Corporate History
| 1910-1925 Establishment Phase Uchida Yoko develops original new products, establishing a business foundation for selling wholesale to retailers. This foundation later leads to entry into the distribution business. | |
| 1910 | Kotaro Uchida founds Suitaigo, the precursor to Uchida Yoko, in Dalian, China. The company sells surveying equipment, drafting supplies, and office supplies. |
| 1917 |  The company is unified under the name of Uchida Yoko. |
| 1925 | Uchida Yoko enters into a domestic sales contract to market the Hemmi Bamboo Slide Rule which later becomes its flagship product. The slide rule was an indispensable tool for engineers until the electronic calculator was developed. Sales of this product lay the foundation for later becoming a leading company in the educational market. |
| 1926-1945 Development Phase Uchida Yoko’s original products evolve into brand name items for which design is conducted in-house and production is outsourced. Numerous brand name products are launched. | |
| 1926 | Uchida Yoko is reorganized into a joint-stock company. |
| 1927 | The first Uchida Yoko Office Equipment Catalog is published, reflecting the fact that the company's products are high-quality office supplies and its customer base is made up of government and public organizations, banks, and major corporations. The catalog, considered state-of-the-art for its time, contributes to creating an image as a high-quality brand. |
| 1946-1962 Reconstruction Phase Utilizing the distributor network established for its flagship product, the slide rule, Uchida Yoko enters the school market by marketing science materials for the classroom. Although the electronic computer was virtually unknown at this time, Uchida Yoko begins marketing it along with business machines, drafting machines, and other office supplies, expanding and improving upon its range of products. These products form the foundation for the areas later classified as office-related business, information-related business, and education/school-related business. | |
| 1948 | The Science Materials Division is established. In addition, Uchida Yoko introduces its own brand of microscope, one of the most important and standard items of school science equipment. Since Uchida Yoko is one of only two companies making microscopes at this time, Uchida Yoko becomes a trusted name in the school market. |
| 1949 | The Uchida Science Materials Catalog, listing a wide array of educational materials, is published. |
| 1953 | The permanent marker, an innovative new product, is developed. This later becomes a hot-selling item which is exported all over the world. |
| 1957 | Uchida Yoko begins marketing relay computers for office use developed by Casio Computer Co., Ltd. as an exclusive sales agent. This later leads to the establishment of the Electronic Computer System Division. |
| 1962 |  The Electronic Computer System Division is established. In an era in which all the compact computers available excluding those by one Japanese Corporation are made by foreign companies, Uchida Yoko announces its development of the USAC3010 multipurpose electronic computer offering superior performance that is equivalent to the large-scale computers of the day. |
| 1963-1988 Rapid Growth Phase In office-related business, Uchida Yoko introduces numerous office furniture products that are compatible with office trends and automation, or are ergonomically-designed. In information-related business, the company becomes a market leader in the office computer field. For both of these areas Uchida Yoko begins to integrate information technology and office furniture, leading the way to later activities in ubiquitous network environment development. In the education/school-related business area, products that are compatible with audiovisual equipment are being developed to keep pace with advancements in educational technology. As developments are made in the personal computer industry, Uchida Yoko takes the lead in the computerization of education by becoming involved in computer assisted instruction (CAI) in its early stages. Uchida Yoko also branches off from its educational business mainly focused on schools to include social education, and begins to advance into the new category of cultural facilities business. During this period, Uchida Yoko actively penetrates international markets and establishes a number of overseas subsidiaries. | |
| 1963 | The Overseas Trade Division is established and exports to Europe and the United States commences. In response to the shift in demand from wooden desks to steel desks in around 1960, the Toho System Desk is introduced. In 1966, it captures the third-highest market share in the industry. |
| 1968 | As educational technology advances, the utilization of state-of-the-art technologies such as audiovisual equipment in educational facilities rapidly becomes more widespread. Uchida Yoko becomes involved in promoting the use of OHPs, which were virtually unheard of at this time in Japan. By improving the educational transparencies which are used as the contents for OHPs, Uchida Yoko became the top company in OHP sales. |
| 1969 | The all-IC electronic computer, USAC1500, is introduced. Uchida Yoko strengthens its position as unrivaled leader of the ultracompact electronic computer market. |
| 1970 |  At the Osaka Expo '70, Uchida Yoko exhibits its Almighty Desk as the “desk of the future." As a result, the company attracts attention for its concrete vision for workstyles and office environments of the near future. This concept generates efforts to integrate information technology and office furniture. |
| 1973 | The New York Representative Office set up in 1970 is converted into an overseas subsidiary and Uchida of America Corp. is established. |
| 1975 |  The first office computer in the industry to use standard floppy disks, USAC820, is introduced. |
| 1979 | The System Desk GX Series is introduced, acting as a stimulus in creating more colorful offices. This product becomes a long-time favorite-still in use more than twenty years after it was launched on the market. |
| 1980 | To keep pace with the diversification and increasingly advanced functionality of office work, the Office Plan Center where office design specialists gather is established in the 1980s. |
| 1981 | UCMS, a museum system which provides comprehensive planning, production, and construction services for museums, is introduced. This later becomes the basis for the cultural facilities business category. |
