1. Tiger?
The warm magic of happiness
Origin: Shanghai, China
?Osaka, Japan
のWarmth Demon
The first thing I mentioned about Tiger brand is that it has the best reputation in China, and it is also the number one household kettle owner in Japan. However, when it comes to its Historically, Sanpori was the latest to be established in Japan. Tiger Thermos Co., Ltd. (タイガーMagic Bottle Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese multinational company manufacturing high-quality vacuum bottles and consumer electronics products. Currently, it has branches in Taiwan, China and North America. The Shanghai Husheng Electronics and Electrical Co., Ltd. in the lower left corner of the picture above is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise invested and established in China jointly by the Japanese Tiger Thermos Co., Ltd. and a Taiwanese company. It was established in 1997 and is its subsidiary in China. The Tiger brand sold domestically They are all produced by this Husheng company.
In 1923 (the 12th year of Taisho), the founder Kikuchi Takenoori (1895.11~1975.5) established Kikuchi Seisakusho in Nishi-ku, Osaka City, and began selling tiger seal magic bottles (such as as shown in the figure). Throughout the history of the birth of Tiger thermos, it started with the original intention of "bringing the warmth of tea made by mother to everyone."
Regarding the origin of Tiger Brand, later generations drew the biography of the founder into a comic, telling the story of Kikuchi Takenoori's entrepreneurial history. This is an inspirational story full of chicken soup for the soul. .
It is said that in the 28th year of Meiji (1895) Kikuchi Takenori was born in Sanpin Town, Nishiuwa County, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. His father was the village chief, and his family also ran offshore fisheries and mining industries. Kikuchi is the eldest son in the family. He has lived in a 300-year-old ancestral mansion since he was a child. He is a rich second generation born with a golden key. Kikuchi lived a carefree young life until he was 12 years old. That year, his father's business failed and his mansion was sold, leaving the family impoverished. Unfortunately, his father suffered a cerebral hemorrhage not long after that, and Kikuchi's young master suddenly became a prince. Became a beggar.
As the eldest son in the family, Kikuchi, who was in a poor family, had to drop out of school to work in a textile factory in Osaka in order to support his family. He worked hard from morning to night every day, but when it came time to eat, he could only eat scraps of cold rice. It was at this time that little Kikuchi began to eat cold rice and miss the hot tea that his mother used to make for him. rice (there is a Japanese food called chazuke rice, which is to pour hot tea on the rice and eat it with some side dishes). At this point in the story, the fate of the protagonist and the thermos bottle will last forever.
Time flies, Kikuchi grows up slowly, and wants to join the army but fails because of malnutrition and being too thin. Kikuchi, who had nothing to do, passed by a stationery store one day. In the window, he met the true love he had pursued throughout his life - a magic bottle! What the Japanese call a magic bottle is actually what we call a hot water bottle. Because hot water will not cool down all day long when poured into the pot, it is like a dream-like magic, so the Japanese at that time called it a magic bottle. This name is really more romantic than a thermos.
When Kikuchi saw the hot water pouring out of the magic bottle, he couldn’t help but open his mouth and exclaimed: "Wow! It’s so magical~" So he found the eagle according to the logo on the pot Print Magic Bottle Company. Then I met Tomiyoshi Yamamoto, a very important gay friend in my life. After Kikuchi visited Yamamoto's company, he said he would not leave and decided to follow Yamamoto as an apprentice to make products.
Yamamoto is also an innocent boy who gets angry at a moment's notice. Seeing Kikuchi being so sincere, he excitedly said: "With you, we will definitely be able to create the best hot water kettle in Japan in the future!"
Several years passed, and Kikuchi had almost mastered Yamamoto’s skills. His younger brothers and sisters in his hometown were getting older, and the family’s expenses began to increase. Kikuchi could no longer afford to support the family with his own salary. . Therefore, Kikuchi wanted to start his own business, but he had no funds. His good friend Yamamoto gave Kikuchi an idea and said: "How about you become my downline for magic bottles, I will provide you with the source of goods, and all the profits from your sales will be yours~" In this way, Kikuchi suddenly changed from a technical job to a salesperson. personnel, completing the initial accumulation of his initial entrepreneurial capital.
Then in 1923, Kikuchi established Kikuchi Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and began to produce and sell tiger seal magic bottles. Yamamoto's magic bottle is "イーグル seal", which translates to "eagle seal". It must be a common practice in the magic bottle industry to use the name of a raptor as the logo of a thermos and end with the word "seal", so Kikuchi's thermos bottle chose the kingly "tiger" ” was adopted as the product logo and is still used today.
