Koike Sangyo looking to target overseas expansion and emerging markets

Entering untapped Middle Eastern markets is part of an ambitious development strategy that will also see the chemical trader move into traditionally female dominated sectors such as cosmetics.

Despite - or perhaps because of-its lack of natural resources, Japan has become a significant player in the chemical industry over the years, with trading companies making a major contribution to the country's economy since it began 150 years ago.

One such company is Kansaibased Koike Sangyo, a specialist in batteries, electronics, resins, and plastics, first established in April 1911.

No firm survives for over a century without facing a variety of challenges, and arguably the most pressing of these is Japan's current demographic situation, where an aging population means a shrinking domestic market and ongoing labor shortages.

Koike Sangyo president, Yukichika Koike, is keen to emphasize that the company's response to these issues belies the stereotype of Japanese industry as inward-looking and resistant to change. 

"As Koike Sangyo, we have primarily focused on the domestic market as a trading company," he concedes, "and a significant portion of our sales still comes from within Japan. But we have recently started expanding our overseas sales and established overseas bases. We have also set up a new department dedicated to the overseas market and increasing the trade ratio."