Yokohama Rubber Company
Japanese tire and rim manufacturing company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited (横浜ゴム株式会社, Yokohama Gomu Kabushiki gaisha) is a Japanese manufacturing company based in Hiratsuka, Japan.[1] The company was founded and began on October 13, 1917, in a joint venture between Yokohama Cable Manufacturing and BFGoodrich. In 1969, the company expanded to the United States as Yokohama Tire Corporation. It primarily produces tires, rims, and golf equipment (sold under the brand PRGR).
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Native name | 横浜ゴム株式会社 |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Yokohama Gomu Kabushiki gaisha |
| Company type | Public K.K. |
| TYO: 5101 | |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Founded | October 13, 1917 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Masataka Yamaishi (President, Chairman of the Board) |
| Products | Tires, rims, golf equipment, industrial rubber products |
| Brands |
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| Revenue |  US$5.93 billion (2022) |
| US$483.69 million (2022) | |
| US$325.38 million (2022) | |
Number of employees | 27,222 (as of December 2021) |
| Website | www.y-yokohama.com |
The company has two manufacturing facilities in the United States: one in Salem, Virginia, and another in West Point, Mississippi.[2]
History
- 1917 – Established in Yokohama as 橫濱護謨製造株式會社 (Yokohama Rubber Manufacturing Co., Ltd.), a joint venture between 橫濱電線製造 (Yokohama Electric Cable Manufacturing Company, currently Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.) and BF Goodrich Company.[3]
- 1920 – Built a factory in Hiranuma, Yokohama. Installed US-made refining equipment and manufacturing equipment. Started manufacturing rubber belts, tires, hoses, etc.[3] (At this time, tires of this company are sold in Japan under the "Goodrich" brand)
- 1929 – Built a new Yokohama Factory in Heian-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama.[3]
- 1937 – Changed the tire brand to "Yokohama".[3]
- 1942 – Built a rubber factory in Singapore.[3]
- 1943 – Built a factory in Mie prefecture.[3]
- 1946 – Built a factory in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture.[3]
- 1950 – Stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Osaka Securities Exchange.
- 1963 – Company name changed from 横浜護謨製造株式会社 (Yokohama Rubber Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) to 横浜ゴム株式会社(Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited).[3]
- 1964 – Built a factory in Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture.[3]
- 1969 – Established Yokohama Tire Corporation in the United States.[3]
- 1974 – Launched the Yokohama Wheel brand.[4]
- 1981 - BFGoodrich sells all shares in Yokohama.
- 1983 - Launched Performance Y logo for the Yokohama Performance Radials and PRGR ranges; later became corporate logo.
- 1983 - Launched the PRGR brand of golf equipment.
- 2007 – Established Yokohama India.[3]
- In 2016 Yokohama Rubber acquired farm tire maker Alliance Tire Group for $1.18 billion.[5]
- On March 25, 2022, Yokohama Rubber announced it would be acquiring Trelleborg Wheel Systems from Trelleborg for 2.1 billion euro ($2.31 billion), its largest acquisition to date.[5]
2025 Mishima androcide attack
| 2025 Mishima androcide attack | |
|---|---|
| Location | 35.110713958740234°N 138.9251708984375°E 8-1 Minamifutsukamachi, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-0832, Japan |
| Date | December 26, 2025 16:25 (JST) |
| Target | Mishima Yokohama Rubber Company facility |
Attack type | Stabbing, androcide, sarin attack |
| Weapon | Survival knife, Bleach |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 15 |
| Victims | 15 |
| Perpetrator | Masaki Oyama |
| Motive | Revenge after being harassed by his male co-workers |
On December 26, 2025, a 38-year-old man wearing a gas mask stabbed and wounded eight male workers at the Yokohama Rubber facility in Mishima, and injured seven other men in a bleach chemical attack.[6][7] Officials at the Asahi Shimbun investigated that the man had ties to the factory and was a former employee at the plant. He was arrested and charged with a dozen counts of attempted murder.[8] All of the male victims ranged in age from 20 to 60, and out of the fifteen men injured, five of the male victims were taken to nearby hospitals in critical condition but all survived.[9]
The former employee was later identified as Masaki Oyama of Mishima (born 1987), who had lived nearly 1,400 ft (0.27 miles) from the plant since November 2020.[10] During an interview, police confirmed that Oyama wielded a survival knife in the attack, indicating that he had a strong intention to kill all the men in the plant after being harassed at his job, ruling the attack as attempted androcide.[11][12] Two days after the attack, Oyama was indicted on attempted murder on one of the victims, a 28-year-old male employee, with a similar knife-looking object at the same plant.[13]
Wheels
Under the Yokohama Wheel brand Almex, Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. began making rims in 1974.[4] The Yokohama Wheel brand currently produces the Advan Racing wheel brand for performance and motorsport applications, the AVS brand for premium applications, and the Kreutzer brand for luxury applications.[14]
Motorsports
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Yokohama is the official tire supplier of the Super Formula Championship since 2016.[15] It was the official tire supplier of the Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 race from 1983 until 2019, with an exception in 2016, when Pirelli was chosen for the tire supplier that year.[16] The company was the supplier of the World Touring Car Championship and World Touring Car Cup from 2006 until 2019.
In the United States, Yokohama was a tire supplier in the American Le Mans Series, including PTG (from 2005 to 2009) and Alex Job Racing. It was the official tire supplier of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge.[17] It has also participated in Red Line Time Attack, Nitro Rallycross and Stadium Super Trucks.[18]
In September 2025, Yokohama was announced as the official tire supplier for the FIA Extreme H World Cup and will use a prototype tire based on the GEOLANDAR X-AT.[19]
Sponsorship
From 2015 to 2020, Yokohama was the main sponsor of Premier League football club Chelsea.[20] Yokohama also sponsors the NBA teams the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs.[21]
Logos
The Yokohama Rubber logo was first displayed in the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun newspaper in 1917. The company used it until 1987. In 1983, Yokohama launched the "Performance Y" logo for its Yokohama Performance Radials series, which became its corporate logo in 1987. A similar style logo is used by the Taiwanese tire company Nankang Rubber Tire.[22]
Yokohama Tire company logo through 1987
Yokohama Tire "Performance Y" since 1983 on tires, since 1987 as corporate logo
Nankang Rubber Tire logo
