History

The year 2003 was the 160th anniversary of Kawashima since its establishment. With its origin in the production of traditional artistic textiles, Kawashima has devoted itself to creating the “textile culture” by constantly introducing the latest technology and incorporating the spirit of the times.

In 1955, Kawashima became the first company in Japan to enter the car seat fabric market. Today, Kawashima’s seat fabrics command the largest market share in Japan and are used in one-third of all domestic automobiles sold today in Japan.

With the current trend among auto manufacturers toward globalization, Kawashima has expanded its network to serve global markets. As a first step of such efforts, production facilities were established in China and the Philippines in 1994.

In 2002, Kawashima Textile USA, Inc. was established in order to support automobile manufacturers who are striving to establish local production systems in the United States while introducing its unique, high quality fabrics into the overall American textile industry.

It is Kawashima’s goal to strengthen the presence in the United States by providing top-quality materials with function and design that respond to the needs of American customers.