History

1906 Rihachi Mizuno, with his younger brother Rizo, established the Mizuno Shop in Osaka.

1912 Opened branch in Tokyo.

1920 Became representative agent for Sandstramski (Sweden)

1921 Started planning for golf club production.

1923 Started development of domestic skis. Changed organization to Mizuno Sporting Goods Company, Ltd.

1927 Sold hickory skis.

1933 Developed golf clubs.

1936 Celebrated 30th anniversary of establishment; began making gliders.

1938 Set up resident branches in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao and Dalien.

1939 Established Shanghai Mizuno Sporting Goods Company, Ltd.

1940 Established Manchuria Mizuno Industrial Company, Ltd.

Seiichi Yoshikawa achieved a new record for both height and duration of flight using a Mizuno-made glider 301-type Soarer.

1943 Opened Yoro Factory.

1948 At the 14th Olympic Games, U.S. athlete Smith won the pole vault using a Mizuno pole.

1957 Invented compressed baseball bat and obtained patent.

1964 Assisted with Tokyo Olympic Games

1965 Opened world's largest-scale golf factory in Yoro

1966 Entered into a technical agreement with Australia's Speedo Company for competitive swim wear.

1969 Established America Mizuno in Los Angeles.

1970 Established Mizuno Taiwan Corporation.Established Mizuno Sports Promotion Foundation

1971 The late Rihachi Mizuno inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame.

1972 Served as Official Supplier for Sapporo Olympic Games.

1973 Entered into ski wear technical agreement with the French Olympic Giyu Company and the Italian Colmar Company.

1977 Established Mizuno International Sports Exchange Foundation.

Mizuno golf clubs inducted into U.S. Golf Hall of Fame. Contracted with Seve Ballesteros (until 1987)

1979 Established Mizuno U.S.A, Inc. in Dallas (taken over by Mizuno Golf Company in 1986)

1980 Japan did not take part in Moscow Olympics. Mizuno served as an Official Supplier.

Started sale of shoes in the U.S.

1984 Official Supplier of the 14th Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo.

Kenjiro Mizuno awarded the Legion d'Honneur and the Olympic Order.

1985 Made sales representative agreement with Easton Sports.

1986 Assisted with Asian Games in Seoul.

Started golf workshop activities in Europe

1987 Contracted with Carl Lewis.

Established Mizuno Corporation Niederlassung Deutschland in Germany

Established and Mizuno Finance

1988 Established Mizuno Sports Inc. in U.S.

Established Mizuno Finance Netherlands B.V., a finance subsidiary, in the Netherlands.

Participated in Seoul Olympic Games as an Official Supplier. Operated the only training center in the athletes' village.

Contracted with Florence Joyner.

1990 Contract with Ivan Lendl.

Mexico Mizuno started production of caddie bags in earnest.

Member of Barcelona Olympics Organizing Committee and Official Sponsor agreement.

Held the Mizuno Opinions Concert at the Japan Olympic Forum.

Entered into contract with the Malaysian Olympic Committe to be the Official Supplier.

Established Mizuno France S.A.R.L.

Set up service center at Beijing Asian Games.

Moved the Mizuno golf club factory in the UK to Scotland.

Entered into agreement with the Yugoslavia Ski Federation to be Official Supplier of skis.

Entered into agreement with the Unified German Speed Skating Federation.

1991 Yugoslavian athlete Sarench took third place in the fourth competition at the World Cup, using Mizuno skis. It was the first time for Japanese-made skis to be part of the award ceremony.

The Mizuno UK Scotland Factory began operations.

Entered into agreement with the Canada Athletics Federation to be Official Supplier of sports wear.

Contract with Nick Faldo.

Carl Lewis made a new world record in the men's 100 m sprint, using Mizuno shoes.

Established sales company, Mizuno Canada Ltd.

1992 Began working seriously on Project Crew 21, Mizuno's environmental conservation activities. (CREW 21 = Conservation of Resources and Environment Wave).

Athletes using Mizuno products at the Albertville Winter Olympics were very successful. A total of 28 medals, comprising eight golds - won by speed skater Lessingsuits and others - nine silvers and 11 bronzes.

Construction of the new Osaka headquarters building, Mizuno Crista, was completed on March 19, and Mizuno began to use it on April 1.

Athletes using Mizuno products at the Barcelona Olympics showed great results. They won a total of 72 medals, comprising 24 gold, 22 silver and 26 bronze. As Official Sponsor, supplied training machines and operated 22 training centers in the athletes' village and other places. Supplied official baseballs.

Increased corporate activity in global environment preservation area.

Began using bags made from recycyled paper instead of boxes for clothing Announced change on October 22. Developed table tennis table made from recycled paper (on sale from November 1) Developed baseball bases manufactured without the use of chloro-flurocarbons (on sale from February 1993)

1993 Mizuno corporation of Hong Kong Ltd., a production management company for the Asian area, began operations.

Entered into Official Sponsor agreement in Japan for the 17th Winter Olympic Games with Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee and Japan Olympic Committee.

Mizuno products displayed in IOC museum.

Supplied products to contracted athletes, established service center, and supplied services on the spot at the 4th World Athletics

Championship(Stuttgart, August 13 - 22). The number of medals obtained by athletes using Mizuno clothing or shoes were as follows:

> clothing gold 5 silver 3 bronze 6 total 14

> shoes gold 14 silver 12 bronze 11 total 37

Signed agreement to enter into an industrial housing estate in Bintan Island, Indonesia.

1994 Developed the innovative new heat-retaining material Breath Thermo jointly with Toyobo. This material was used by all the members of Japan's National Team in the Lillehammer Olympics as part of their official uniforms.

At the Lillehammer Winter Olympics, athletes using Mizuno products won a total of 31 medals, comprising 9 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze. In the women's giant slalom, the Russian athlete Gladeschbar won the silver medal, using Mizuno skis and downhill one-piece. This was the first time for Japanese-made skis to win a medal in an Alpine high-speed event at an event like the Olympics.

Established the Shanghai Mizuno Corporation Ltd, as a joint venture with the Shanghai Cultural Goods Company. Began production of sports wear in China in January, 1995

1997 Developed Wave, new-function shoes with improved steadiness and cushioning. As of December, sold two kinds of products featuring same functions in Japan, U.S. and Europe.

1998 Took part in Nagano Olympics (February 7 - 22) as Gold Sponsor. 850 athletes from 16 countries used Mizuno products. Between them they won a total of 40 medals, comprising 15 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze. Of the clothing supplied by Mizuno, the official staff uniform received high praise for its completely recyclable material. Also, the official uniform worn by the athletes for the prize-giving ceremonies had a novel design that was very popular, and there were many orders for replicas.

Created Mizuno's original Mizuno Environment labels, to be put on products created with environmental awareness. As of June, 1998 three products had been selected: running shoes using man-made leather made from recycled PET bottles, golf grips made from used rubber, and walking shoes made from used tire rubber.

Started environmental conservation activities at offices throughout Japan based on the ISO 14001 environmental management system

Held the Mizuno Open - "The acquisition to attend The British Open" golf tournament at Setonaikai Golf Club.

2000 Athletes using Mizuno products win a total of 28 medals (12 Gold, 7 Silver and 9 Bronze) at the Sydney Olympics - September 15 to October 1. FAST SKIN, in particular, was called "sensational".

Also, the official uniform worn by the 450 members of the Japanese national team was widely covered by mass-media.


2001 Set up new department in e-marketing.

2002 Athletes using Mizuno wear at the Salt lake Olympics (February 8 - 24) won a total of 20 medals (8 Gold, 7 Silver and 5 Bronze). Entire Mizuno group in Japan received a certification of ISO14001 registration from the EMS(Environmental Management System).

Spun off Yoro factory into a separate subsidiary, "Mizuno Technics". Mizuno Technics achieved "Zero Emission". Established Wellness Sports Divison and Megastore Sales Division. Marketing Departments were established in each Sales Division. Supplied Japanese delegation of the 14th Asian Games in Busan (Sep. 29 -Oct.14) with their official wear. Reorganized European distribution system in Antwerp and Glasgow.

2003 Kostelic Brother-Sister (Croatia) wearing Mizuno racing suits made a good perfomance in Alpine Skiing.

All of Mizuno affiliated factories in Japan achieved "Zero Emission".

Contracted Marathon runners, Abera(Ethiopia) won in London Marathon and Zakharova(Russia) in Boston Marathon.

2004 Swimmer Kosuke Kitajima signs with Speedo as an advisor.

Mizuno recalls its Intage golf clubs for free repairs.

First directly managed flagship store opens in Shenyang, China.

Masato Mizuno is awarded the Medal with a Blue Ribbon (for philanthropy).

Mizuno enters into partnership agreement with International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

CSR department is established.

Masato Mizuno is honored by the World Olympians Association.

Argentine soccer star Pablo Aimar (Valencia) signs with Mizuno as an advisor.

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