Sugatsune's History

1930 “Sugatsune Shoten” is founded by Tsunesaburo Sugasawara at 5 Kanda Egawa-Cho (present-day Higashi Kanda), Tokyo, in order to sell European style furniture hardware, something which was quite rare at the time.
1943 Sugatsune Shoten is incorporated into “Sugatsune Kogyo Co., Ltd.” with ¥180,000 capital. A factory in Narihira is opened to manufacture metal accessories for communication until the end of the war.
1949 The company starts manufacturing furniture hardware and building hardware. It begins business transactions with major furniture manufacturers in Japan, and exports chair hardware to the United States (the first transaction outside of Japan).
1955 At the wedding of the Crown Prince of Japan, Sugatsune Kogyo delivers special high grade fittings to the Imperial Palace.
1969 A factory is constructed on the Trading Estate at Matsuo-cho in Chiba. This marked the beginning of mass production. Production on the Salon Furniture Series began this year.
1972 An international patent on the company’s one-touch door holder is obtained in 12 different countries.
1973 Capital is increased to ¥100,000,000. Hiroshi Sugasawara becomes President of Sugatsune Kogyo Co., Ltd. Tsunesaburo Sugasawara becomes Chairman.
1975 A sales office is opened in Osaka, in the Kansai area of Japan.
1980 A large exhibition is held at Sankei Hall in Tokyo to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Sugatsune Kogyo Co., Ltd.
1982 A distribution center (abbreviated as SBC) with a floor area of 4026 m² is completed at the location near the factory in Chiba. Sugatsune America Inc. is established in Carson, California.
1987 The SBC computer system is put into operation. Sugatsune Kogyo comes up with an original damper technology, which it labels “Lapcon.”
1988 “Tallman”, the first product to ever be produced with Lapcon, is announced.
1990 A large exhibition is held at the Shinjuku NS Building in Tokyo and also in Mydome Osaka in Osaka. The exhibition was to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of Sugatsune Kogyo Co., Ltd. The capital is increased to ¥400,000,000.
1991 The office building in Adachi is expanded and a new showroom is added. The “Door Closer” and “KX Castor” both win the Good Design Award.
1992 Sugatsune Kogyo’s President Sugasawara is presented with a Medal with a Blue Ribbon by the government of Japan in recognition of his significant public service. A new distribution center (abbreviated as SBC) with a floor area of 8884 m², equipped with modern equipment, is completed.
1998 Sugatsune Kogyo’s President Sugatsune receives Gold and Silver Rays, an Order of the Sacred Treasure in recognition of his distinguished achievements. A technical center is built at the Chiba Factory. The company’s the first Students’ Design Competition called “Sugatsune Workshop 21”. A sales office in Nagoya is opened. The company registers for ISO 9001 certification.
1999 Michio Sugasawara becomes President of Sugatsune Kogyo Co. Ltd. and Hiroshi Sugasawara becomes Chairman.
2000 The company holds an exhibition entitled “Sugatsune Global Stage 21” in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its founding. Visitors arrive from all over Japan.
2002 The sales office in Osaka moves to the center of Osaka city. The company registers for ISO14001 certification.
2004 Sales offices open in Sendai and Fukuoka. An office opens in Shanghai, China.
2005 The showroom moves to a new location (2-5-10 Iwamoto-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), where it becomes the biggest showroom in Japan in its industry. A new showroom opens in Osaka. A large exhibition is held to commemorate the opening of the new showrooms. Sugatsune UK is established in Great Britain. Sugatsune Shanghai is founded in China.
2006 Jun Sugasawara succeeds Michio Sugasawara to become President of Sugatsune Kogyo Co. Ltd. Michio Sugasawara becomes the Chairman.
2007 A new building is completed at the distribution center, expanding its capacity with 7413 m² of additional floor space. The Nagoya sales office moves to the center of Nagoya city.
2008 A private exhibition is held at the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya showrooms.
2009 The product concept “Motion Design Tech” is introduced. Sugatsune Kogyo Co., Ltd. registers its trademark.
2010 A large exhibition is held at the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya showrooms to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of Sugatsune Kogyo Co., Ltd.
2011 A new sales office is opened in Kanagawa and a showroom is opened in Fukuoka. A showroom and sales office are opened in Chicago by Sugatsune America. HES3D-160, LDD-S/LDD-V and SLS-ELAN win the Good Design Awards.
2012 A sales office opens in Kyoto.
2013 EXCELOCK, PLN50 and DC win the Good Design Awards. A showroom opens in Kyoto and an exhibition is held to commemorate its opening. An office opens in Guangzhou, China as part of Sugatsune Shanghai.
2014 The LAD (Lift-Assist Damper), J-95 Heavy Duty Hinge and 360 “Olympia” Concealed Hinge win the Good Design Awards.
2015 Sugatsune Kogyo Co., Ltd. celebrates its 85th anniversary with a private show at its showrooms in Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo. Sugatsune Kogyo India Private Limited is established in India. A showroom is established in Mumbai, India. An additional logistics and distribution center (SBW) is established in Kyoto, Japan.
2016 The Chicago showroom moves to a new location. Sugatsune Europe GmbH is established in Germany. Sugatsune Canada, Inc. is established in Montreal. The Monoflat LIN-X Hinge LIN-X1000 wins the Good Design Award.
2017 The Monoflat LIN-X1000 wins a Reddot award.
2018 Sugatsune UK changes locations. Private exhibitions displaying new products are held in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. In total, exhibitions are held in 13 cities across Japan. Sugatsune EU opens a showroom in Düsseldorf.
2019 Sales office opens in Northern Kanto. The LDD-V100 door damper wins both the Red Dot design award and also the iF design award. The head office moves to a new location.
2020 Sugatsune Kogyo celebrated its 90th anniversary.
2021 Good Design Award received for the HG-TLAJ (100° opening) spring-assist torque hinge and the HG-TAWJ assist torque hinge.
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