After the company was established, Kikuchi vowed to create new products, and his mother and siblings came to help. At that time, a thermos was still a luxury item, and an ordinary family would need a month's salary to buy a bottle. Because it was particularly easy to break, Kikuchi began to improve the body of the pot, wrapping the central bladder of the thermos with cardboard, and using a container to hold it in, so as to prevent it from falling and rusting.
? As a result, Tiger, which is more than five times stronger than other thermos bottles, suddenly became an Internet celebrity product in Osaka and Kobe. Just when Tiger was preparing to enter the Tokyo market , the historically famous "Great Kanto Earthquake" broke out in Japan. The disaster killed 90,000 people and injured 100,000 people. Miraculously, the hundred or so thermos bottles that Kikuchi planned to sell in Tokyo were preserved intact. , not a single one was damaged, which made Tiger brand famous all of a sudden. Taking this as an opportunity, the Kikuchi family's Tiger brand has gradually become a leader in the field of Japanese magic bottles.
Looking back on the difficult working life in his youth, what Kikuchi misses most is the warmth of the tea his mother poured for him, so "the temperature of the tea that his mother poured for him ” became the origin of Tiger Brand’s entrepreneurship.
With the advancement of technology, thermos bottles have gradually changed from luxury goods at home to daily necessities. Its functions have also begun to become diversified and can be eaten anytime, anywhere. Arriving at a hot meal is nothing new. Tiger's products have gradually expanded from the field of thermos bottles to the field of everyone's dining tables. More and more thermal insulation products have become an indispensable part of our daily lives.
Convenient technology and a better life should be shared with people all over the world. Hot tea, delicious meals, and sharing between people make life easier. More happiness. Nowadays, thermal insulation products are no longer the patent of one country. People all over the world are inheriting its convenience. Tiger is just one of the brands, but technology changes life and has a real impact on our daily lives.
2. THERMOS
Origin: Kunshan, China
?Philippines
Malaysia
Thermos can be said to be the originator of the thermos bottle, the earliest of the three major thermos bottles.
In the 1880s, German physicists proposed the concept of vacuum containers. On January 20, 1892, Scottish physicist and chemist James Dewar based on the concept of vacuum containers A glass container with two layers of vacuum was designed theoretically. Its principle is to blow glass into a special glass bottle, coat the two glass walls with silver, and then evacuate the air between the two walls to form a vacuum. This special cryostat is the prototype of our thermos flask and the Japanese magic bottle, the world-famous "Dewar's flask".
German glassmaker Reinhold Berg added a metal protective shell to Dewar's vacuum glass container, which was obtained in Germany in 1903. Patented, and in the next year, in 1904, with "THERMOS" as the registered brand, a glass-lined thermos flask was manufactured, and "THERMOSG.M.B.H." was established in Berlin, Germany. "THERMOS" comes from the Greek word, which means "hot summer". Therefore, Thermos is originally a German brand, not a local Japanese brand.
The picture shows the magic bottle produced by Thermos Company in its early days. As soon as THERMOS thermos was launched, it set off a trend throughout Europe. By 1907, branches were established in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and other parts of the world. Thermos began to become popular around the world.
From 1903 to 1905, the Thermos kettle was taken into the sky by the White brothers. In 1907, the Thermos thermos flask accompanied war correspondent Richard Harding Davis on his visit to the Congo. inland. In 1908, explorer Robert Peary, accompanied by a Thermos thermos, finally reached the North Pole after 10 months of severe cold challenges, setting a world record. Ernest Shackleton also used Thermos thermos when he led his team to discover the South Magnetic Pole in 1909 and when Colonel Roosevelt entered Mombasa. It can be said that the Thermos at that time was a must-have hot item in the hearts of extreme challengers. With the outbreak of World War I, Thermos kettles were brought to war zones again and had more uses. The picture on the right is a Thermos poster from the First World War, which shows the strong meaning of war.
During World War II, Thermos vacuum flasks were used as military supplies to preserve water, medicine, blood and even organs for the army. Rescue dogs carry Thermos thermos bottles back and forth between the front line and the rear, providing the most timely warmth and assistance. Thermos bottles are called "life-saving necessities" by soldiers. The picture shows Thermos as a propaganda poster during World War II. The heroic rescue dog in the lower right corner has become a classic symbol that conveys hope in countless moments of life and death.
