The World of "Adhesion"

Our company has many BtoB (business-to-business) products, but we also have the instant adhesive Aron Alpha, which is a product for general consumers that is favored by many people.

The origins of the company actually have a connection to Keio. Going back, it was a company founded by Momosuke Fukuzawa, who was the husband of Yukichi Fukuzawa's second daughter (Fusa). This was around the beginning of the Taisho era. At that time, hydroelectric power facilities were being built in various places, and Momosuke Fukuzawa was also actively involved in power development. To make effective use of that electricity, he first built a chemical plant in the Nagoya area. Momosuke's son and others served as president, and now we have eight plants in Japan and several overseas.

Since it is a chemical company, it is not very familiar to the general public, but caustic soda and chlorine, which we began producing in the early Taisho era through the electrolysis of salt water, are still widely used in the world today.

Instant adhesives are sold worldwide by many companies, including Cemedine, not just us.

Unlike Toagosei or Cemedine, my company is in a low-tech field.

I myself graduated from the Faculty of Business and Commerce and was in the Murata Seminar, so I went abroad immediately because of that connection. I studied at a university in the United States and ended up joining a bank there. Then, in 2000, I joined Yamato Co., Ltd., the family business, on its 100th anniversary.

It's a company with a long history.

The company was started in 1899 by Yakichi Kiuchi, four generations ago. He was a firewood and charcoal merchant, and at the time, he would put charcoal into small bags for sale, but the paste used to seal those bags would rot quickly, which was a problem. So, he developed a non-rotting paste using rice starch with preservatives and fragrances, which was very well received. Also, at that time, paste was either made by oneself or sold by weight, but he thought of selling it in fixed amounts and was apparently the first to develop paste in glass containers. He named it "Yamato Paste," and it remains a long-selling product favored to this day. Starch paste is now mainly produced by two companies: ours and one in Osaka.

Furthermore, thanks to everyone, the product called Arabic Yamato, released in 1975, became a huge hit. Recently, roll-type sticky notes have been selling well.

Currently, in Japan, stationery accounts for 70%, and just under 30% is the processing and sale of masking tape and blackout tape used mainly for automobile painting.

In recent years, demand from schools has decreased due to the declining birthrate and aging population, so we have to do new things, and we are also putting effort into hobby crafts. These are products for the elderly, children, or hobbyists. Using paste also involves using one's hands, which the elderly enjoy.

Also, the "Yamato Paste Bottle" recently won an award called "TOP AWARDS ASIA," which targets package designs created in Asia.

Cemedine began in 1923 when a man named Zenjiro Imamura converted his home in Yanaka into a Research Centers and Institutes, manufacturing plant, and shop. Mr. Imamura had no chemical background at all and apparently tried to make adhesives out of the blue. After repeated trial and error, nearly 20 years later in 1938, he finally released a nitrocellulose-based product called "Cemedine C" in a yellow package, which became a huge hit for model airplanes.

That was the first synthetic adhesive in Japan.

At that time, there was only starch or glue (nikawa).

Since then, we have released silicone sealants, coating materials for automobiles, adhesives, and various other products. Now we are like a comprehensive manufacturer of sealants and adhesives.

Perhaps thanks to Cemedine C, I think the image of products for general consumers is very strong, but in terms of sales composition, general consumer products account for about 16%. In recent years, we have been focusing particularly on elastic adhesives that utilize modified silicone polymers.

Cemedine proposed this about 25 years ago, and the concept is not so much a powerful adhesive as it is an adhesive that doesn't peel off. Because it is a relatively soft type, even if the base material moves, the interface follows the movement of the base material, providing stress relaxation so it doesn't peel.

In addition to bonding, we have released products with various functions such as conductivity, heat resistance, or "peelability"—meaning it sticks but is easy to remove.

Usually, when people think of adhesives, many are things that just harden, but adhesives with a certain degree of elasticity like those developed by Cemedine are truly revolutionary, and it's quite difficult to try to imitate them.

