The pulp and paper industry in Japan has experienced a continuous decline in domestic production since 2000, creating challenges for growth projections and appearing resistant to dematuration trends. Among the leading companies in the industry - Oji Holdings, Nippon Paper Industries, and Rengo - Oji Holdings stands out for its exceptional sales growth, mainly attributed to its successful entry into the corrugated cardboard business since 1996. Despite Rengo’ s dominance in this sector, Oji Holdings capitalized on its strengths to make a significant entry and drive growth.

This paper aims to explore the factors behind Oji Holdings’ growth in the corrugated cardboard business over the past 25 years and its industry impact through literature and patent research. The research question addressed is: “Despite being a latecomer, how did Oji Holdings make a substantial entry into the corrugated cardboard business and contribute to the dematuration of this industry?”

As a result, Oji Holdings achieved successful entry into the corrugated cardboard business through business model transformation and product innovation. In an environment where traditional privileges were disrupted by fierce competition, leading to industry consolidation, Oji Holdings pursued vertical integration and made substantial investments to enhance efficiency. Additionally, by transitioning from virgin pulp to recycled materials like waste paper, Oji Holdings established a circular economy centered around urban areas, promoting industry-wide productivity enhancement and carbon footprint reduction. While Nippon Paper Industries pursued horizontal specialization, its profitability stagnated, indicating a need to strengthen relationships with end-users. Oji Holdings leveraged product innovation to offer sales-promoting solutions for increased in-store cardboard usage, coupled with internet proliferation, offering appealing products to consumers. These strategic decisions drove business growth and contributed to industry dematuration.

This case offers insights into how base material industries facing significant challenges such as maturation and long-term decline can undergo dematuration.

The purpose of this study is to identify the regional characteristics (differences in soy sauce taste) of the Fukuoka Prefecture soy sauce market and examine the impact of these characteristics on the management of brewers in the region. As a case study, I examined soy sauce brewers in Fukuoka Prefecture (mainly soy sauce brewers named Jokyu and Matsuki), where the influence of regional characteristics is said to have been strong, and clarified the differences in management between brewers who adapted to regional characteristics and those who did not.

First, it was found that regional differences in soy sauce can be explained by the differences in the soy sauce production rate (the amount of soy sauce pressed from a certain amount of Moromi, an unrefined soy sauce) and amounts of additives in it. It also became clear that soy sauces in the Kanto and Northern Kyushu markets are at the extremes of regional characteristics (differences in taste). These regionally unique soy sauces were sometimes regarded as qualitatively inferior considering the Kanto region, but for consumers in each region, the soy sauce distributed in their area had the "natural" taste and a favorable evaluation.

Second, it was observed that producing and selling soy sauce suited to these regional characteristics had an impact on business success. Matsuki, the company discussed as a case in this study, growth its business by selling sweetened soy sauce that suited regional characteristics. On the contrary, Jokyu’s—another case in the study—production of soy sauce of the Kanto standard (good quality) did not increase sales despite a high evaluation at product fairs and an aggressive advertising and promotion. Later, Jokyu began brewing soy sauce in accordance with the regional characteristics and grew its sales.

In establishing a market for Vinylon, a domestically developed synthetic fiber, it was important not only to continue improving the technology, but also to focus on applications that could demonstrate practicality through product development and advertising that incorporated marketing ideas. Soichiro Ohara, the president Kurashiki Rayon, has been credited with leading the company to success by shifting its thinking to match the market and technical conditions for Vinylon, and by demonstrating strong leadership. However, in reality, Soichiro Ohara was distressed by Vinylon’s poor performance. He tried to manage the situation rationally to prevent Vinylon from failing, all while grappling with various thoughts and emotions. This paper does not seek to undermine Soichiro Ohara’s reputation, but rather, by using his diary, which was recently discovered, attempts to look into the feelings of a manager who was torn between emotion and rationality in relation to Vinylon. Since the study of business history attempts to read management decisions and actions objectively based on market, technological and financial rationality, and so can be said to neutralize the emotions of managers. While emotions do not always steer things in the right or desirable direction, they can influence managerial decisions and actions that appear rational. Therefore, I believe that it is necessary to pay attention to the role and effects of emotions. This paper attempts to decipher the words of Soichiro Ohara in his diary, in which he could freely express his emotions, by approaching them from the perspective of the “history of emotions,” focusing not only on rationality but also on emotions.