Celebrating Our 150th Anniversary with Our Teams from around the World (5)
On March 31, 2025, Shimadzu Corporation celebrated its 150th anniversary. Our founding spirit has traveled from Kyoto, and it continues to inspire our colleagues around the world. To honor this milestone together, commemorative events have been held globally. This article shares stories about activities in South Korea and Taiwan.
South Korea: Special Project for Sharing Our History with Customers
In South Korea, Shimadzu Scientific Korea Corporation (SSK) conducted two customer-participation events.
Look for Old Shimadzu Instruments!
Using the KakaoTalk messaging app that originated in South Korea, SSK has invited customers to submit photographs of old Shimadzu instruments. That generated over 150 submissions, with a hydraulic universal testing machine purchased in 1970 being the oldest. Today, they use it to teach students about the history and operating principles of testing machines. One of the customers who submitted a photograph commented, “I learned about Shimadzu instruments while studying as an exchange student at a Japanese university. Ever since then, I have felt a strong affinity for Shimadzu. This event has reinforced that feeling of Shimadzu having superior technical capabilities and reliability.”
Peri & Tube Drawing Event
The Peri & Tube Drawing Event was planned to celebrate Shimadzu’s 150th anniversary and raise awareness of this milestone. The event is inviting customers, employees, and family members in South Korea to submit illustrations, coloring pages, and congratulatory messages featuring Peri & Tube, SSK’s official cartoon characters inspired by a flask. The Peri & Tube also appear on the calendar created by SSK for customers each year, and are well-loved by them in South Korea.
About 10 types of coloring pages have been prepared based on the themes of Shimadzu businesses, streetscapes in South Korea, and the four seasons. A stream of both illustrations and coloring pages, each showcasing unique creativity, has been arriving at SSK.
Comment from the SSK Employee in Charge of Planning the Event
The “Look for Old Shimadzu Instruments!” event was organized to showcase Shimadzu’s long history and the trusted reliability of its instruments. As an employee of Shimadzu, it makes me proud to realize that we received far more submissions from customers than expected and that Shimadzu instruments are still being operated by customers decades after they were installed.
The Peri & Tube Drawing Event is a customer-participation type event conducted to promote awareness of Shimadzu’s 150th anniversary and SSK’s official cartoon characters among as many people as possible. The event generated submissions from many people. Hopefully, this initiative will help make Peri & Tube more familiar characters and cultivate friendly feelings about Shimadzu.
Taiwan: Stronger Bonds Built in Kyoto as 70 People Visit Head Office
In October, members of Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (Taiwan) Co., Ltd. (SST) visited the Shimadzu Head Office, Sanjo Works, showrooms, and the Shimadzu Foundation Memorial Museum in Kyoto. It was the first attempt to have the entire SST organization visit the Head Office as a group since SST was established in 2013. That provided an opportunity to actually meet face-to-face with Shimadzu Group employees in Japan, with whom they normally interact with online.
70 employees and family members visited Kyoto
One participant remarked, “Despite bringing children in our group, the warm response from SST colleagues and employees in Japan ensured we could enjoy the tours comfortably and confidently. The trip has made me feel as if we had experienced Shimadzu’s 150-year history firsthand.” Another added, “Spending time with colleagues outside of the office has helped me get to know them better. Our conversations during the trip will now give us a common experience to talk about in the future. The trip has generated lots of memories and souvenirs.” The event resulted in developing stronger connections between SST employees and deeper ties within the Shimadzu Group.
Touring the Shimadzu Foundation Memorial Museum. The exhibit on the left is the Wimshurst electrostatic generator built in 1884 by Umejiro Shimadzu (later known as Genzo Shimadzu Jr.), the son of Shimadzu’s founder Genzo Shimadzu, when Umejiro was only 15 years old. The exhibit on the right is the DIANA medical X-ray system Shimadzu released in 1918
Comment from the SST Employee who Planned the Kyoto Visit
Though I myself had visited the Head Office in Kyoto for meetings, I never had the chance to thoroughly tour the facilities, so this event provided a great opportunity for me. My greatest takeaway from this visit is seeing the smiling faces of colleagues enjoying the event. I am especially grateful to all the personnel who helped to achieve the plan in various ways and to everyone who participated in the event.
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