Recently, there is quite a bit of demand for the direction of making things removable, not just sticking them together.

Actually, there is a technology called biomimicry. There is a creature called a gecko, and the soles of a gecko's feet can stick and peel repeatedly, allowing it to walk anywhere, even on glass. We thought that if we could reproduce something like the soles of a gecko's feet, we could create an adhesive that sticks and peels, so our research department is also observing gecko soles (laughs).

Glass actually has a bumpy surface, so the fine hairs on the gecko's soles fit perfectly into it and don't let go. I think that's what makes it look as if it's stuck.

Aron Alpha is also used overseas, isn't it?

In Japan, we sell it under the product name Aron Alpha, but in about 20 countries, including the United States, we sell it under the name "Krazy Glue." Unlike Japan, the United States seems to have a rooted culture of DIY (Do It Yourself).

In Japan, the per capita consumption for general use is said to be 44 grams per year. In the U.S., although there are no exact figures, it is far more than that.

Our generation has many memories of using things like Cemedine C for plastic models, but our children's generation uses Mini 4WD and the like, and they don't use adhesives at all anymore. It's just a matter of fitting motors or tires. Furthermore, recently, games have become the focus, and they have stopped making models themselves.

However, in both Japan and the U.S., I hear stories of elementary and junior high school students using Aron Alpha or Krazy Glue for crafts and the like. Our company also holds craft classes for children in various locations.

The culture of using liquid glue doesn't exist at all in the U.S. It's all tape or glue sticks. Starch paste is used in France and Italy. There are famous brands like Cléopâtre in France and Coccoina in Italy. Also, it is used in Southeast Asia. Our main factory for paste is also in Thailand.

We also export elastic adhesive products like Super X to China and other countries. Our brand recognition is rising to some extent in the Chinese market, but in fact, quite a few counterfeits are also circulating, so there are parts where we are on high alert.

Looking globally, I feel that using adhesives is difficult unless it's a country with a certain level of living standards. It's a matter of whether people have the leeway to do crafts, or whether there are valuable or traditional things they want to repair.

In terms of writing instruments, the quality of paper and ballpoint pens differs completely from country to country.

For manufacturers that are expanding by bringing local subsidiaries under their umbrella in India and other overseas locations, our company is also working with them on starch paste and other products through technology licensing, but it is very difficult because the cultures are different.

Do they not use paste in places like India?

They do use it, but they first dilute paste from a large container themselves before using it. So, they buy paste with a feeling similar to when pasting shoji screens. If you do that, it will rot.

In China, Arabic Yamato sold a lot at one point, but that was because the government bought it. With Chinese paste, official documents would peel off, rot, or sometimes rats would gnaw on them.

The world of adhesives is a rare world in a sense, where things developed nearly 100 years ago still remain as products.

Cemedine C still remains, after all.

Old adhesives like glue (nikawa) are still used today. These natural adhesives have a long history.

The same goes for funori (seaweed glue).

Funori is one, and even rice grains can become an extremely powerful paste if applied properly.

Rice grains are powerful. Rice becomes paste when boiled, but it was actually our company that switched from the heating method to create starch paste. We took a patent for a manufacturing method called the cold paste method, which uses chemical treatment instead of heat treatment.

Our products are relatively gentle to people; for example, even for starch paste, the raw material is currently tapioca starch. Since these are products used by small children, we select materials while taking into account information such as allergies. Our company changed the raw material to tapioca starch in 1983, and it is a product that is safe even if accidentally licked.

Since our customers range from children to the elderly, we are particularly careful about quality. Between an imported product from overseas sold at three for 100 yen and our product at one for 100 yen, the one for 100 yen sells much better.

That's because the quality is good, after all.

However, with our products, we get complaints if something happens, but with the three-for-100-yen ones, no one complains, thinking that's just how they are (laughs).

This is a slightly unusual product, but for example, we also make the adhesive that attaches table tennis rubbers to the blades. Apparently, top players change their rubbers depending on the type of opponent.

