100 Stories1993 Asahi Kasei Textiles, and the First Year of the J-League

In 1993, the J-League began, triggering an unprecedented rise in the popularity of soccer. The popularity of the J-League became a social phenomenon, with star players such as Kazuyoshi Miura, who played in Brazil, a soccer-loving nation, and Rui Ramos, a naturalized Brazilian footballer, emerging into the spotlight one after another. When the J-League season began, the uniforms were made of fabric from Asahi Kasei Textile (AT).

Founded in 1976, The AT organization was divided by application from the very start. With a focus on Bemberg™ linings, the company developed products to meet the needs of the market with high value-added materials made from highly processed polyester. The development of high value-added materials, as typified by sportswear, was the result of close collaboration between Asahi Kasei and AT.

AT had developed fabrics that utilized a variety of polyester deformed cross-sectional yarns to provide functions such as water absorption, quick-drying, and contact cooling, as well as other special processing to provide odor control and antibacterial functions. The good colorability of AT polyester led to its adoption by the J-League.

In the first year of the J-League, which started with a bang, AT was used for the uniforms of 10 teams, giving it a greater presence in the league. Through a planning company, AT worked with Mizuno to determine the team colors and design the uniforms for the 10 teams.

Once the uniforms were selected, two years before the first year of the J-League, the sportswear staff and uniform selection committee members traveled to Europe, a continent full of soccer fans, to shop for uniforms from the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga, and other leagues.

The uniform production process was a difficult one, even with regard to the selection of colors. Kozo Kinomoto, who served as a member of the uniform selection committee, asked AT to make sure that the uniforms did not overlap in color so that the teams could be identified at a glance, but seven of the ten teams wanted blue. Coordination among all of the teams continued.

For example, we suggested rose red for the Kashima Antlers because the prefectural flower of their home prefecture of Ibaraki is the rose. Although the person in charge of the team said that a stronger color would be better, he convinced them that the color would look stronger if the team became stronger, and the Antlers actually became one of the most successful teams, living up to the expectations.

After overcoming numerous difficulties, the polyester fabric proposed by Asahi Kasei Textile was well received for its strength and luster, and looked great under nighttime soccer stadiums lights.

The adoption by the J-League led to the development of a sweat-absorbent, quick-drying fabric called Technofine™ which was used in the uniforms of the Japanese national team for the 1998 World Cup in France. Technofine™ subsequently expanded sales further and won the first President's Award (Marketing Grand Prize) from Asahi Kasei Fibers.

AT was merged into Asahi Kasei in 1994 to strengthen the fiber and textile business. The textile business is currently being taken over by Asahi Kasei Advance.