A page introducing the history of the DENSO HISHOKAI Association

Japan built on postwar reconstruction with the special procurement boom from the Korean War, which began in 1950. Japan approached a period of high economic growth in the second half of the 1950s. During this era of rapid economic growth, DENSO in 1959 founded the DENSO Cooperative Association, the precursor to the present DENSO HISHOKAI. Together with partner companies, a system to support DENSO was established. Each company contributed to the promotion and rationalization of management improvement as a partner in support of DENSO. As a result, the association made great strides forward, receiving the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency award in 1963 and so on.

In the face of dollar and oil shocks with international competition due to the liberalization of capital, it further promoted the rationalization of management efficiency and improvements in technology levels.

As automakers made their advance into the US market, Japan became the country with the world’s largest trade surplus in the early 1980s due to the rapid increase in exports to the US. As the Japanese Yen became more established and following the tendency of the era toward internationalization, the association responded to sudden environmental changes such as the progress of technological innovations.

By setting up various seminars and training sessions aimed at improvements in business, production technology, management supervision and so on, it promoted building a foundation aimed at a sound corporate constitution.

Beginning in the 2000s, the market in the automobile industry saw the main battlefield begin shifting from developed countries to BRICS and other emerging economies. At DENSO in 2000, the association’s name was changed from DENSO Cooperation Association to DENSO HISHOKAI Association. As a countermeasure to the environmental problems that were discussed globally in the 1990s, the association began technological innovations such as the development of environmentally friendly cars.

Taking on the challenge of improving product performance and environmental protections, the association continues to meet the demands of the times through the partner companies working together.