Dr. Murata continues as honorary chairman of the company. The parent company has some 50 subsidiary companies, half of them in Japan, the rest overseas, employing a total of nearly 24,000 employees, of whom the Japanese parent company alone employs about 4,500. The panel visited the Yasu plant at company headquarters in Kyoto, where the number of employees is 1,850. The other major plant in Japan, not visited by the panel, is in Yokohama.
Research is carried out both in Kyoto and in Yokohama.
Kyoto seems to do more basic and design work, while Yokohama tests final products. The company holds a very strong position in the manufacture of ceramic materials and devices. Its success is based largely on the ability to manufacture ceramics and to design useful devices incorporating these materials better and cheaper than probably anyone else. This approach is followed in all component and element design. About 10 billion capacitors are produced per month.