H. IKEUCHI & CO., LTD. was founded in 1954 as an export trading company by Hiroshi Ikeuchi (currently honorary chairman). The founder Ikeuchi took a lot of pride in the products his country manufactured, and as a result he focused on exporting only made-in-Japan machinery and equipment. However, at the time textiles was still the main industry in Japan, and the significant items developed by Japanese producers were limited to those-related with the productions of rayon synthetic materials. One of those products was the ceramic spinneret:
Spinnerets were traditionally made from metal alloys (gold and platinum), which were capable of resisting both strong acids and strong alkalis. Existing spinnerets, however, were confiscated by the army for use during World War II, and thus became unavailable for use in Japan. At a loss about how to provide these parts to customers again, spinning-related companies began betting their corporate futures on the development of spinnerets made from alternative materials such as glass and porcelain. Although usable porcelain spinnerets were finally achieved near the end of the war, importing of American nylon commenced just after the war ended, and the new spinnerets began to vanish from the market as rayon consumption in Japan declined.
Ikeuchi, who thought it a waste to let this outstanding ceramic spinneret technology fade away, expended great time and effort until he at last succeeded, for the first time worldwide, in the production of ceramic spray nozzles. Afterward, in 1961, he established a small factory in his hometown of Kure, Hiroshima prefecture. At the time, Bordeaux mixture was widely used as an agricultural pest-control agent, but spray nozzles for this agent tended to wear down quickly. Major pesticide-sprayer manufacturers were more than happy to adopt IKEUCHI's new ceramic nozzles, which offered high wear resistance to mitigate this problem.
Thereafter, H. IKEUCHI & CO., LTD. began offering the world's first spray nozzles with ceramic tips—which also came with a guarantee of precision performance—and the Company expanded product offerings beyond the field of agriculture with nozzles made of metal, plastic and other materials. These were adopted and went on to make useful contributions in a wide range of industrial fields including steelmaking, automobiles, electronics, papermaking, printing, fibers, food products, greenhouse agriculture, marine products, livestock, energy, medicine, welfare services, landscaping/townscaping, pollution control and others.
