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| The 21km-long submarine cable laid between Niihama in Ehime Prefecture and the island of Shisakajima in September 1892 was the world’s longest of its day. Strong winds and stormy seas made the project an adventure that was brought to a successful conclusion only after 20 days of strenuous effort. |
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Sumitomo Copper Rolling Works, with almost no experience or expertise in the manufacture of copper products, had to feel its own way ahead; yet it quickly gained the trust of the government, which it needed, and its people gained the confidence they needed, to do business in the electric cable and wire industry. The works made its name by filling orders for copper wire with products of a quality that even older, more established companies were unable to match. Burgeoning demand for communications cable led the government to encourage research into technology that could help augment the lack of high-quality domestic products in that field, and Sumitomo Copper Rolling Works saw an opportunity to enter the market for insulated wire and cable, which required an even higher level of expertise than other contemporary products. But this opportunity required more than a little courage. The works’ determination to acquire the latest technology from abroad led to a decision to hire a British engineer—at a salary nearly 10 times that of Sumitomo’s own director-general. The investment paid off, though, when the development of Sumitomo’s first truly modern electric wire technology came about thanks to Sumitomo engineers’ emulating this man’s every move.
Years of arduous effort were rewarded with success in the wire and cable business. Later, Sumitomo Copper Rolling Works began to manufacture pipes and ducts for navy ships, and what was once a copper works employing 70 tradesmen had by 1911 grown into a thriving industrial complex staffed by 600. The Sumitomo family decided that to further expand and diversify the copper rolling works, the wire and cable business should be spun off into an independent entity. On August 1, 1911, 200 office and factory workers were organized into Sumitomo Electric Wire & Cable Works, which was then positioned as an official business unit of the Sumitomo General Head Office. |
