三洋興業 Company Profile

Nature, environment, and people.

In 1960, Japan was at the threshold of the high-growth era, having gone through a period of post-war reconstruction and stability. Particularly in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, large-scale construction projects such as the Meishin Expressway and the Tōkaidō Shinkansen were underway, leading to a construction boom across the country. This period was referred to as the "three whites era," during which sugar, cement, and fertilizer were highly valued. Japan has abundant limestone in its geology (with Akiyoshidai in Yamaguchi Prefecture being a representative example), but good quality stones for aggregate (gravel) were hard to come by. At that time, the late Shigezaburo Shibata, the founder, was approached by a cement company to arrange for gravel. While on his way to his wife's family home in Konan Town, Kōka District, Shiga Prefecture, he happened to ride the JR (then National Railways) Kusatsu Line from Kyoto Station and saw high-quality aggregate rising along the Yasu River from the train window. This became the catalyst for providing gravel to the cement company.