VALUES
Matsuyama Yushi was founded in 1908 as a general merchandise dealer and started making soap soon after the war. The soap at that time was "any soap that could remove dirt" and "any soap that could make a lather". Fifty years later, in 1995, we launched our first in-house brand, the "M Mark Series. Since then, we have continued to manufacture products with our core technologies of fatty acid saponification (kettle-burning method) and fatty acid neutralization (transparent soap manufacturing method). Body soap with good lather, shampoo to cleanse the skin, lotion and cream to protect the skin. We have expanded our products and brands beyond solid soap to meet the potential expectations of our customers. Our products are chosen by our customers while they are worrying about whether they are suitable for their skin and whether they are not irritating. That's why our detergents wash off clean and don't leave a residue on the skin. Skincare is only essential to the skin, not over or under. Washing (WASH) and moisturizing (CARE) are always one thing. As a wash and care company that provides that, we will continue to create new values for our customers.
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Manufacturing that balances safety, environment-friendliness, and usefulness
What level of quality is required by daily products. At Matsuyama, we believe there should be a balance among safety, environmental friendliness and usefulness. Our products maintain their usefulness, but are also extremely safe and easy on the natural environment. They are designed to be comfortable and fun to use each and every day, and they are priced so that you feel good about using them too. We believe our job is to plan, design, manufacture and deliver to you products that meet all these requirements. At the same time, we also believe it is important to create “products we want to use ourselves” and “products that we can be proud to tell our families we made.” These are the aspirations that are embodied in reliable quality.
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The "Kamadaki" pot boiling method, Matsuyama's pride. The process requires roughly 100 hours to completion
Matsuyama uses the “Kamadaki” pot boiling method for almost all of its soaps. This is a traditional method of soap production in which, as the name implies, the soap is boiled in a pot. It is sometimes referred to as the “saponification and salting-out method.” “Saponification” is the process by which natural fat and oil react with alkali to become soap. At Matsuyama, each saponification produces around 5 tons of body for solid soap. The saponifying pot is 2 meters in diameter, which is relatively small for this kind of equipment. At Matsuyama, we believe this is exactly the right size because it allows you to visually monitor subtle, instantaneous changes in the reaction that cannot be measured mechanically. After saponification, we add natural salt to cause impurities to separate out from the soap itself, perform salting out and still standing to encourage the reaction of unsaponificates, and then do a final salting out to remove as many irritants as possible. It takes 100 hours from the time the raw materials go into the pot until the completion of the soap. The process takes place in the oldest workspace in the factory, a place we lovingly refer to as the “Pot Room.” Second only to our staff and their respect for traditional production methods, the Pot Room is Matsuyama’s pride and joy.
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Skin and environment-friendly soap starts with the materials
Matsuyama’s soap body is 98.0% pure soap, 1.2-1.7% glycerin, 0.3-0.7% salt, and less than 0.3% free alkali and unsaponificates. Glycerin reduces some of the tightness that can be felt after washing. It is found in the natural fat and oil used as raw materials and dissolves into the soap body. We add different natural essential oils, plant extracts, plant-based powders and natural pigments to this soap body to create our soap varieties. These materials are vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation and temperature changes, but they produce a soft, rich aroma, and coloring that evokes natural materials. Soap is something you use on your skin every day; we think it should naturally be a source of peace for the mind as well. This is the core concept behind our selection of materials.
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Visual confirmation is the key, and we are focused on quality
Quality is guaranteed for all Matsuyama products. During production, they undergo numerous semi-final and final inspections and continue to be inspected until they are shipped. Products are first boiled in a pot, and then dried and matured before forming. Traditional soap-making requires creativity and the ability to concentrate on what appear at first glance to be simple, repetitive tasks. For non-soap products, raw materials are input, mixed, emulsified, filled, packaged and boxed according to predetermined standards. Records are kept of each process. Regardless of the work, the machinery is there to assist, not to take over from human beings. Each member of our staff takes pride in manufacturing, and works with his or her hands to ensure that products meet standards. We continue to focus on small-lot production because it enables us to manage processes in detail. This may seem like we are taking the long way around, but in actuality it is the shortest path to delivering the manufacturing process controls that satisfy our customers’ expectations. Quality is our highest priority. Each member of the staff takes responsibility for the quality of our own products, endeavoring to see our products and their jobs from the customer’s perspective at all times. Quality, we believe, is the sum total of staff attitudes.
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Distance: 120 km; elevation: 1,000 m. From the soap factory in the city to the foothills of Mt. Fuji
Matsuyama has two factories, in Sumida-ku, Tokyo and in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi. The soap body takes natural oil and fat, caustic soda and caustic potash, boils them together in a pot, and produces the body that goes into solid and liquid products. We continue to employ traditional techniques like the “frame kneading method” and “cooling press” because the Sumida Factory is located in an area that has always been a center of soap-making. The dried soap body is then transported to our Fujikawaguchiko Factory in the foothills of Mt. Fuji. There it is carefully mixed with natural essential oils, plant extracts and plant-based powders and then kneaded before being individually formed in a stamping, and then packaged to create a final product. The Fujikawaguchiko Factory also produces our lotions, creams and other skincare products. The two factories are separated by a distance of distance of 120 km and a 1,000 m difference in elevation. Though geographically distant, they work together in close coordination as a team to produce our bodycare, hair care, skincare, and daily care products.
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Contributing to society starts at home
Matsuyama welcomes workplace experience programs from nearby middle schools. Even students who are not very enthusiastic at the beginning become more cheerful by the day, greeting people with enthusiasm, their eyes shining as they start their work experience. Manufacturing is attractive, it draws us towards it. That is why Matsuyama also welcomes the general public to take plant tours. We do not have a set tour route; visitors are free to watch how our products are produced up close. It is not often that we get to meet our customers directly, and your visits encourage and motivate us. They inspire us to true manufacturing, the kind of production you are not ashamed for people to see, where you have nothing to hide. We are faithful to our calling. While this is very basic, we at Matsuyama also believe that it is our most important tie to society. We contribute to the community in many other ways as well. We accept be students from emerging economies as interns, clean the bed of the nearby Arakawa River and the old hiking trail on Mt. Fuji, and also provide products to social welfare facilities near our factories.