Surprisingly, Nikon technology is playing an important role in a factory producing work clothes commonly worn by construction workers. Ms. Yasuko Murakami, vice chairman of Toraichi Co., Ltd., says that functional work wear should allow craftsmen to do their jobs effectively. Introduced here are belt loop inversing machines.

Can you begin by telling us about your business?

Actually, we started out making jeans. Since then, our company policy has been to provide good quality items at any price. Making jeans allowed us to learn a lot about manufacturing rugged and durable products. We felt we could contribute to society by offering quality products. Because work wear is an indispensable item, we decided to specialize in this field.

I can honestly say that at the beginning we had no intention of engaging in a full-scale business. When we started, we were prepared to make no profit for as long as 10 years. In fact, we made little money out of the business for 13 years (here she laughs). Although we had a few employees, we all worked very hard. "Do your best," was our company motto back then.

Later, Japan's rapid economic growth really boosted the business. Our products were gradually accepted by customers and gained a good reputation in the market. As a result, orders grew to the point where they exceeded our production capacity. We simply had too many orders. This might sound a bit misleading, but if I'm honest, I'd have to admit that we only begrudgingly expanded our production facilities. It was only to keep our customers happy.

It has been around 25 years since we built our first factory at Sanyo-cho, in Okayama Prefecture. Following that, we saw more than 10 factories go up one after another. Nevertheless, we still couldn't keep up with the growing orders. So 10 years ago, we moved into the Chinese market, building a factory in Shanghai. Believe it or not, we weren't interested in expanding, but we didn't want to let our customers down. We've always tried to do our best, and the result is what you see.

You seem very dedicated. Do you plan to shift all production overseas in the future?

To tell you the truth, from the point of view of production costs, manufacturing overseas is unquestionably more appealing. However, it might be difficult to handle urgent requests. It's our company's basic policy to meet any demand from our customers. To this end, we work on each product individually. Our products are often said to be highly original. By trying to meet the needs of each and every work environment, we have seen our lineup grow and grow. Our products continue to develop along with work environments. But remember, we're not only pursuing functionality. Our clothes are there to enjoy working in, and so design and a sense of playfulness are important. Toraichi employs a lot of people for whom work is everything--like me (here she laughs).