Thermos entered the Japanese market in 1908. The picture shows the advertising slogan at that time. It was called "the invention that shocked the world - the cold and warm altar" in Japan. After that, with the outbreak of World War I, a large number of imported products from the great powers poured into Japan, which further promoted Japan's domestic thermos bottle manufacturing industry. After 1912, Japanese-made magic bottles began to be produced. At that time, Osaka was the center of the glass industry, and the production of magic bottles began to develop in Osaka. Tiger Brand and Kikuchi mentioned above also started their business in Osaka after this.
As for why a German brand is eventually regarded as a Japanese thermos cup? In 1978, Japan's local Thermos launched the world's first stainless steel double-layer high vacuum thermos bottle (VacuumBottle) (pictured left). The stainless steel thermos cup that is not afraid of falling and is lightweight is an epoch-making product. It successfully created the market position of Thermos brand and was also the prototype of the modern thermos cup. Because of this, when we talk about Thermos products today, we always refer to Thermos as a Japanese brand.
In 1981, stainless steel vacuum insulated cups were officially put into production.
This was an advertisement when the product was released at that time, with the slogan "lightweight, unbreakable stainless steel two-layer vacuum structure", announcing the end of the era of fragile and heavy glass thermos bottles. Stainless steel thermos flasks combine high vacuum insulation technology, metal processing technology and dissolution technology that were very difficult at the time. Therefore, they were expensive at the time. Not to mention that the Japanese have strong scientific research capabilities, and they can develop an imported product with their own characteristics. milestone product.
It should be mentioned that the bottle was developed by a local Japanese thermostat at the time, but the manufacturer was the Nippon Soda Company. At that time, Nippon Sanso Co., Ltd. was the predecessor of the current Taiyo Nippon Sanso Co., Ltd. and was one of the three major industrial gas manufacturers in Japan. In 1989, it acquired the Thermos brand. We can also see Taiyo Nippon Sanso's fully-invested shareholders from the company profile on the official website. Therefore, although Thermos was born in Germany and was acquired by an American company for a period of time, the brand image of today's stainless steel thermos cup still has to start from Japan.
Now Thermos was acquired by the Taiwanese company Crown Metal in 2001. Strictly speaking, its current nationality is actually Taiwanese, but the impression of Japanese technology has been deeply ingrained in the vast majority of people. in the minds of consumers. We say that Thermos was the first to invent vacuum insulation technology, but this is no longer a high-tech in today's thermos bottle industry. The Thermos family continues to introduce new ones... and thus stainless steel insulation products began to gradually fly in like the swallows in the old Wang Xietang. Ordinary people's homes.
3. Zojirushi ZOJIRUSHI
Origin: Thailand
The founder of Zojirushi is Ichikawa Ginsaburo and Ichikawa Kinzaburo, two brothers born in Asahi Village, Nakajima-gun, Aichi Prefecture. Since Thermos thermos entered the Japanese market in 1908, Kinzaburo has been interested in thermos bottles. At first, Kinzaburo was a worker processing light bulbs or a curious baby. It just so happened that the incandescent light bulb was the originator of the vacuum industry. The technologies of glass vacuum were all the same. Brother Jin was considered an expert, so he began to study day and night. By the way, Jiro Yametei, the founder of Japan's local thermos flask, also had a background in making light bulbs. It can be said that the origin of Japan's thermos flasks originated from the production of light bulbs.
Later, after his elder brother Ginzaburo, who lived in Osaka and was doing business, learned about his younger brother's preferences, he decided to form a group to make a living in the kettle business. So in 1918 (the seventh year of Taisho) , the two brothers established Ichikawa Brothers Trading Company in a remote factory in Osaka. The elder brother was 20 years old and the younger brother was 17 years old. Thermos flasks were a luxury product at the time, and ordinary Japanese families could not afford them. Japan’s domestic sales only accounted for 10%, and 90% of the finished products were exported, mainly to China and Southeast Asia.
After World War II, Japan's thermos flask industry became a privately designated commodity, and demand surged. In October 1945 (Showa 20), Ginzaburo reopened a thermos repair shop at his home in Tanabe Town. He never expected that the business would be so prosperous. By 1947, the brothers simply closed the repair shop and re-established the factory in Takatsu, Minami-ku. They successfully developed the mass production of bottles in automatic bottle-making machines and began to produce assembled thermos bottles.
The picture shows President Shigeyuki Ichikawa inspecting the magic bottle processing site at the Takatsu Factory. The Takatsu Factory first started producing portable thermos bottles. Later, Ginzaburo’s eldest son returned from China. I heard about table-top kettles for home use from my friends and felt that this type of kettle would become a trend in the future, so the factory’s production policy was changed to mainly produce table-top kettles for home use.
