Upon the Publication of the 90th Anniversary
Special Issue
Introduction
This special issue of Valqua Technology News

revitalize industries under this policy and thespirit of value and quality, from which ourcompany derives its name.

celebrates the 60th anniversary since the firstpublication of its predecessor, Valqua Review.

Under a contract with the Ministry of

We sincerely thank all our valued customers

International Trade and Industry, weand readers who have supported us throughundertook several research projects tothe years, and would like to tell you about ourdevelop Japanese technologies, including high-history upon the publication of this 90th

temperature and high-pressure steam

anniversary special issue.

packings, packings for industrial use（asbestosjoint sheets）, aircraft packings primarily

Spring 2017
No.32

１．Historical background leading tothe publication of Valqua Review
Nippon Valqua Industries was the firstmade from silicone rubber and Teflon®, andmethods for manufacturing and processing
tetrafluoroethylene resin. Our research
produced some excellent results.

Japanese specialized manufacturer of seal
products. At that time, industries wereDuring the same period, we established agrowing since World War I and needed toresearch association on fluororesin.

manufacture industrial products within Japan.

Fluororesin was gaining popularity andIn line with this trend, Nippon Valqua

eventually became widely used in various

Industries was established for the domestic

industries.

production of seal products.
In contrast, seal products were not well
Japan’s petrochemical industry was also

known. According to reports at that time,

starting to grow at that time. However, major“Although packings are important forseal products were being imported frommaintaining the airtightness of fixed andEurope and the U.S. due to the lack ofmoving parts of machinery and preventing

technologies and related technical information

leakage of processing fluid in a wide range ofin Japan. Determined to produce seal

production plants, their value is overlooked

products in Japan, we studied and learned

due to their inconspicuous nature.”from imported products. As a manufacturer,
we aimed to communicate with customers toWith this background, we decided to produce

meet their needs and build their trust in seala technical journal as a 30th anniversary

products. Over the years, we have helped toproject, to raise awareness of packings that5was then c al l ed “ ob tu r ator s ” th r o ugh
theoretical and academic content. We also
wanted to disseminate information about
packings and encourage universities andindustrial high schools to offer courses on
packings.
In December 1957, the first issue of Valqua
Review technical journal was published.

2. Valqua Review2-1）Inauguration of Valqua Review
frequency-resistant insulating materials. Thus,

Takizawa, explained the purpose of Valqua

the journal articles cover a wide range of

Review as follows:“We want to communicate

industrial goods including machinery,with each valued customer, to learn fromchemicals, and electrical products.”

their honest feedback on our products, toUnder such policy, for 44 years since its

improve based on their feedback, and thus toinauguration, Valqua Review has consistently

repay customers for their support. We also

been issued monthly; approved for third-classask academic and industry experts to

mail as a technical journal; distributed tocontribute articles to our journal. We want tocustomers, universities, academic institutions,introduce new ideas and information to ourand libraries to raise awareness of seal

readers, in addition to information on ourtechnologies; and actively welcomedcurrent and upcoming products.”

contributions from external parties since it is

The background leading to the inauguration

not an in-house journal.

of the journal and its role were described by

At the time of its inauguration, the journal

Mr. Takizawa as follows:“Nippon Valqua

received supporting contributions fromIndustries has more than a 30-year history as

academic and industry experts including Dr.

a packing manufacturer. Our product line has

Matake Kurokawa, then director of thealways centered on packings but has also

Agency of Industrial Science and Technology;

expanded to include other industrial goods.

Dr. Masao Yamagata, then academic dean ofThanks to our customers’support, we are

the Faculty of Engineering at the University

celebrating our 30th anniversary. During theof Tokyo; Dr. Uichi Hashimoto, then chairman

postwar period, we provided various chemicalof the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers;

products including fluororesin packings aheadand Dr. Shunichi Uchida of the Tokyoof other companies. The excellent electrical

Institute of Technology. This wide range ofproperties of the resin allowed us to expand

contributors represented the highour business to heat-resistant and high-expectations for the journal.
6Spring 2017

The president at that time, Toshihisa

No.32

Spring 2017
No.32

Dr. Kurokawa expressed his expectations asvarious forms and used for high-temperature

follows:“This journal provides an appropriateand high-pressure fluids. Thus, the demandframework at a time when few periodicals

for products changed from the time when

cover topics related to packings andthose had been called“obturators.”That is,insulating materials, which are important for

the recognition of leaks changed from simply

industry. However, it is not easy toa loss of energy to problems which hindered

understand their characteristics and use themthe manufacturing environment. Along withappropriately because they are made fromthe raised awareness of packings forvarious materials including metals, inorganics,

preventing leaks, seal manufacturers

and organics. Packings and insulating

gradually started to resolve the problems.

