd year of the Heisei Era	Became the general agent for carbon nanotube products of SZ SUSN in China. Started sales in both Japan and South Korea.
2013 25th year of the Heisei Era	Opened Kobe Manufacturing and Analysis Center. Test analysis of pharmacopoeial liquid paraffin, started as a distribution center. We have expanded our facilities and personnel, and are now testing and analyzing imported products such as petrolatum.
2014 26th year of the Heisei Era	Established PT.Shima Trading Indonesia in Indonesia. Started sales of automotive parts and processing oils.
2015 27th year of the Heisei Era	Opened Cosmetics Lab. Prototypes and proposals for various tests and formulations. Shinichiro Taki assumed the position of president and representative director.
2018 30th year of the Heisei Era	Established a liaison office in Guangzhou, China. As the South China base of Shima Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., we have been working to enhance services in the southern region. Established Functional Materials Laboratory. Started testing and research of anti-corrosion coating agents such as water-based inorganic paints. We aim to develop various functional materials.
2019 1st year of the Reiwa Era	Kazuki Takahashi assumed the position of president.