The picture above shows the table kettle successfully developed in 1948, the first R&D product since the start of the post-war period.
The lid, shoulders, waist and bottom of the pot are all made of chrome plating, the handle is die-cast, and the head is shaped like a Daigo's mouth, hence the name "Daigo Pot". This kettle became a hit as soon as it was launched because of its classic and elegant shape. In addition, Japan once had a retro wave, and it has been a star product for a long time.
In 1953 (Showa 28), the Ichikawa Brothers Chamber of Commerce was renamed Kyowa Magic Bottle Industry Co., Ltd. In 1960 (Showa 35), Japan was in a period of economic prosperity. Against this background, the Kyowa Magic Bottle Society sponsored a TV program called "Zōjirushi Uta Championship", which became an instant hit. Through this successful publicity strategy In the following seven years, the name "Zojirushi" gradually penetrated into the Japanese people and became a household name. The picture shows Zojirushi's promotional vehicle driving on the streets of Japan, attracting the attention of countless pedestrians. There is an announcer in the vehicle making announcements. This promotional method was the first in the industry at the time.
On November 20, 1961 (Showa 36), Kyowa Magic Bottle Industry Co., Ltd. officially changed its name to "Zōjirushi Magic Bottle Co., Ltd.", and the company name and logo were finally unified. . The picture shows the change of Zojirushi's trademark. It can be seen that compared with the 1958 and 1961 logos, Zojirushi changed the previous logo image of a long-nosed elephant to a more cute short-nosed elephant. After 1961, the little elephant logo has basically not changed.
In 1981, Zojirushi Magic Bottle Co., Ltd. mass-produced stainless steel thermos cups on the market. Since then, Zojirushi has continued to innovate and developed a series of small household appliances such as rice cookers, electric hot water bottles, electric hot pots, electric ovens, coffee pots, insulated lunch boxes, and vacuum thermos bottles. It is also constantly developing air purifiers and air purifiers to improve the living environment. Humidifiers and other products.
Speaking of the origin of "zojirushi", we have to start with the export business of the brothers' magic bottles after the end of World War I. Japan is a country that is particularly rich in water resources. Not only is the water abundant, but the water quality is also good, and it is no problem to drink it directly. Therefore, when we watch Sakuragi Hanamichi drinking directly from the water pipe in profile in Slam Dunk, we must not imitate it. The Japanese drink water directly from the water pipe, but we don’t. Because of this, the demand for magic bottles in Japan is not that big, and 90% of magic bottles are exported.
?
On the other hand, the water quality in China, Southeast Asia, India and other countries is not so good. Most of them need to be boiled before drinking, and the boiled water must be kept hot or cold. The demand is huge, so in these countries compared to Japan, thermos bottles have quickly joined the ranks of people's daily necessities. Therefore, the Japanese are very good at producing thermal kettles, but the market in their own country is not very big. The picture shows the various foreign business houses that lined Osaka’s Nishi District at that time. This was where the overseas Chinese at that time imported magic bottles from Japan.
The picture depicts Ginzaburo's biennial trip from the Port of Kobe to Shanghai to discuss export matters. Since most of the goods manufactured are to be exported, you must think of a trademark for your products. After much deliberation, the brothers decided to use an elephant as the company's trademark. Elephants are smart and have a strong sense of family responsibility. They are the largest animals on land. They give people a simple and calm feeling and are very popular among children.
The elephant has tenacious vitality and a long lifespan, and its various impressions are very consistent with the function of the magic bottle. Especially considering that our products will be marketed in Southeast Asia and other countries in the future, where the elephant is a sacred symbol, it is easier to enter the market with the Zojirushi as the logo. So, the Zojirushi trademark, which was still called Ichikawa Shokai at that time, happily decided that the magic bottles for export would be marked with an elephant with a crown and the trademark "ELEPHANT & CROWN".
Looking at the three major Japanese thermal insulation brands, they each have their own advantages and characteristics. In terms of price, Tiger is more expensive, Zojirushi is second, and Thermos is relatively cheaper. Although Thermos is the originator of magic bottles and stainless steel thermos cups, it was later surpassed by Japanese kettles that had the courage to delve deeper. At present, Tiger brand is the No. 1 domestic kettle in Japan, while Zojirushi is more focused on appearance design. Thermos has a wide range of products to benefit the public. But no matter what, the quality of the three major brands is very reliable and trustworthy, and the differences are about the same. Therefore, the main factor that everyone considers when choosing is not which one is better. Just choose the right one based on price and preference.