materials have become very diverse with theIn the 1960s, basic research was actively

development of synthetic resin materials. I am

conducted worldwide, and in the 1970s, manypleased to see the inauguration of this journal,

polymer molecules were synthesized. In theand I hope it will help overcome such issues.”

field of fluororesins and synthetic rubber, new

The same year that the journal wasmaterials were developed one after another.

inaugurated, 1957, the Petrochemical Industry

Accordingly, Valqua Review featured articles

Association （predecessor of the Japanon ways of developing systems to meet thePetrochemical Industry Association）started

emerging needs with new materials.

its activities. In the previous year, 1956, theIn the 1970s, the Japanese economy suffered

Hydraulic Machinery Industry Association

turbulent times with the Nixon Shock, Oil（predecessor of the Japan Fluid PowerShock, and High-Growth Period. This ledAssociation）
was inaugurated. Since there wasJapan to change its economic path from thelittle knowledge of seal technology at that

pursuit of high growth to the pursuit of stable

time, the need for systematic information ongrowth. The era witnessed remarkableseal products started to emerge. Valquadevelopments in export industries including

Review emerged to meet those expectations.

the auto, ship and vessel, and steel industries.
Also, developments in the emerging atomic,2-2）Transition of articles in Valqua Review（December 1957 to June 2000）

space, and information industries wereexpected.

From its inauguration in 1957 to the 1960s,

As industries pursued product development,

the journal featured articles to raisesystemization, and informatization, we shifted

awareness of seal products. The articles

from the management of leaks to theranged from basic research on fluororesin andfollowing missions: systematization of seal

the introduction of overseas technologies toproducts as seal engineering or technologiescontributions written from the viewpoint offor machine elements and expansion ofseal users, such as“Accurate Utilization andsolution services by introducing diverse seal-Selection of Seals,”practice-based articles andrelated products. Thanks to many

eventually articles based on in-house data.

contributions from external parties, articles inAt the time, seals were manufactured in

Valqua Review were categorized by elemental

7

articles were published in two independentdata. Valqua aimed to help create not only in-books.

house technologies but also a cross-sectional

In the 1980s, industries started to focus on theconsortium. The resulting achievements werefollowing: streamlining, improvements inpublished as books by Kindai Henshu-sha:

controllability and operability, improvements

O-Ring, the O-Ring Society, 1969; Gasket, thein safety, environmental protection andGasket Society, 1974; and Air-Pressure Seal,

disaster prevention, and compliance with

the Air-Pressure Seal Society, 1977. TheseJapanese and international standards such as

greatly contributed to standardization of theJIS and ISO. In addition, work began onindustry.

advanced technologies that would support theThe journal began to feature articles oncoming economic system, leading tovarious fields including electrical insulating

developments in biotechnology, space,materials using fluororesins, vacuum seals

semiconductor/electronics, and new-energy

including bellows, and building materials

industries.

using glass fiber. Valqua Review became aValqua Review started to run lecture articles

reputed technical journal and was highly

on seals. The journal increasingly featured

evaluated as a technical resource.

articles on fluororesins and fluororubbers toreflect trends in new energies including those

When our company was founded, there werein their use in the atomic-power industry andno sales engineers. However, as we grew, wetheir use at low temperatures in the LNG

started to hire and train sales engineers inindustry as well as semiconductor-associatedthe 1970s.

trends in their use for chemical-liquid

There have been many interviews withprocessing.

external experts in the journal since it was

On the other hand, environmental regulations

started. These articles covered topics ranging

were being tightened and requirements forfrom prospects for technology to prospects

new registration of chemical substances werefor the future, including New Year Random

becoming stricter. Therefore, the pace of new-Talk - What future lies ahead in the 1980s

material development slowed and the（January 1980）and New Year Random Talk -materials used for product development

Perspectives on China in the 1980s（January

started to be controlled. Valqua Review1981）.

increasingly featured research on non-The specialty series of Valqua Review wasasbestos trends, polymer alloys, composite-

serialized starting with Bochu-Kanwa（talks

making, and sophistication of compounding

during the breaks in one’s work）in April 1977techniques.