I also occasionally hear cases where adhesives are used for other purposes. For example, instant adhesives are also used for fingerprint detection.

In tie-up with a certain prefectural police department, we created a kit for fingerprint detection. Fingerprints can be easily taken on a normal smooth table, but they are difficult to take on concrete or bumpy surfaces. It seems that using Aron Alpha makes them easier to take. Our technicians go to the prefectural police to give lectures on how to make detection easier.

How is it used?

Instant adhesives emit vapor. If you put it in a container, cover it with a lid, and apply the vapor inside, the fingerprints turn white and appear.

Also, although we don't recommend it, I've heard that guitarists apply it before playing so their nails don't crack. Furthermore, it's said that bouldering (a type of climbing) athletes, which will become an Olympic sport in Tokyo, also use it.

Is it not bad for the hands?

We also make a "surgical use" version with almost the same ingredients as Aron Alpha, which is released by Sankyo, so it's not bad for the body. This is also an unexpected use.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's commercial statistics, so-called stationery stores are rapidly disappearing; in fact, there were 11,806 stores in 2007, but in 2014 there were 7,269. In terms of the rate of decrease, it has dropped by about 38%, which calculates to a decrease of two stores per day. However, the floor space of stationery sections is expanding. Now, bookstores, variety shops, convenience stores, supermarkets, etc., also carry stationery.

The usage of adhesives is increasing in Japan at a rate of several percent per year. In the past, there were times when we only had to be conscious of competition with other adhesive manufacturers, but recently, products like Yamato's adhesive tapes have appeared, making it hard to decide whether to use tape or adhesive, and the boundaries are becoming very blurred.

In terms of being easy to peel, there are "removable tapes." We also use them; for example, there is a wrap tape that prevents scratches when transporting new cars. How cleanly it peels off depends on the material. Even with paste, there are now various "removable pastes."

In the past, it was enough if it just stuck somehow or could bond to various materials, but I feel that needs are expanding. It's not just about sticking; it's better if it can be peeled off when necessary, and I think there is still plenty of room for development in our work.

Is there a demand for Aron Alpha to be removable as well?

Often, people say, "It got on my finger, so I want to peel it off." If you rub it in hot water for a while, it peels off relatively easily, but there are materials where you can't do that.

If you heat it to about 190 degrees, the adhesive will decompose, but if you heat it that much, the material will be damaged, so it can't be heated. There are also special liquids for peeling, but they take time. If we consider sticking and peeling as a set, I think we need to put more thought into the peeling side.

In the past, when loose socks were popular among high school girls, there was something called Sock Touch, wasn't there?

Ah, to keep the socks from slipping.

There were customers who said it was good to use Arabic Yamato to hold them up, but originally, it's for bonding paper and the like, so it's an unintended use that we couldn't recommend.

Previously, adhesives that were highly viscous and difficult to apply were used by dissolving them in solvents like thinner, but due to environmental issues and the effort involved, solvent-free adhesives are also emerging to meet the needs of the times.

Now, there are also things that harden when exposed to light. Nail artists use them; once the nail design is done, they apply light to completely harden it.

In the U.S., your company's products are sold for nail use, aren't they?

That's true. It happens in Japan as well, but I hear that nail technicians have recently been using the light-curing type more often.

Rather than tightening bolts to join things completely, applying adhesive is easier. Plus, when you want to take it apart again, messing with bolts is a real hassle. In that sense, I think there is a growing demand in the world for adhesives with various functions.

Arabic Yamato was created 42 years ago. At that time, more women were entering the workforce, so we created a liquid glue with a sponge cap that could be applied evenly so that women wouldn't get their hands dirty during office work.

I see, so you don't have to use your fingers to apply the glue.

Nowadays, we also have glue sticks and tape runners. Within our company, there are opinions like "the application area is this or that," but I don't think general consumers buy products based on the specific application area.

Certainly, the amount and size of the adhesive are also important for usability.

Recently, the small-sized Arabic Yamato we released in some convenience stores has been very well received.

