The secrets to survive a century as a company100年続くNITTOの秘密を聞く

We invited Mr. Yoshikawa to have a talk show on February 11th 2023, which was the 100th anniversary of Nitto.

You can watch the talk show from the video below.

There were a few questions we couldn't ask Mr. Yoshikawa during the live show, so we asked him the day after and here are his answers.

What is the most important thing when it comes to selling your products?
To make our customers happy
Do the employees who join the company, already like bikes, or do they get more into bikes after they join?
I would say both, but we have more people who are already in love with bicycles who join in these days.
Could you tell us some stories of the first president of Nitto or the other presidents of the past generations?
The first president was a female. She was a granny who was excellent at doing business and would have her own driver to go everywhere with a foreign car. The second president was a very responsible person. A type of a person who would straighten up the messy parked bicycles in the bike parking near the train station first, and then take the train to work.
Are there any people who you respect, or were heavily inspired as a working individual in or out of the industry?
Shimano Shozo, the second president of Shimano. He became the president in such a young age and built what kind of a company Shimano is today.
It is said that the cycle of any trends are about 10 to 15 years. Have you ever felt that sort of "trend cycle" in the bicycle industry?
The people in the bicycle industry in the U.S. would often say something like this which I agree; "When it comes to bicycle parts, there are new parts coming our in a 3 year span. Just like fashion, consumers get excited for these new products. After 15 years, people would want to swap the components. Some of them want the same exact thing and some of them want something new, so there is a market for replacement components ."
If you weren't a president of a company, what do you think you would be doing?
Development design for fishing equipments.
Can you think of something that you regret not doing?
I do not think so. I like creating new products and that is my job.
Are there any brands or manufacturers who you looked u to?
Grant-san from Rivendell. Him and I share the same thoughts so we can look at things in the same direction.
You have worked with many people in the world, who would you like to collab with, next?
Jeff-san from Wilde Bikes.
How many bikes do you have? Could you also name them?
At the moment, I have a Bianchi ATB, Nitto Aluminum Frame 20" Touring, Kanda Alps Randonneur.
If you were to build a new bike right now, which handlebar would you pick? What kind of bike will it be?
A touring bike with the RB-016 Mustache Bar.
Do you have a touring route in Japan, that you recommend, or do you have any rides you really enjoyed?
Riding around Lake Hibara in Fukushima, attending the cycling event that the Fukushima news hosts and the rides we have with the members of Nitto Fukushima Factory and the members of the Nitto HQ. We all had a lot of fun.
Which is the most memorable product to you?
The ADB-X. I brought it to a bike show in America. I remember the CEO of Specialized liking the product. This is when Specialized was still very new in the industry.
Which product sold the most?
In terms of numbers, I would say the POSTEM (component for junior sports). They sold well in Germany. It was very reasonable, durable and the plating was hard to come off. The most successful product in America was the B902 (chromoly steel bullmoose bar) for MTBs.
Are there any products that you thought would be successful but, didn't quite sell as much as you thought?
The Stainless Bottle Cages. They are very expensive compared to the aluminum cages, so we only sold about two in a month.I remember Rivendell featuring the product in one of their catalogs and selling a lot of them. They do great nowadays, but they were very unsuccessful for the first year.
Which product are expensive to make?
NJPRO and Fillet Brazed products.
Which bicycle component makes you excited the most?
Old European stems such as GB.
Where would you like to go by bike?
Oirase cycling.
I love your catalogs and I look at them very often. I noticed that the design of the cover hasn't changed the whole time, which is very cool. Where does the design come from?
The wife of the second president/sales manager, designed it. She graduated an art school and had experience in teaching in a technical high school.

MESSAGEメッセージ

Messages celebrating the NITTO 100th anniversary.

from Tom Ritchey

from Honjo

from Crust bikes


from MKS

from Rivendell Bicycle Works

Tom Ritchey

Dear Nitto
Congratulations on the 100th anniversary.
I would like to express my admiration and respect for the diligent daily efforts of the past presidents of your company, Mr. Yoshikawa, and all of your current employees.

