OKAWARA Chronicle


Left to Right: 1927: Daiji Okawara (front row, left) in the company’s early days, The through-air dryer when it was initially developed, Manure dryer from around 1964 and SLUDGE DRYER (Mandarin orange peel processing plant)

Our Roots: A Manufacturer of Machinery for Tea Production

1927 Okawara Manufacturing Company was established by its first president, Daiji Okawara, as a private company in Kando, Yoshida-cho, Haibara County, Shizuoka Prefecture, and begins manufacturing of  dryers for tea production.
1945 Company incorporates, and changes its name to Okawara Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
1948 Becomes a joint-stock corporation.
1952 Develops the Okawara Tamaryokucha Green Tea Machine, and receives an award for the invention from the governor of Shizuoka Prefecture.

Development into a Manufacturer Specialized in Drying Equipment, and Pursuit of Environmental-Related Equipments

1956 Develops a through-air dryer. Expands into food, agribusiness, marine, chemical and pharmaceutical fields. Establishes itself as a state-of-the-art dryer manufacturer.
1962 Develops a rotary through-air dryer. Applies for patents in Japan and the United States.
1964 Develops a livestock manure dryer (with deodorizer). Pioneers the environmental field with the development of a small scale SLUDGE DRYER.
1970 Develops a rotary fluid-bed dryer. Applies for patents in Japan, the United States, Great Britain, and West Germany. Subsequently receives the ’70 CP Idea Prize at the Chemical Plant Show in Japan..
1971 Develops a large scale SLUDGE DRYER. Actively promote the sales expansion of environmental equipments.
1973 President Daiji Okawara is awarded the Medal with Yellow Ribbon by the Government of Japan..
1975 SLUDGE DRYER was awarded the Japan Society of Industrial Machinery Manufacturers’ Chairman’s Award at the 1st at the 1st Excellence Pollution Control Equipment Awards.
1979 Chairman Daiji Okawara is awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th Class.
1982 Develops ACE, a sludge and waste circular shaped incinerator.
1983 Develops MIXGRAD, a continuous fluid bed granulator. Technical collaboration with Vaclav Feres Co. of Germany for EVAPOR, a centrifugal-flow thin-film vacuum evaporator. Develops FREEZE CABIN, a vacuum freeze dryer.
1986 Develops SLURRY DRYER, a fluid bed dryer using heating medium balls.
1991 Develops FLOW-JET GRANULATOR, a continuous agitating granulator.
1992 Develops FUZZY DORINCOM, a fuzzy-controlled sludge dryer and incinerator.
1995 Through technical collaboration with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Konica develops RIBOCONE, a conical ribbon mixer/dryer
FUZZY DORINCOM receives the Japan Society of Industrial Machinery Manufacturers’ Chairman’s Award at the Society’s 21st Outstanding Environmental Equipment Awards.

Responding to with Globalization, Environmental and Energy issues

1998 Obtains certification for meeting the ISO9001 international quality management standard.
1999 Develops FV DRYER, a filter vacuum dryer.
2000 Purchases Kikkoman Corporation’s engineering business.
2002 Develops FLASH EVAPO, a high speed cyclo-flow vacuum evaporator.
Develops INNER TUBE ROTARY, a continuous conduction heat dryer.
2003 Establishes Okawara Powder Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary in China.
2004 HEAPUM FLASH EVAPO, a heat pump-type vacuum evaporator jointly developed with Tokyo Electric Power Company, wins the Japan Institute of Energy’s Progress Award (Technology Division).
2008 Concludes a sublicensing agreement with Matsubo Corporation for the manufacturing of inverting filter centrifuges.
2012 Through a technical tie-up with the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry,develops a system using cerium oxide deodorizing treatment catalyst.
2013 Establishes OKW Korea Co., Ltd. a fully owned subsidiary in Korea.
2015 Sales alliances have been concluded with Nol-Tec Europe S.r.l (Italy).
2017 The company has been certified as 100 new diversity management company by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.