How it started
History
The company Asahi Kasei began in 1931 with the production of chemicals, which included ammonia and nitric acids. In 1949, exchanges between stocks started up between Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Asahi Kasei entered into a joint petrochemical venture with Dow Chemical. A production of polystyrene and Saran Wrap began in 1952. Diversification into acrylonitrile, construction materials, petrochemicals, glass fabrics, ethylene, housing, medical devices, electronics, engineered resins, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and liquors began in the 1960s and 1990s. Net sales exceeded $10 billion globally from 2000 to 2003. Finally, in 2008 and 2009, there was further diversification into medical devices. In 2018, Asahi Kasei acquired Sage Automotive Interiors.
On September 10, 2025, former company president Ichiro Ito died. As of January 2022, the company was led by Koshiro Kudo.
From Wikipedia’s article on Asahi Kasei, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2