100 Stories1960 Asahi Kasei Shiba-Ryo the Birthplace of the Three New Projects

The Shiba-Ryo is said to be the birthplace of the three businesses that have supported Asahi Kasei—the Three New Projects. This office is located behind Hotel Okura in Aoi-Cho, Akasaka, Tokyo.

The Shiba-Ryo was designed and built in the early Edo period at the hands of the architect, Rodo Ohgi, as the home of Kenzo Iwahara, NHK’s first chairman of NHK. Asahi Kasei took the Iwahara residence in 1950.

With a site area of 2,290㎡ and 17 rooms, the Iwahara residence was turned into Asahi Kasei’s office. From then on, the Shiba-Ryo continued to watch over Asahi Kasei for over half a century. It was also considered valuable because it was one of the few works left by Rodo Ohgi as many of his work was lost to earthquake and war damage.

The warriors of Asahi Kasei chatted in the Shiba Office every night. It was the source of their innovation.

Heated discussions took place every night in the Shiba office after 8 p.m. until midnight even on rainy and windy days surrounding a man wearing a yukata. Most of the people who gathered were young. Watching their earnest discussions, the man in the yukata always believed that they will find an answer.

This story portrays the situation at that time. The man in the yukata was Kagayaki Miyazaki, who is known as the restorer of Asahi Kasei. These events took place between 1959 and the spring of 1961, right before Miyazaki went from lowest-rank executive officer straight to president, surpassing seven other executive officers.

Miyazaki was appointed as executive officer in 1958. Right after the Rayon recession that resulted in a 50 percent curtailment rate, regenerated fibers such as Rayon and Bemberg™ were not expected to develop rapidly like nylon.

Miyazaki gathered young people and discussed the issue with them every night in hopes of finding a new idea. They eventually decided to produce nylon from the Synthetic Fiber Division, synthetic rubber from the chemical industry Division, and Silikalitsit™ from Construction Materials Division.

These three projects were eventually called “The Three New Projects (Sansyu no Shinki)” as a play on words with “The Three Sacred Treasures (Sansyu no Shinki, but written in different characters).” Each of the three projects had a role in supporting Asahi Kasei.

The Shiba Office served as a guest house for Asahi Kasei. In June 2003, more than half a century later, the role of the Shiba Office ended—it was demolished with the construction of Toranomon Towers. This place embodied Asahi Kasei’s strength of having honest discussions regardless of position.