Our founder, Umekichi Tanaka, opened Ejimaya Tanaka Shoten. Kitajima-cho, Nihonbashi-ku, Tokyo, (now Kayabacho, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku) after training at Tokyo’s Ejimaya pawn brokerage. The company remained the headquarters of TANAKA KIKINZOKU until 2006. The company went on to engage in the bullion trading business, and began melting down foreign currency from Yokohama’s foreign quarter, refining it, and selling the metal. The techniques developed at this time went on to play a significant role in later industrial use of precious metals.

Tanaka Shoten received a request from the neighboring Tokyo Dento K.K. (predecessor of Tokyo Electric Power Holdings, Inc.), Japan’s first power company, to process used incandescent bulbs. At the time, platinum filaments were used in light bulbs, and Tanaka Shoten successfully melted and refined this platinum to manufacture platinum wire. The company also manufactured platinum chemical crucibles, evaporating dishes, electrodes, spatulas, and more. These were exhibited at the Tokyo Expo, held in Tokyo’s Ueno Park, and selected as award recipients.

During World War I, platinum was also used in the manufacture of military supplies. For example, the manufacturing of potassium chlorate, an ingredient in explosives, requires the use of large platinum electrodes, which created an increased demand for platinum. Tanaka Shoten supplied platinum to explosive manufacturing companies. Platinum was also an ingredient in the hypodermic needles used at the battlefront. However, imports of platinum fell during World War I, so, Tanaka Shoten successfully created hypodermic needles made using nickel as a substitute material as directed by the army’s medical unit. These needles were mass produced and sold. In this way, Tanaka Shoten came to position platinum as a primary product, and after becoming a publicly traded company in 1918, its newspaper advertisements, furoshiki wrapping cloths, and business cards bore the inscription “platinum, gold, and silver,” placing platinum first.

After succeeding in domestically producing fine platinum wire, the company began developing technologies for using this wire to create mesh. Platinum is harder to process than gold or silver, so French engineer Quinet was brought to Japan, and the company engaged in concentrated research. As a result, it was the first company in Japan to successfully manufacture catalytic platinum mesh. This research was then applied to successfully develop platinum iridium wire. The technology was also adapted for use in the manufacture of extremely fine gold wire, leading to the manufacture of bonding wire.

In order to ensure sufficient wartime resources, the Japanese government approached precious metals companies including Tanaka Shoten and had them create platinum chains, rings, and so on. The purpose of this was to promote the importance of platinum as a material. Then, in the same year, Tanaka Shoten manufactured and sold platinum medals and national defense rings (called national protection rings in the Kansai region). In the event of an emergency, under the government’s private reserves plan, the government would buy up these items in order to procure resources.

In the fall following the end of the war, U.S. military tanks and armored vehicles suddenly surrounded the TANAKA Precious Metals head office, and armed soldiers entered the building. The company vault was opened, and all of the precious metals inside were confiscated. This was done on the orders of GHQ (General Headquarters, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers). The confiscated precious metals were stored in a vault beneath the Bank of Japan. TANAKA Precious Metals could not manufacture products, and was forced to temporarily stop operations. The precious metals confiscated by GHQ were returned in 1959.

The textile industry boomed following the war. In order to meet its needs, a partner plant in Kawanishi City, Hyogo Prefecture, began production of nozzles for synthetic fiber. Initially, the technology used to create the nozzles’ holes was primitive. Cardboard placed on an iron platform was rotated to create a hole. In 1957 TANAKA NOZZLE K.K. was founded. In order to meet the ongoing stream of orders the plant was expanded, and in 1959 the Kobe Plant was completed.

One of GHQ’s Japanese restoration measures was the creation of a telephone and telegraph network. They used automatic switches to automatically connected telephone lines, and TANAKA Precious Metals was responsible for manufacturing the contacts used in these switches. It developed innovative production methods, and received numerous orders from various manufacturers. In order to secure palladium, one of the materials used in these contacts, the company engaged in import negotiations with the USSR. TANAKA Precious Metals had been a platinum importer before the war, so these negotiations went smoothly.

It was the dawn of the semiconductor industry. TANAKA Precious Metals and Mitsui Mining & Smelting established TANAKA DENSHI KOGYO K.K. as a joint venture to manufacture the bonding wire used in semiconductor production. The company took on fierce competition at the start of this new era, led by a spirit of challenge and doing what no others were doing, while striving to further develop its technical capabilities.

In the 1960s, precious metal plating came to be used in the contacts of electronic devices. Through a joint venture with U.S.-based Sel-Rex Corporation, TANAKA Precious Metals established Electroplating Engineers of Japan, Limited (EEJA). It began operations in the Hiratsuka Plant in Kanagawa Prefecture. EEJA manufactured plating solutions and equipment, which were sold by TANAKA Precious Metals. This joint venture played a major part in the TANAKA Precious Metals establishing a presence in the electronics industry.

Yamazaki K.K., known as “Ginza Yamazaki” from before the war, maintained a unique presence in the precious metal jewelry industry. It developed products under the slogan “Superior quality and fair prices.” It also implemented innovations such as allowing female store personnel to set sale prices. The company name was changed to TANAKA KIKINZOKU JEWELRY K.K. to cultivate an even stronger sense of security and trust among customers.

In 2012, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) accredited TANAKA Precious Metals as a full member, making it the first LBMA member in Japan. This accreditation not only gave the company a vote on resolutions deliberated on at LBMA general meetings, but also made it possible to dispatch committee members to executive board meetings and subcommittee meetings. The company gained a great deal of influence in the direction of Asia’s gold and silver markets. This also served as proof of the trust and security the company can provide to customers. In 2015 the company was also accredited as a London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM) member.

Vienna Gold Coin Harmony coins, minted by the Austrian Mint and sold in Japan by its sole agent, TANAKA Precious Metals, have been loved by many customers. In April 2016, the company began selling the new Vienna Philharmonic 1 Ounce Platinum. Like the Vienna Gold Coin Harmony, on its front it shows the pipe organ located at the Golden Hall of Musikverein, home to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and on the rear it shows Viennese horns, harps, and other wind and string instruments.