Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Osaka, Japan, Representative Director and President, Tetsushi Tado) celebrated the Group’s 138th anniversary on March 14, 2019 and held an anniversary ceremony at the head office in Osaka. Below is a summary of the President’s speech at the anniversary ceremony.

I am very happy to celebrate this very special moment in which Nippon Paint Holdings Group marks its 138th anniversary. On March 14, 1881, Jujiro Moteki founded the precursor to the Group in Mita, Tokyo, with a mission to “brighten up the world with paint.” Since then, the organization has grown gradually throughout its long history, with some bumps and detours along the way, to more than 20,000 employees worldwide, and has become the top paint and coating company in Japan and in Asia.

Thanks to the tremendous support from all of our stakeholders, including consumers who use our products, our business partners, as well as former and current officers and employees, we can celebrate yet another anniversary. I appreciate that the Group has continued to grow to the present day because the world has continuously recognized the quality of the numerous products we have created and the corporate values that have been passed down for generations.

How the Group will evolve over the next 100 or 200 years depends on those of us who currently work for the organization. Although “138” may be a mere number, let us all learn about the trust that our Group has earned and the achievements it has accomplished over a long period of time and take pride in being part of the Group on the day of our anniversary.

Looking back on our Group’s history, the very first mission established in 1881 to “brighten up the world with paint” still stays true. I strongly feel that the original mission has always been relevant for our Group, which has survived the drastic changes that have occurred in Japan from the Meiji era through Taisho and Showa to Heisei.

Now, let me change the subject. On Saturday, March 2, the final qualifying trial for the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships was held in Miyagi Prefecture to select players who will represent Japan. Miyu Kato, a player from our Group, successfully won a ticket to the world championships. When she was playing a match against her rival, Hina Hayata, she looked shining—she played unflinchingly in the spirit of never giving up until the end. I was greatly impressed with her perseverance.

I believe that the main reason she won against her strong rival would be her strong commitment and will to pursue her dream in addition to her daily down-to-earth training. She was able to accomplish this probably because she kept visualizing what she wanted to be without determining whether or not it would be possible, and because she continued to devote her heart and soul to doing what she must do at each moment in order to achieve this.

No one can predict the future, but I think that having a vision or dream is the driving force that energizes us to work hard to achieve it.

I promise to the founder and former employees that we will make our Group a more attractive organization by taking time to look back on the Group’s history on the day of our anniversary. We will strive to develop the Group into a “Global One Team,” which will be able to keep growing under any circumstances. In this regard, I ask for your continued understanding and support. Thank you very much.


Tetsushi Tado
Representative Director and President
Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd.