Kajo Shofu Born in 1870 in Seto, Aichi Prefecture. Shofu came to Kyoto in 1888 and entered a ceramic company. In 1890, he was adopted into the Kajo Shofu family of ceramic manufacturing and in 1908, he set up the Shofu Ceramics Company, Ltd., on Kiyomizuzaka in the Higashiyama area for the purpose of importing ceramic wares. As a leading company of its time, Shofu's company also manufactured high-pressure glass after the Sino-Prussian War. In 1916, the company changed its name to Shofu Industrial Company, Ltd., which primarily engaged in the production of glass and scientific porcelain instruments. His company served as a prime example of a company which successfully made the transition from traditional techniques to more modern methods. In 1919, the company also played an important role in bringing the National China and Porcelain Laboratory to Kyoto. Further, Shofu was the first to manufacture high quality denture ware in Japan, in 1922, by establishing the Shofu Denture Manufacturing Company, Ltd. All these accomplishments made Shofu one of the first examples in Japan, who succeeded in building and operating a factory with a small amount of capital. BACK