Dr. Chihiro Kanagawa
Shin-Etsu Chemical Company
Inducted 2024
Chihiro Kanagawa (1926 – 2023) was a champion not only of the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry but also of the global chemical industry. He accomplished great feats. One of them was the success of Shintech, Inc. which is now the world’s largest manufacturer of PVC. Kanagawa was convinced of the excellence of PVC as a material and of its potential for growth because of its superb properties as well as of its contributions to preserving the global environment. He dedicated his career to developing and promoting the PVC business through the sustainable growth of Shintech, Inc. in Texas, USA.
Kanagawa graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1950. After starting his career at an international trading company, he joined Shin-Etsu Chemical in 1962 in Japan to develop business in its International Division. In 1973 Kanagawa proposed founding a Shin-Etsu Chemical’s joint venture with an American company. This materialized as Shintech.
Shintech started its operations with a production capacity of 100,000 tons per year. After half a century since its foundation, Shintech’s present production capacity is 3.24 million tons per year, nearly 32 times larger than its initial capacity. Shintech now represents 36% of North America’s total PVC production.
Shin-Etsu Chemical purchased all Shintech shares held by its joint venture partner in 1976. As a result, Shintech became a wholly owned subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical. Kanagawa became president of Shintech and managed it until 2022. He achieved steady growth by executing large-scale expansions as well as significant productivity improvements. Kanagawa’s management policies were crystallized in such words as “full production, full sales” and “lean organization run by well-trained employees.”
In 1990 Kanagawa was promoted to president of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. He focused on expanding the company’s businesses and simultaneously introduced the rational management that he had practiced in Shintech into Shin-Etsu Chemical. What he did in Shin-Etsu Chemical was the same as in Shintech, that is, to expand the company’s businesses by timely expansion to capture rising demand based on “full production, full sales.” He implemented various innovations in the company and acquired domestic and overseas companies which became all important subsidiaries of Shin-Etsu Chemical. As a result of his dedication and strong leadership, Shin-Etsu Chemical could grow from one of the medium-sized Japanese chemical company into a global leader.
Kanagawa always paid attention to safety and the environment. He put into practice environmental protection and safety first into Shintech as well as in the Shin-Etsu Group. For instance, Shintech engineers pioneered unique processes to thoroughly minimize emissions that became recognized by the EPA as the “best available control technology.” In 1998 Kanagawa became chairman of the Vinyl Environmental Council of Japan. He contributed to the sustainable growth of the PVC industry and provided scientific data and correct information related to PVC to industries and society.
Kanagawa wrote several books and gave many presentations on his management. He received various management awards for his remarkable management and accomplishments. He was declared an honorary citizen of the states of Texas, Washington, and Louisiana.