Also, rather than buying stationery for the whole office, people are now buying what they personally like. I feel we are entering an era where good products sell even if the unit price is a bit higher.

Cemedine C has effectively had almost no price increase since its founding.

Ours hasn't changed at all either. We raised it a little, but raising prices is always difficult.

You mentioned having a factory in Thailand; is it cheaper than manufacturing in Japan?

It is cheap, but prices have been rising lately. In the stationery industry, products are often made in Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, or China.

However, Yamato glue in tubes and bottles is still made in Saku, Nagano Prefecture. We can produce a massive amount all at once there.

Our company manufactures in three countries: Japan, the US, and China.

Cemedine makes automotive products overseas, but most are made in Japan.

American glue for elementary school students doesn't stick at all.

Americans have large hands, so the containers are also incredibly large. They are sometimes so big that Japanese people can't even grip them properly, but I feel the contents are definitely not inferior.

The name Cemedine also originated from an overseas product that came to Japan, right?

In the Taisho era, a British product called Mendine came to Japan and dominated the Japanese adhesive market. We wanted to attack and drive it out, so we named it Cemedine (from "seme," meaning to attack).

So it's the "seme" from "to attack." Arabic Yamato is similar; long ago, gum arabic glue came to Japan. It was very expensive but easy to use, so we intentionally gave our glue the same amber color as gum arabic glue.

Originally, it's colorless, right?

Yes. And apparently, it was named "Arabic" because of the phrase "Ara, bikkuri yoku tsuku" (Oh, wow, it sticks well!).

There is a project called the Google Lunar XPrize, which is the world's first private lunar exploration project.

It's a contest where the five remaining teams, including teams from Japan and the US, compete to be the first to launch a rocket, land a lunar rover, drive it 500 meters on the moon's surface, and send videos and images back to Earth.

It launches this December, and Cemedine's adhesive is being used on the lunar rover of the Japanese team, HAKUTO. Since it's used in space, they conducted many tests regarding outgassing in a vacuum and durability in the unique temperature environment of space, and it looks like it's going to work.

In outer space, weight reduction is essential, so adhesives are used instead of bolts. This is the same for airplanes and automobiles. However, in terms of reliability, there is still an image that bolts are safer, so how we get people to understand that will be a challenge.

A current challenge is that adhesives don't easily stick to a material called polypropylene, so I believe we need to solve this.

Regarding the adhesives being sought, for example, there is a need for food-grade adhesives that are easier to use.

Adhesives are used to join things like meat, too. Also, medical and surgical adhesives are commonly used.

That's right. I've even heard they are used not just for humans, but for animal surgeries as well.

There is also a need to use adhesives in lower and higher temperature environments. Not necessarily hundreds of degrees, but wanting to use them constantly at around 100°C.

Our corporate color is orange, but other companies' starch paste containers are yellow, so people who recognize yellow are often from the Kansai region. People from the Kanto area often ask if it's the blue one or the green one. We do produce yellow ones, though.

Ours is also yellow, or rather, a color close to golden yellow.

Cemedine C is also yellow, isn't it?

We make most of our other products yellow as well.

Maybe yellow is a "color that looks like it sticks" (laughs).

For April Fool's Day this year, we posted an April Fool's joke saying we would sell a wedding gift version of Cemedine called "Medetaine" (a pun on "congratulatory") so that "two people can stay stuck together forever."

Then, we received many requests to actually make it a product, so we did. The contents are regular elastic adhesive, but we put it in a paulownia wood box with a decorative gift cord to make it look like a wedding favor representing a "strong bond." Fortunately, it was well received and sold out immediately.

That's interesting. It seems like we can do various interesting things like that in the adhesive industry from now on.

Adhesives are still not very familiar to the general public. We sometimes receive feedback, especially from women, about what is inconvenient or how things could be more convenient. Just opening the package and squeezing liquid out of the container might feel like a high hurdle.

In that regard, we need to think of ways to make them easier to use. Functionality like ease of removal is important, of course, but we want to continue valuing ease of use and handling for our customers.