| 1983 | As computer work increases, demand grows for office chairs that are designed with ergonomics in mind. Uchida Yoko promptly teams up with a German designer to develop the System Chair ERGO-E Series, which establishes Uchida Yoko as a name synonymous with quality chairs. |
| 1984 | The CAI-ACE network-based CAI system, which integrates sound, video, and data, is introduced. Uchida Yoko becomes a market leader by implementing LANs before they are commonly used. This product is introduced in elementary, middle, and high schools starting in 1990, racking up cumulative sales of approximately 5,000 systems. It still maintains its popularity today. In addition, the CAI Software Series is developed and put on the market in 1988. These CAI products are successful because they provide both hardware and software support for the classroom. |
| 1985 |
|
| 1989-2004 Fifth Establishment Phase The fledgling integration of information technology and office furniture leads to development of two technologies: information and communication technologies and environmental (space) design technologies. Uchida Yoko makes new breakthroughs in the integration of these types of technologies pertaining to the ubiquitous network environment development business. In the education-related business, Uchida Yoko establishes a leadership position in the computerization of education, and launches new business projects in the contents solutions business, keeping pace with the popularization of the Internet. In addition, the development of office furniture designed with the people who use it in mind advances in the direction of universal design. Uchida Yoko also becomes involved in the ecology-related and security businesses, carving out new categories for which to operate in. | |
| 1989 | Uchida Yoko introduces BANNO, a display plate utilizing noncontact IC technology which when attached to a whiteboard allows you to input data from directly from the display plate into a personal computer. This is the first board product in Japan that utilizes noncontact IC technology. The development of noncontact IC technology leads to the implementation of an IC tag book control system for the first time in a public library at Kitakata Town Library in Miyazaki Prefecture in 2001. |
| 1993 | - In keeping with Uchida Yoko’s mission to integrate information technology and office environments, the company announces its “Flexible Workplace” concept which is based on three points-communication, concentration, and collaboration.
- To keep pace with developments in the computerization of education, Uchida Yoko publishes the PC Software Catalog, the most extensive catalog in the industry that lists approximately 10,000 products. As the Internet becomes more popular, Uchida Yoko also sets up its Web-Based Educational Software Catalog E-SOFT in 2000 and provides services such as estimates and ordering through it. |
| 1995 | - Uchida Yoko enters into a sales tie-up with U. S. company Steelcase Inc., the largest office furniture manufacturer in the world. - Uchida Yoko also forms a partnership with major U.S. software distributor, Egghead Software, and establishes Egghead Uchida (currently called Uchida Spectrum, Inc.) |
| 1997 | Uchida Yoko introduces Super Cocktail, complete client server-based integrated business software that uses computer servers. |
| 1998 | Uchida Yoko introduces Weather Scan, a comprehensive meteorological observation system which uses various meteorological sensors to automatically download meteorological observation data into a computer. Through the digitalization of meteorological data, it becomes easier to analyze and manage observation records. This system also facilitates other projects such as setting up Internet-based observation networks. |
| 2001 |  - Uchida Yoko sets up a special education Website called MANABINOBA.com that provides a place for school teachers and parents to communicate as well as a way to find out about demands and issues of classrooms.- Uchida Yoko introduces the D-MOLO work system which accommodates a wide variety of workstyles and offers superior expansion possibilities through the combination of simple parts. Integrated with ubiquitous technology, this concept later leads to the development of SmartPAO in 2003 and other products which make it possible to create ubiquitous environments flexibly. |
| 2003 |  The CAST Chair and FEED Desk products, created with universal design and ecology in mind, are introduced. The FEED Desk is the first universally designed desk system to be made available in the office furniture market. |
| 2004 | The UCHIDA Corporate Museum, where the corporate history of Uchida Yoko is presented, opens. Tangible interfaces using IC tags are used to display contents effectively. |
| 2005 | Uchida Yoko started to sell some products related to the Ubiquitous solutions such as PROJECTION TABLE, Smart Infill, Smart Ware( PPA, AWK, MSP). They opened the UCHIDA CUSTOMER BRIEFING CENTER that introduces Uchida Yoko's works related to the Ubiquitous solutions in Tokyo, Japan. And they established a joint venture company called Ares that offers office related service. |
| 2006 | U-CALA opened in Sapporo, Hokkaido, where is not only introduce their office furniture but also Uchida Yoko's works related to the Ubiquitous solutions. |
| 2007 | A hub warehouse was established in Busan, Korea. Uchida Yoko was able to distribute their products through not only the Asian countries but also all over the world. |
Uchida Yoko introduces KAKITORIKUN-OA Board, an original copy board which makes it possible to print out text and images drawn on the whiteboard directly onto paper. By combining Uchida Yoko's structural technology with a partner company's device technology, the product is commercialized. And a major new office automation product category is created. Follow-up products are developed later which make it possible to print out in color and download image data onto computers.
- Through a business alliance with Callison Architecture, Inc. of the U.S., Uchida Yoko launches a consulting service called Pre Schematic Programming that defines office design conditions.
- Uchida Yoko wins an Outstanding Product Award in the First Annual Japan Software Award for its CAI software called Weather in Japan that allows users to view cloud animation from the weather satellite, “Himawari." This product becomes a bestselling standard product in the multimedia educational contents market.