Kawamura Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Kawamura Electric was established in 1919 as a supplier of ceramic parts for electricity distribution systems. The company is located in Seto, Aichi Prefecture, which is the well-known center of the ceramics industry, twenty miles north-east of Nagoya City. Seto will host the World Fair to be held in 2005. The President, Mr. Yukitoshi Kawamura, succeeded his father in May 1991. Kawamura Electric is a leading manufacturer of a wide range of products for industrial use. Their electricity distribution systems, control panel boards, conductor grids, and other heavy electrical equipment cater to the energy needs of factories, office buildings, and other public facilities throughout Japan. Approximately thirteen hundred employees work in Kawamura's head office, seven branch offices, thirty sales offices, and six factories throughout the country. Kawamura Electric celebrated its 80th anniversary in 1999. In passing this milestone, Kawamura Electric has made a commitment to expand into international markets and transform its current labor-intensive products into the high-technology field.
Ando Cloisonne
Ando Cloisonne was founded in 1880, and is the oldest and largest corporation involved in manufacturing and dealing in shippo (cloisonne), a fine ceramic art form. Their products were first introduced to the world at the Chicago Exposition in 1893. Since then, they have received many awards in numerous international expositions. Ando Cloisonne is always among the main part of the Japanese Emperor's gift.
Ando Cloisonne is headquartered in Nagoya and has branch offices in central Tokyo's Ginza district. Mr. Juro Ando is the fourth-generation successor, and has been pleased to cooperate in this Program since 1992.
CoTech International
Founded in 1984, CoTech International, Inc. is an intellectual property transfer consulting firm specializing primarily in global patent acquisition. CoTech has been working closely with Kawamura Electric, both in technology searches and in business consulting fields, to facilitate Kawamura Electric's international transition process.
The Nagoya based consulting firm, headed by Mr. Sumio Mizuno, has collaborated, as the Program Organizer, with Kawamura Electric in the development of the Visiting Fellowship Program since 1987 and with Ando Cloisonne since 1992.
