Sep. 18.2019
A Tour of a Fun Factory
Iwako Co., of Yashio City in Saitama Prefecture, produces plastic office and school supplies, mainly erasers, and kids especially love its “fun erasers.” We took a factory tour packed with adults who were more excited than the kids. Company founder Yoshikazu Iwasawa welcomed us personally.
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Having worked for an office- and school-supply wholesaler, Iwasawa naturally chose the industry that makes them, and has been doing it for many years. After showing off his cute, colorful erasers, he started the factory tour.
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The company founder spoke passionately about the part-production processes. Iwako employs various molds to make erasers in different shapes and , for Iwasawa, he tends to stick with established designs without much influence by the fad of the day like animals and vehicles because that can help the products staying long-time bestsellers.
![](https://kito.com/wp-content/uploads/6f92731b9c62405116922456a8b5f4fd-1024x768.jpg)
He says, “There have been times when we’ve seen illegal knock-offs of our products on the market. We don’t see that as a big deal, though, rather it’s just a proof of how good and admired our products are. So we only need to make better products to get ahead.”
![](https://kito.com/wp-content/uploads/36e1c0e0e7c89d167981a3107cd0030e-e1568772491928-612x1024.jpg)
His company uses Kito electric hoists to change eraser molds, and some of the hoists have been in use for many years. Thank you, Iwako, for being a loyal customer!