Message from Our Company Founder

We’ve never backed down from a challenge, and have always forged ahead.

In the old days of this industry, businesses did not sort their scrap metal, and the distribution system was extremely complex. Although metal recycling at that time was a tediously labor-intensive activity, nevertheless, I realized there was a business opportunity in it. From there, Kawashima got its start on December 12,1964 with a capital of only the 3000 yen I had at hand at the time. I thought long and hard about the various things I could do with that money. Now, over 50 years later, Kawashima cooperates with 39 companies in various fields, giving us a total annual group income of 70 billion yen and three billion yen in annual profits.

Streamlining our aluminium recycling and making it more efficient has made it possible for us to create an entirely Group-contained integrated system covering everything from collection to recycling. I recognized a business opportunity hiding in plain sight in our daily lives: precious metals. I tried to buy up precious metals I knew were literally sitting dormant in closets around the country, even while being turned down here and there again and again. I had my first success with buying up precious metals goods at a department store. By constantly developing and improving my business model, in short order, I was able to open the way to my own unique business.

Any resource can be utilized efficiently. That’s the path to a bright future.

With increasing public awareness these days of the need to protect our global environment, the importance and necessity of the recycling industry becomes more and more clearly evident. What our company can do in this situation is to press on with research and development, recycle metals previously thought to be unrecyclable, and cut operating costs. It is certain that we are seeing the steady emergence of a more recycling-oriented world that seeks to recycle all it can, and reduce the consumption of natural resources. Toward this end, I believe we should make use of our technology not only in Japan, but also in other countries whose recycling capabilities are still underdeveloped.

We should be developing new recycling expertise-how ahead of anywhere else, and with more exacting standards than anyone else. That is our company mission. That is why our motto is “Always Take Up New Challenges,” and it is why we are always pushing ahead. I believe that from here on out we will continue to always be the industry leader and be a company from which people expect great things. Holding precious the goal of recycling that can improve peoples’ lives, we will continue to press on in our daily work.

We are grateful to our many customers for making our group what it is today. From here on out we will endeavor to continue to create value for our customers. Finally, to our future customers, it is my fervent hope that you will come to know that our recycling technology and passion for our work is second to none.

Yoshikatsu Kawashima
President and Company Founder