

Matazaemon Nakano VII
the Second Founding
1922-2002 (Aged 80)

INTRODUCTION
Matazaemon VII became president at the age of 30. When he took on the name Matazaemon VII, he used the characters “又左エ門” instead of “又左衛門” like his predecessors. He revamped the company's traditional image by bottling all products, changing public opinion through his natural food campaign, and expanding overseas.


In 1952, Japan was still desperately struggling to recover from the heavy damage it took during World War II. Matazaemon VI became chairman and his eldest son, Masakazu, became president of Nakano Sumise. The first thing Masakazu did when he became president was to start bottling all of the vinegar. Despite the scarcity of supplies, Matazaemon VI insisted on continuing to produce the highest quality brewed vinegar, just as before the war. However, this commitment to quality led to an unexpected problem.
At the time, vinegar was primarily sold in barrels, but the market was rife with fraudulent business practices. Unscrupulous companies would fill the empty barrels of reputable manufacturers like Mizkan with cheap, inferior synthetic vinegar (mixed vinegar), and sell it as if it were the genuine product. Masakazu discovered this startling issue after noticing that the collection of empty barrels branded with the Mizkan mark was taking an extremely long time. Bottling the vinegar was necessary to combat these underhanded tactics.

Masakazu believed that betraying customers’ trust was absolutely unacceptable. He decided to begin bottling all products to ensure only the finest products were delivered to customers. At the time, the market was trending towards bottled condiments, with sake and soy sauce makers also making the transition.
However, purchasing the expensive machinery necessary for bottling required a significant capital investment. Nakano Sumise and the Nakano family had lost most of their assets due to post-war land reform, so they had to turn to outside funding. The estimated costs were so high, it was said would take 100 years to repay the loan. Many executives opposed, saying, "Now that we are finally recovering from the post-war chaos, can we really afford to take such a gamble?" Masakazu also had his concerns, but prioritizing the perspective of customers, he decided to guarantee quality by bottling at the source and personally visited several banks to obtain loans.
In 1954, the Handa Plant was the first to be upgraded to fully automated bottling, with the Amagasaki Plant following the next year. And in 1956, a tabletop vinegar bottle was developed. However, Masakazu was not satisfied yet. While pushing ahead with thorough rationalization of production, he quickly established new plants in Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka, and Tochigi.
In the past, Mizkan vinegar was carefully shipped in barrels tied with rope. Now, the same high-quality vinegar is delivered in bottles to safeguard customers’ trust.

In 1960, Masakazu succeeded to the name Matazaemon VII. His predecessors had used the characters ”又左衛門” but he decided to use “又左エ門,” much to everyone’s surprise. He changed the third character from “衛” (protection) to “エ” (ingenuity) because the former could also have the connotation of being reactive or defensive. He may have wanted to remind himself to “create a new Mizkan” and not to be complacent with simply inheriting a legacy.
After discovering that its shipping barrels were being fraudulently refilled with inferior synthetic vinegar and sold as if it were Mizkan vinegar, Mizkan decided to ship all its vinegar in bottles. As the country entered a period of high economic growth, sales of Mizkan vinegar continued to increase. However, the problem of synthetic vinegar continued to plague Mizkan even into the 1960s. Brewed vinegar is made from grains and other ingredients and contains acetic acid as well as many other organic acids and amino acids. In contrast, the cheap synthetic vinegars had significantly fewer of these acids and often contained food additives such as artificial sweeteners. However, Japanese law did not require these differences to be labeled on products, so brewed and synthetic vinegar were sold with no particular distinction made between them. Because of Mizkan's commitment to the high quality of its 100% brewed vinegar, this was a problem that needed to be overcome at any cost.
In 1968, Mizkan came up with an audacious plan for a natural food campaign. It was a big awareness drive that included newspaper advertisements and catchphrases such as "Only Mizkan vinegar is 100% brewed" and “Only additive-free food for my child!”. The campaign strongly emphasized the reliable quality of Mizkan vinegar and the peace of mind it gave to consumers. While it attracted a great deal of interest from the public, it also drew a strong backlash from within the industry. However, with the backing of the growing consumer movement at the time, Mizkan's claims began to gain widespread support. In 1970, the government announced the labeling categories of "brewed vinegar" and "synthetic vinegar." Finally, in 1979, with the establishment of the Japanese Agriculture Standard (JAS), it became mandatory to label vinegar as brewed or synthetic. Mizkan's natural food campaign changed public opinion and even regulations. The driving force behind this was none other than the consumers who endorsed Mizkan's stance.

Quickly identifying changes in eating habits, Mizkan developed new products such as Ajipon™ (citrus seasoned soy sauce), dressings, Chinese seasonings, and Omusubiyama™ (furikake rice seasoning), and successfully launched them one after another. Matazaemon VII turned the Mizkan Group into the all-around food company it is today.

Bottom: Ajipon™ (citrus seasoned soy sauce) leaflet (1970)
In 1971, Mizkan began a partnership with Sunkist Growers and in 1977, Nakano USA was established. Matazaemon VII steadily prepared for a full-scale overseas expansion. In 1981, Mizkan acquired the American Industries Company (AIC), a leading American vinegar company, marking its full-fledged entry into the American market. Mizkan continued to make acquisitions in the East and Midwest, to become one of the leading vinegar companies in the United States.
With more than 200 years of history since its founding, Mizkan has entered a new, global frontier. The pioneering spirit of the founder, who once set his sights on Edo (Tokyo), has been magnified and passed down through the generations to the present day.
