Background In 1864, Sadasuke Taki Senior left his hometown, Higashinomura Village (Niwa District, Owari Province), and moved to the town of Higashiman-cho in Nagoya. He inherited a silk shop named “Kinuya Sadasuke” and worked as a kimono and fabric wholesaler. He sold Kyoto-style kimonos, Kanto-style kimonos, and locally produced fabrics. In the 1880s, Sadasuke Taki expanded his business in different fields. He established the Nagoya Bank together with Hyoemon Taki, and became its President. Also, he founded the Owari Textile Company together with Hyoemon Taki and appointed Masaka Okuda as its representative incorporator. Later in 1890, Sadasuke was elected as a board member at the first board member election for the Nagoya Chamber of Commerce (7 out of its 35 members worked in the textile industry). He expanded his business in the textile industry through many transactions such as the creation of Teikoku Textiles Co., Ltd. together with Hyoemon Taki and Joemon Kasugai. In the same period he established Sanryusha Limited Partnership Company (a yarn-making factory) together with Momozo Taguchi and Yasuhei Mogi. He invested as well in Gifu Silk Fabrics Co., Ltd, and formed a kimono sales group (Gofuku Ichibangumi) with ten leading wholesale businesses in Nagoya.
When Sadasuke Taki Senior died, aged 58, his eldest son, Shotaro, succeeded to the lineage and took the name Sadasuke Taki. In 2014, the company held a celebration ceremony for the 150th anniversary of Takisada in May. Since August 1st, 2018, Kentaro Taki became President of TAKISADA-NAGOYA Co., Ltd. This company has changed its business areas and management environment with the times and currently functions as a trading company specializing in textiles that performs the entire range of business functions from planning and development to procurement, production, and sales of various types of clothing, fabric, apparel, and similar items. Markets Takisada Nagoya is expanding into markets in regions across Europe, America, and Asia based on its successful operations in Japan. The company has also constructed a network for its materials procurement, development, and production system that connects its operating bases in Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and other areas. As of January 31, 2019, Takisada Nagoya had 304 male and 310 female employees and sales. Operating through 9 affiliates, it realized 67.689 billion yen in sales in the FY2018 divided as follows:
Menswear Fabric Div.: 30.1% Womenswear Fabric Div.: 30.8% Menswear: 20.6% Womenswear: 18.5%
Products Instead of manufacturing based on orders received, Takisada Nagoya constantly anticipates markets and needs in developing new products and seeks ways to create its own trends. Their mission is to support fashion business growth with the trinity of planning, production, and sales. The eight business divisions of Takisada-Nagoya consist of some 30 unique smaller sections. Based on a self-supporting accounting system divided by section, this organizational structure allows them to provide specific solutions for specialized fields, and to satisfy the requirements of their customers in a speedy and decisive manner. Below we take a closer look at Takisada-Nagoya’s main 8 business divisions. Women’s wear Fabric The Women’s wear Fabric Division is the lead force for the company in textile sales for the relentlessly changing women’s fashion market as they perform sales operations through a wide variety of channels. The Division produces various fabrics within Japan and abroad. They not only can offer highly refined and high-quality fabrics, mostly either made in Japan or imported from Europe, but they can also provide a wide variety of women’s wear fabrics using raw materials at reasonable prices, mostly produced in China, as well as natural to chemical synthetic fibers. They use the most recent trends to set the company’s direction, and also seasonally present new fabrics that combine the lifestyles and sensibilities of Japanese women at trade exhibitions.
Knitted Clothing Fabric The Knitted Clothing Fabric Division performs planning, provides solutions and carries out sales of jersey materials with constant value and freshness from raw materials that are targeted at women across a wide range of age groups from young to misses regardless of whether for the Japanese or overseas market. While mainly focusing on high-quality materials produced in Japan, the Division also features a wide-ranging line-up of highly refined European materials and cost-competitive materials from ASEAN countries. They handle everything from natural materials such as cotton and wool, to synthetic fiber materials such as Tencel and triacetate. Takisada Nagoya claims that their product development pursues excellent wear comfort, functionality, and originality with high added value. This is achieved thanks to the application of high standards for selected raw materials, and working closely with experts in areas of spinning, knitting, dyeing, and finishing from within Japan and abroad. International Trade Development This Division is responsible for the export of women’s wear and men’s wear fabrics, mainly focusing on natural and synthetic fibers and composite and knitted fabrics. With production mostly based in Asia, the Division plans and develops fabrics to provide hybrid solutions that combine both original products appropriate for individual markets as well as converting products originally planned for the Japanese market for sales in foreign markets in order to satisfy all the needs of our foreign customers. Raw Materials This Division imports chemical synthetic fiber raw materials and weaving threads, focused mainly on those made of wool, from all across the globe to sell to Takisada Nagoya’s customers that include manufacturers of spun and knitted materials, and knitters. Personnel from the Division visit Australia, India, Thailand, China, Taiwan, and other countries to develop original products and provide a superior supply of market-priced products. Menswear Fabric The Menswear Fabric Division handles everything from dress materials, mainly wool, to synthetic fiber and knit casual materials. Among all the products they handle, their strength lies mostly in wool dress materials. Based on Takisada Nagoya’s resounding sales capabilities, they form linkages with prominent manufacturers at each of their production bases in Italy, England, China, and Vietnam in order to introduce the latest technology faster than competitors. This helps also to develop original Takisada-Nagoya materials, which are greatly appreciated by customers. The Division has also achieved differentiation in the casual materials market by managing the risk of high-mix small-lot quick-turnaround products for the rapidly changing casual market focused mainly on knit and synthetic fiber items.
Menswear The Menswear Division mostly handles menswear dress items. This Division provides planning solutions as well as an integrated development, production, and sales of original items based on the abundant amount of information collected at biannual menswear trade exhibitions and other sources. The production departments have created a system capable of direct delivery not only from within Japan but also from overseas production bases, resulting in a high degree of satisfaction among customers. Products The Products Division handles a wide range of products from womenswear to men’s casual, baby and children’s clothing, loungewear, and miscellaneous accessories. Knitted Apparel This Division provides mostly knit and jersey cloth products, carrying out operations along the entire supply chain from planning to production and sales. Takisada Nagoya’s strengths are cost competitiveness and quick response due to being able to provide everything from raw materials and production solutions for the short cycles of fashion markets. One of the elements supporting business development and expansion is its production based in Asian regions, which is mostly concentrated in China (Weihai and Shanghai districts). Ambitions Moving forward, Takisada Nagoya aims to expand its overseas bases of operations in terms of both procurement and sales, and widen its network from point-to-point to include lines and surfaces as they take on the challenges of even larger markets. To achieve this, the company is actively recruiting diverse human resources regardless of gender, age, or nationality, and also creating work environments abroad that are active and lively from the perspective of human resources development as well.
Their goal is to be an organization in which diverse human resources, such as sales personnel, pattern makers, and designers, can fully exercise their abilities and skills, and ambitiously take on the challenge to find new approaches as a team. Massive changes are occurring amid the numerous ways people at Takisada Nagoya are becoming connected such as mutually getting to know and respect, and deepening their understanding of each other in terms of national characters, cultures, and similar characteristics. “Independence and Autonomy” and “Reliability is Job One” have always been greatly valued at Takisada Nagoya since its founding, and creating even better partnerships with its suppliers will continue to result in advancement and growth in both the textile and apparel industries overall. In the future, the company will focus even more on natural materials that can serve as high-quality raw materials, the development of original filaments in conjunction with manufacturers, and working together with dye manufacturers in order to develop value-added materials.