and ended as Kanchu-Kanwa (a talk in freeIn the 1990s, industries became moretime) in May 2000. The writer Tatsuya Imotoglobalized. The semiconductor and electronics

talked about his experiences as an engineer

industries, which became major players,and garnered many readers, and readers

expanded through the digital revolution andlooked forward to the series. A total of 188

fluctuations of these industries started to8Spring 2017

technology and edited as a series of technicalNo.32

greatly affect the economy. Environmentally,regulations on chlorofluorocarbons wereintroduced to curb global warming, theproblems of dioxin that is associated withwaste incineration as well as endocrine
disrupter received much attention, and thefirst asbestos regulation was legislated inEurope ahead of other countries.
Valqua Review reported many studies on
elastomers in the early 1990s, featuring
hydraulic-pressure seals and tribology.
Among the feature articles, Shinzo Koujiya, aprofessor of Kyoto University at that time,

Spring 2017
No.32

contributed a five-year series Introduction to280 academics, wrote articles for the journal.

the Science of Rubber, which was published byWe sincerely thank all contributors for their

Nippon Valqua Industries in 1995. Regarding

invaluable support.

seals, the journal reported research on
vacuum seals including spring-energized
metal C-ring seals. For semiconductors, thejournal systematically reported research on

3. Valqua Technology News
（From Autumn of 2001 to present）

tank linings.

Valqua Technology News was inaugurated inAlong with diversifying needs andthe autumn of 2001 as a quarterly journal,

globalization, the journal started to report on

focusing on articles. The goal of the renewal

efforts to enter new fields, and included

was to promote our unique skills to the publictechnical reports associated with individual

more clearly. Upon its inauguration,needs in the late 1990s. As the articles

Toshikazu Takizawa, the president of Nippon

became more diverse and specialized, theValqua Industries, commented,“We willcontents of the journal became less consistent.

strive to introduce our excellent technologies,

Therefore, in the first year of the newparticularly our core area of seals, in an easy-medium-term plan New Valqua Stage 1, along

to understand manner, and to offer customers

with a renewal of the management

diverse solutions.”

philosophy The Valqua Way, the concept ofTo date, a total of 32 volumes including thisValqua Review was reassessed, leading to theissue have been published, including f 182

rebirth of the journal as Valqua Technology

articles and 79 technical papers. Since theNews.

journal focuses on reporting Valqua’s

Some 488 volumes of Valqua Review

technologies, the number of external

containing 1,707 reports were published. Of

contributions has decreased. Nevertheless,the 1,707 reports, 1,061 were technical papers.

there have been articles from 15 contributors

A total of 824 external contributors, including

including 9 academics.

9However, rapid social developments haveregarding measures to address global

created social challenges including

environmental problems and global

environmental problems, resource problems,

procurement/international specialization. Inand urbanization. These problems are started

industry, miniaturization of semiconductors,

to interact with each other on a global scale.

enlargement of liquid crystal displays,

To resolve the challenges, open innovation

increase in information technology capacity,

through collaboration among academia andintroduction of clean energies, and life-science

industry is certainly appropriate.

and nanotechnology started to flourish.

In this environment, the journal isValqua Technology News aims to clarify thei nc re a si ngl y f e a t uri ng a rt i c l e s o n t h ecompany’s direction through its articles. Its

existential meaning of Nippon Valqua

reporting covered performance-assessment

Industries as a seal-engineering manufacturer.

research on non-asbestos gaskets of various

Finite element analysis（FEA）technology

types; development of highly functional

comprehensively analyzes the varying life ofelastomer series suitable for theseals on the basis of experimental data.

miniaturization of semiconductor devices; andProgress in FEA technology allows customers

the development of vacuum technologies forto intuitively understand issues throughthe nano-development environment. We havevisualization. The technology has also been

worked to increase the value of our products

used to write many articles. The technologies

for society through modularization andhave been integrated to offer solution services‘componentization.’The journal has also

on the basis of users’comprehension of thereported our work on vacuum components,system. We are endeavoring to expand ourhydraulic systems as a next-generation powerbusiness to technical training whichsource, membrane filters, millimeter-wave

integrates hard and soft aspects to meet theproducts, waste-fluid recycling systems, anddemands of the times, and to enter the field ofreticle automated transportation systems.

trouble prevention diagnosis. The journal

The period since 2010 is difficult to describe.

covers all these areas.

OtherOther
Total Numberof Articles
ProductIntroductions

TechnicalPapers

Total Numberof Articles

TechnicalPapers

ProductIntroductions

10Spring 2017

The 2000s was a significant transition period

No.32

4. Conclusion

spirit of contributing to industry. We hope
you will understand how that spirit has been

In this 90th anniversary year since Nippon

inherited. We will strive hard to keep

Valqua Industries’inauguration, we looked

providing the technical information sought byback at our history spanning from Valqua

our valued readers. We look forward toReview to Valqua Technology News. The

continuing to serve you with future editions.

publication has always maintained its original
Editorial board of the 90th anniversary special issue of Valqua Technology News

Spring 2017No.32

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