Tomoyuki Shimamura
Honjo Koken President

In 2019 I had the great pleasure of visiting Japan. Aside from meeting new friends at Blue Lug, I had what was one of the highlights of my life in bicycles and I was fortunate enough to meet Mr.Yoshikawa and visit the Nitto factory.
As any bike nerd knows Nitto makes the best racks and stems on the planet, so getting to see the Nitto factory and meet the people there was an unbelievable experience for me. I love working with Nitto and using their great parts and look forward to doing it for many years to come.

Matt Whitehead

Congratulations on the 100th anniversary.
I have always exhibited with Mr. Nitto at overseas exhibitions. Our first overseas exhibition was the Milano Show in Italy in 1979, but at that time the show was held in Milan, Italy, and Cologne, West Germany, back and forth, so we exhibited as a group. I am still impressed by the activities of Mrs. Yoshie Yoshikawa, the sales manager, and think she was an amazing woman.
Japanese component manufacturers still had a hard time obtaining information on overseas products, so before the show started, we rushed around the venue and took pictures. (Of course, the camera we used was the ASA100 film and whenever the camera would flash, the security guards would come flying at us, so we had to run away…)
This was around the time when Suntour's Superbe and Shimano's Dura-Ace were popular, I think? Both Milan and Cologne had huge warehouse-like venues and were very crowded (perhaps because they were combined with motorcycle shows and there were less entertainment there back then?) . There were only one or two Japanese restaurants in both Cologne and Milan, so I remember having a hard time. Mr. Yoshikawa and I always ate Eisbein, which is a specialty in Germany. (We could only have bread and sausages for lunch at the venue).
I was the youngest person in the team at the time, and everyone took care of me a lot. When Mr. Seitaro Yoshikawa joined us, I thought they were a very nice couple, and the conversation with his wife was heartwarming. The group of 6 Tokyo Companies, Nitto, Fujita Saddle, Tokyo Mark, Karasawa, Akashi are very close and are friends. Mr. Akira and I would always cheer eachother up to keep on going.

Toshiyuki Ogino
MKS President

100th anniversary. Congratulations indeed.
Many things have happened up to this day. I remember that around 1955, I thought that people in the bicycle industry had to take the lead in riding, so I ordered an Alps bicycle, and a group of us rode along the bank of Lake Sayama in the most fashionable gear I had. I think this was the start of Palace Cycle?
I would like to thank Mr. Seitaro and his wife for all their hard work. President Seitaro's upbringing, his naivety, his passion for bicycles, raising awareness of the industry as a whole, his passion for the delisious foreign food, his passion for sake and for his contributions to the Rotary Club, and for the many other things he did.
I am sure that the current president, Mr. Akira, will continue to develop the company further under his leadership.

Koichiro Ogino
MKS Chairman of the Board

Happy 100 years Nitto! Thanks for helping make every bike build a treat. I love opening a new Nitto product knowing all of the work and care that went into making it. Cheers to another century of making the best handlebars around!

James Chan

To the finest bicycle component maker of the last one hundred years, I wish you a big congratulations and the best looking to the future. As they say in Italy, "Cent'anni!"
To Nitto --100 more!
To another century of making excellent bicycle parts!

Antonio Villegas

Long Live Nitto!

Spencer Chan

Congratulations on 100 years of safe, beautiful and strong stuff! Yours are the only handlebars I truly trust, and no one else has ever made a rack that looks as good as a Nitto. I'm always excited to buy a Nitto item.

Will Keating

Congratulations, Nitto! You have been a strong part of my life as a cyclist and I admire your business. I'm very proud to sell your products. Here's to another 100 years!

Vince Nivolo

We owe NITTO and Mr. Yoshikawa our existence! Mr. Yoshikawa helped me so much at Bridgestone, and when Bridgestone closed its U.S. office, I asked if I could sell NITTO products in a new business, which I hadn't even begun. When he told me YES, it made me feel important and trusted and legitimate, and it gave me confidence to go ahead--knowing that such a respected man and business was behind me.
NITTO's quality standards have always been the highest in the bicycle industry. Every handlebar, seat post, stem, rack, bottle cage, or other accessory is strong and jewel-like, and we are so proud to sell them. NITTO doesn't compromise, and continues to inspire Rivendell to be better, but we'll never be as good as NITTO.

Grant Petersen

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