History

1949

Our company was established by Dr. Jin Matsuo, a former head of the National Institute of Health in Japan. The head office was situated in Tokiwamatsu in Shibuya, Tokyo, with the production facilities in Sakura City in Chiba, at the time.

We began with the production of drug substance, Rutin, after being approved to manufacture pharmaceutical products.

1957

Relocation of the main office from Tokyo to Sakura City

Hiroshi Tatsuzaki was inaugurated as the president of the company

1970

Began production of Glycyrrhizic acid extracted from Licorice

1973

Completion of the first production plant

1974

Began production of Stevia extract

1977

Introduction of HPLC to the facility

1979

Additional construction of microbial wastewater treatment plants

1981

Formalization of the Licorice extract extraction technology for the use of tobacco

1982

Branching out to the field of health food production

Began production of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), an extract from fish oil

1983

Completion of the second production plant (extract production facility)

Began extraction of several plant extracts

Situated the Tokyo sales office in Honcho, Nihonbashi

Productization of herbal products; startup of Japan Sana Co., Ltd.

1984

Inauguration of Hiroshi Tatsuzaki as the chairman, and Takashi Tatsuzaki as the president

1987

Began production of ginkgo leaf extract

1989

Began acquiring 41,000m2 land for building additional production facilities

1991

Completion of the third production plant (extract production facility)

1992

Completion of the fifth production plant (chemical filling and R&D lab)
Completion of the seventh production plant (extract production facility)

Began production of billberry extract

1993

Held the first employee training program for the entire company

1994

Construction of additional production plants (with freeze-drying machine)

1996

Established a research farm in Fukushima prefecture

Startup of Japan Ginkgo Farm Co., Ltd.

1997

Completion of the fourth production plant (extract production facility)

Escalation of soy isoflavone production

1998

Completion of the eighth production plant (quality control lab, etc.)

1999

Construction of main office building

50th anniversary

Received the 3rd Best Venture Business Owner Award from the Chiba Prefecture Industrialists’ Club

Received the Chiba Genki Company Award from The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun

2002

Began production of rafuma extract (VENETRON®; the scientific name is Apocynum venetum)

2003

Completion of the eleventh production plant (extract production facility)

Began production of black currant extract

2004

Established Tokyo branch office in Honcho, Nihonbashi; placement of plant functional analysis lab

Completion of the new industrial fractionating column

2006

Began production of sennoside calcium

Began production of maca extract

Application of large-scale HPLC

2008

Began manufacturing and selling experimental reagents for research purposes

Approved for the production of experimental reagents for animal research purposes

Implantation of the environmental management system

2010

Inauguration of Takashi Tatsuzaki as the chairman, and Jin Tatsuzaki as the president

Received the GMP approval for health food ingredients from the JIHFS (Japan Institute for Health Food Standards)

2011

Began production of kampo (Chinese medicine) extracts

Renewed the brand logo

Obtained Halal Certification

2012

Completion of tenth production plant (expanded pharmaceutical production facility)

Obtained the FSSC 22000 Food Safety System Certification from the Global Food Safety Initiative

2013

Began manufacturing black turmeric extract (SIRTMAX®; the scientific name is Kaempferia parviflora)

2014

Tokiwa Yakuso Shrine (a healing shrine) was bestowed by Gojoten Shrine in Ueno as its branch shrine

The very first all-hands meeting was held

2016

Completion of twelfth production plant (new freeze-drying facility)

2018

Received investment from SBIC East Japan

2019

Received the Best Young Entrepreneur Award from The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun

Obtained HACCP(Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) Certification

Held 56th Phytochemical symposium and Tokiwa Phytochemical 70th anniversary symposium

2020

Tokiwa was added to the list of leading companies who support community growth, by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.