February, 1910

Morita Hanjiro Shoten founded in present-day Wakamatsu Ward, Kitakyushu City

July, 1931

Birth of ex-chairman Mitsunori Morita, who would go on to establish Shabondama Soap Co. Ltd.

May, 1949

Incorporation as Morita Shoten Co. Ltd.

March, 1964

Ex-chairman Mitsunori Morita becomes president of the then Morita Shoten. Major products at the time were synthetic detergents

August, 1965

Relocation of headquarters to Kokurakita Ward and change of company name to Morita Shoji Co. Ltd.

March, 1971

An order from Japan National Railways (present-day JR) leads to the development of prototype additive-free soap

April, 1971

Birth of additive-free soap (96% soap, 5% water) surpassing Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) at the time. When used at home, provides a cure for those who have suffered with long-term eczema.

August, 1974

With the resolution not sell products known to cause harm to the body, switchover to producing and selling additive-free soap. Sales decrease dramatically by around 1% and over half of all staff lose their jobs

March, 1975

Shabondama Powdered Soap goes on sale

April, 1975

Birth of Shabon-chan, the company’s logo

May, 1975

Solid-type soap goes on sale. Establishment of Shabondama Honpo Co. Ltd

March, 1987

With the inauguration of the new factory, company name changed to Shabondama Soap Co. Ltd. and relocated to the present site

March, 1991

Publication of Shizenry? Sekken Dokuhon (A Natural Soap Reader). Despite continued stagnation, proves to be a major turning point

December, 1991

Establishment of Shabondama Tomo no Kai, a loyalty club giving members a 10% discount on purchases

February, 1995

Inauguration of headquarters and factory expansion

September, 1999

Acquisition by the four companies in our group of ISO14001 certification, the International Standard for environmental management

August, 2000

Inauguration of factory expansion and our 90th anniversary

2001

Development of highly-effective soap-type fire extinguishing agent that is environmentally-friendly starts in earnest

June, 2005

Expansion of our liquid production and fire extinguishing agent production factories

July, 2005

EM Liquid Soap series goes on sale

May, 2006

Completion of our automated logistics warehouse

July, 2006

Shabondama Liquid Soap series goes on sale

March, 2007

Ex-president Mitsunori Morita’s eldest son Hayato Morita becomes president

September, 2007

Ex-president Mitsunori Morita passes away

October, 2007

After many years of research, Soap-type Fire Extinguishing Agent Miracle Foam goes on sale in earnest

December, 2007

Shabondama Organic Olive Soap goes on sale

January, 2009

Shabondama Kitchen Series goes on sale

April, 2009

Research on fire extinguishing agent for forest fires begins in earnest

December, 2009

Establishment of the Research Center for Infectious Diseases

February 1, 2010

Our 100th anniversary

August, 2010

Shabondama Baby series goes on sale

October, 2010

Reception held to mark our 100th anniversary