Masunaga

Fukui, Japan is one of the three largest production regions for optical frames in the world, along with China and Italy. 97% of Japanese-made optical frames are manufactured in Fukui. Masunaga Optical premiered the production of eyeglasses in Fukui in 1905. The company founder, Gozaemon Masunaga brought in skilled craftmen from Osaka and Tokyo with the ambition of setting the optical industry solidly in place in fukui.

There are as many as 200 manual process involved in making an optical frame. Generally, productivity is low when one company is in charge of all the process. However, Masunaga Optical is the only one company is in Japan that has a factory in charge of ALL processes from raw materials to production and finish in an integrated way. The integrated production system improves the details and quality. For example, when Masunaga Optical develops a new model, the molds are always built in-house. If there is a problem in the wear comfort that can be felt only after completing one pair of glasses, it will be corrected in the previous process’ promptly.

The company’s mission statement since the establishment is “We manufacturer excellent eyeglasses. We want to make a profit if we can, but we don’t hesitate to take a loss. It is always in our thoughts to manufacture excellent eyeglasses.” These words are still the basis of the conduct of code of employees even more than 100 years after its establishment.