150 years of History

History of Innovation

Functional Materials:
Thermal paper
1975

History of Innovation

Thermal paper was developed in the U.S. in 1968, and production began inJapan three years later in 1971. Demand expanded rapidly with the spread of
information and communication equipment such as fax machines and word
processors. In the 1990s, the market shifted to receipt and label paper used incommercial cash registers (POS) as the predominant application for thermal

1978

1986

paper. Thermal paper, used as an information recording medium, has developed over along period of time. The global market for thermal paper is still expanding, and researchand development of new materials and production technologies is continuing to develop
the business to meet a wide range of applications and further market needs.

1987

1989

Yupo thermal paper for
ultrasound imaging

Kanzaki Paper started productionof thermal paper

Launch of thermal paper forfax machines

Kanzaki Paper established KSP(Establishment of thermal paper
production base in the U.S.)

Kanzaki Paper started operationof No. 4 KS coater

Kanzaki Paper started operationof a film thermal coater

Kanzaki Paper acquired Ludlow's Ware Mill,
Massachusetts, U.S., in 1986, and established
Kanzaki Specialty Papers Inc. (KPS) and began
local production.

The use of synthetic paper Yupo
enabled the formation of coating layers
and uniform adhesion with the thermal
head, thus image expressiveness forultrasound diagnostic use was achieved.
The company continued to maintain ahigh global market share by developing
and upgrading products from general
grades with a water-based protective
layer to high-density products with an EB
cured resin layer and even photo-likehigh-gloss products.

1990

Two-color thermalKanzaki Paper developed amicroball technology that traps
leuco dyes in microscopic polymer
particles. By controlling thetemperature at which coloring
starts with this technology, thecompany was able tocommercialize two-color thermal
magnetic commutation tickets,
which require high durability, andthese were adopted by major
private railway companies in theKansai and Kanto regions.
Furthermore, this technology wasdeployed to expand its productline to include train tickets for thelargest railroad company andlottery tickets.

Transparent thermal film
for medical imaging
Transparency and high density coloration wereachieved through material miniaturization andmicro-ball technology, resulting in deep gradation
for medical diagnostic images. With strict quality
requirements for diagnostic use, the product wascommercialized under a company-wide project
structure to improve formulation, refine precision
coating technology and defect detection/removal
technology, and promote mass production bymodifying the coater, introducing finishingequipment, and introducing simultaneous multilayer
coating.

Tickets
Kanzaki Paper developed high-sensitivity,
high-definition thermal ticket paper capable ofprinting full color on the surface. It is used in awide range of fields, including admission tickets
to movies, concerts, amusement parks and train
tickets, and airplane boarding passes. By
applying a special color-emitting material thatabsorbs infrared rays, it also developed train
tickets that can prevent counterfeiting.

Ultra-high durability
thermal paper 1

Labels and barcodes
The development of "overcoat type"thermal paper, in which a protective
layer is added on top of the thermalcoloring layer, improved print quality
and image durability and diversified theapplications of thermal paper. Thermal
paper has become widely used inlabels that display barcodes, and it is
now used in various everyday
situations, such as price labels for foodproducts and mailing labels for
e-commerce services.

Ultra-high durability thermal
paper 2
Based on a special resin blending
technology that imparts water resistance tothe thermal recording layer in combination
with a high preservation color developer(B-TUM) originally developed by Oji Paper
in 1991, Kanzaki Paper succeeded incommercializing a "non-overcoat type" ofultra high image durability thermalrecording paper that does not stick evenwhen wet with water. It became widely used
as a meter reading form forwater/gas/electricity used outdoors.

20052011

Expansion into South East Asia

Oji Paper established Oji Papeis Especiais,
entering the Latin American
thermal paper market

New Oji Paper established Advance Oji Speciality
Papers (AOSP) as a joint venture with Advance Agro(AA), a paper manufacturer in Thailand. Later, whenthe currency crisis hit Thailand, AA withdrew fromAOSP and Oji made AOSP a subsidiary and changed
its name to Oji Paper (Thailand) Ltd. In 1998, thecompany began producing carbonless paper, followedby thermal paper in 2005, and in 2009, a new thermal
paper coater went into operation.

In 2011, Oji Paper acquired the business of Piracicaba
Mill (São Paulo, Brazil) of Fibria Celulose S.A., a
Brazilian company to which Oji paper had licensed its
thermal paper and carbonless paper technology, andestablished Oji Papeis Especiais (OPE). By acquiring
production and sales bases in Central and SouthAmerica, the company established a four-point system
for thermal paper, and further globalization progressed.

Kanzaki Paper（the company) has developed an
encapsulation technology for ultraviolet
absorbents to overcome the weak points ofthermal paper, namely discoloration and image
fading caused by light. Combined with chemicalbarrier technology using a blend of special resins,
it succeeded in commercializing ultra-highdurability thermal paper. The technology wasused for product price tags, etc., and was later
applied to expressway receipts for the Japan
Highway Public Corporation (now NEXCO),
which requires image durability performance
under the harsh in-vehicle environment.

POS (for cash register)
Using a high preservation color developer (B-TUM)
originally developed by Oji Paper in 1991, Kanzaki
Paper developed an ultra-high durability thermal
recording paper that does not lose its image when incontact with water, oil, or chemicals such as
plasticizers in film wraps. It was adopted as a receipt
for a major convenience store and began commercial
production in 1992.

2014 〜2022

Construction to increase production
at Oji Papeis Especiais

Kanzaki Paper established Kanzan SpezialpapiereGmbH (Establishment of therma paperl production
base in Europe)
Established a joint venture with Zanders, which had aproduction base in Europe, and Marubeni
Corporation, which had a track record of thermal
paper sales in Europe. Kanzan Spezialpapiere(KANZAN) introduced top-coated thermal paper witha protective layer applied to the surface to themarketas early as 1993. KANZAN became aspecialist in thermal paper with sufficient know-how inEurope.

Scheduled to be completed in

Semi-transparent thermal paper"Semi-Through" was developed

In response to the global trend to reduce the amountof plastic used, Oji Imaging Media developed thermalpaper with transparency while maintaining the textureof paper by utilizing the thermal coloring,transparency, and coating technologies it had
cultivated over many years. By replacing plastic
materials with thermal paper products, the burden on
the environment can be reduced through thereduction of waste plastic.

2024

Construction toenhance competitiveness in Kanzan