History
- November 1914
- Founder Asajiro Yura and his partners establish Yuraseiko & Company.
The company becomes Japan's first to construct a benzene distillation plant, successfully industrializing aniline production. - January 1915
- The Kozaika Plant (Wakayama Works now) is built.
- February 1915
- Synthetic phenol production begins.
(Employees at the time of the company’s founding) - September 1942
- The head office is moved to Nihonbashi-ku (Chuo-ku now), Tokyo.
- September 1948
- The Kyoto Research Center is opened.
(The front gate and research scenes at the Kyoto Research Center) - October 1952
- The company merges with Kyowa Denka Industry Company (formerly Yura Chemical Industry Company) to become Yuraseiko Co., Ltd.
- June 1953
- Application of the Corporate Rehabilitation Law filed with the Tokyo District Court.
- July 1953
- The corporate rehabilitation process begins, with Kazuo Nagasawa as trustee and Toshio Ohno as trustee representative.
- 1953
- Daiichi Trading Co., Ltd.(current Mitsui & Co., Ltd.) takes a stake in Honshu Chemical Industry.
- December 1953
- Asajiro Yura resigns as representative director and president.
Kazuo Nagasawa appointed trustee, Toshio Ohno trustee representative, Takeshi Zaitsu representative director, Bunjiro Urata and Shouzou Yura directors, and Kiyoshi Kawamoto statutory auditor. - March 1954
- Diphenylamine production begins.
- July 1954
- The court decides on the draft corporate rehabilitation plan.
- October 1955
- The company name is changed to Honshu Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.
Kazuo Nagasawa appointed first president. - March 1956
- The court decides on the closing of the corporate rehabilitation process.
- May 1956
- Bunjiro Urata appointed second president.
- January 1958
- A tie-up agreement in benzene hydrogenation cyclohexanone manufacture technology is signed with Huls AG of West Germany (now Germany).
Dr. Gaesta and Shouzou Yura （People on the right） at Wakayama Works - July 1960
- Capital increase to 275 million yen.
- October 1960
- Cyclohexanone production begins.
- March 1961
- Bisphenol A production begins.
- December 1961
- Becomes listed on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Capital increase to 450 million yen.
- March 1964
- Asajiro Yura, the founder, dies.
- April 1969
- High-purity meta-cresylic acid production begins. Crude BHT production begins.
- July 1970
- OSBP production begins.
- January 1971
- Trimethylphenol production begins.
- February 1973
- Ichiji Yasunishi appointed third president (Bunjiro Urata becomes chairman and adviser).
- March 1977
- Masao Ohta appointed fourth president.
- November 1977
- Capital increase to 500 million yen.
- March 1979
- Bunjiro Urata appointed fifth president (in a comeback from the chairmanship).
- March 1980
- Hisao Yagisawa appointed sixth president.
- March 1984
- Kazuhiko Suehiro appointed Seventh president.
- October 1984
- The Kyoto Research Center and the Wakayama Works Research Division are integrated to become the Research Center.
- October 1984
- Hisao Yagisawa appointed eighth president (due to the passing of his predecessor, Kazuhiko Suehiro.
- June 1985
- A multipurpose development plant opens.
- March 1986
- Sentaro Suzuki appointed ninth president.
- March 1988
- Shunichi Fujiki appointed tenth president.
- April 1988
- The Bisphenol A Business is transferred to Mitsui Petrochemical Industry Company (Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. now).
- June 1990
- Photoresist materials production begins.
- January 1991
- The specialty bisphenols plant opens.
- March 1991
- Production of biphenol and various types of biphenols begins.
- January 1993
- The metal-free plant opens.
- June 1993
- Yoshitaka Mizunoue appointed eleventh president.
- November 1993
- The Wakayama Works acquires ISO9002 certification.
- October 1995
- The plant exclusively for biphenol production begins operation.
- March 1997
- Capital increase to 1,500.5 million yen.
- April 1999
- The Wakayama Works acquires ISO14001 certification.
- June 1999
- Susumu Togawa appointed twelfth president.
- November 2001
- Establishes Hi-Bis GmbH jointly with Bayer and Mitsui & Co. for the purpose of implementing the Specialty Bisphenol Business in Germany.
- March 2002
- The second biphenol plant opens.
- April 2003
- Construction of the Hi-Bis GmbH specialty bisphenol plant in Germany begins.
- June 2003
- Toshihiko Takeno appointed thirteenth president.
- December 2004
- Hi-Bis GmbH begins operation.
- June 2005
- Yasuhiro Takeda appointed fourteenth president.
- June 2007
- The Osaka Branch is closed down.
- February 2008
- The Bisphenol F Plant is expanded.
- January 2009
- The refined BHT (antioxidant) plant opens and begins production.
- June 2009
- Keiichi Sano appointed fifteenth president.
- September 2009
- Japan's oldest benzene distillation plant was certified as a "Heritage of Industrial Modernization" by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
（Japan's oldest benzene distillation plant, Certificate of modernization industrial heritage） - June 2011
- Yoshiyuki Funakoshi appointed sixteenth president.
- September 2014
- The Hi-Bis GmbH specialty bisphenol plant is expanded.
- November 2014
- Honshu Chemical Industry marks the 100th anniversary of its foundation.
- June 2015
- Toshiyuki Ikusaka appointed seventeenth president.
- June 2017
- Yuji Fukuyama appointed eighteenth president.
Honshu Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. 100th Anniversary Video