1961 > 1972

From the period of rapid growth to the stable period

Kubota entered the environment-related business in the late 1960s.  The company’s business expanded rapidly, with the development of farm machinery such as rice transplanters and combine harvesters, and with repeated diversification and expansion of the production bases.  At the Japan World Exposition in Osaka in 1970, a dedicated “Kubota Pavilion” was exhibited.  The functions of the “Dream Tractor” shown there have since been achieved in the tractors of today.  In addition, the Kubota Tractor Corporation (KTC) was established in the United States, the first overseas base for tractor sales.  It developed its own business field and grew to be the central company of the overseas bases.

  • 1962
  • 1962
  • 1963
  • 1968
  • 1969
  • 1970
  • 1972

1961

The first domestic sales company for agricultural machinery
was opened in Asahikawa, Hokkaido

As agricultural machinery spread rapidly, Kubota continued to strengthen communication with agents and dealers, but also set out to reconstruct the sales network.
The agricultural machinery industry had traditionally been split into two major groups: the manufacturers of engines for agricultural machinery, and the manufacturers of implements such as threshers and hullers. Sales outlets for agricultural machinery sold products from each of the groups, so it was usual for traders to be dealers for two different manufacturers.
The company proceeded to advance the lineup of implements, as well as develop exclusive Kubota dealers. Additionally, in order to create an even more powerful sales network, the company aimed to establish group dealerships with the principle that there should be one large dealership in each prefecture, by combining existing dealerships and by injecting company capital.
As a result, the Asahikawa Kubota Agricultural Machinery Sales Co., Ltd. and three other companies were established in 1961, and a total of 47 companies were created throughout the country by 1965.

A meeting to launch the Kyushu/Yamaguchi region sales company

A meeting to launch the Kyushu/Yamaguchi region sales company

The opening of the Fukuoka Service Center

The opening of the Fukuoka Service Center

1962

Entered the environmental improvement business,
for water supply, sewerage systems, etc.

In order to repay a favor to the waterworks world, which the company had held a close relationship with since shortly after its foundation, in 1961 the company established a waterworks research laboratory within the central research laboratory, with a water supply department and a sewerage department.
Based on the results the laboratory had, the company entered the water processing industry in December of the next year, 1962. It was a software based division without a plant, which undertook the design and operation of processing facilities for human waste and sewage. It later also advanced into the processing of city refuse.
Also in 1962, the company opened the Hirakata Machinery plant and Steel Casting plant (currently: Hirakata plant) in Hirakata City, Osaka Prefecture. The facilities were constructed on grounds extending over 330,000 m², the largest area for the company to that date. Business was transferred from the Mukogawa machinery plant and the casting works in Taisho-ku, Osaka City, which had both become cramped.

Water quality survey at Nakanoshima, Osaka

Water quality survey at Nakanoshima, Osaka

Equipment to analyze water quality at the laboratory

Equipment to analyze water quality at the laboratory

The human waste processing facility for Miyoshi City

The human waste processing facility for Miyoshi City

Water quality analysis using an atomic absorption spectrometer

Water quality analysis using an atomic absorption spectrometer

A report from the waterworks research laboratory. The photograph is of the laboratory’s experiment building

A report from the waterworks research laboratory.
The photograph is of the laboratory’s experiment building

An overall view of the Hirakata machinery plant

An overall view of the Hirakata machinery plant

The Hirakata Casting plant at the start of operations

The Hirakata Casting plant at the start of operations

A 15 ton electric furnace at the Hirakata Casting plant

A 15 ton electric furnace at the Hirakata Casting plant

1963

Started the production of automatic vending machines

The origins of the company’s automatic vending machines can said to be the “health recorder” automatic weighing machine that was developed at the Funade-cho plant in 1958. When the customer stood on the scales and inserted a 10 yen coin, a card with the weight recorded on it was dispensed. It was even exhibited at an international trade fair.
Using that experience, and automatic control technologies from weighing machines, the company set about the development of automatic milk vending machines from the beginning of 1962. Research continued on equipment to distinguish between coins and on thermal insulation technology, etc., until a prototype was completed for bottles in January 1963, the first automatic vending machine for the milk industry.
The company went on to develop a sales and service network for the product, and also began sales of automatic vending machines for Tetra Pak milk and machines with the bottles descending in a spiral. An automatic tobacco vending machine (selling five types) was put on sale in May 1967, a machine which was later to become a major product for the company.

The “health recorder” scales

The “health recorder” scales

An automatic milk vending machine

An automatic milk vending machine

An assembly plant for automatic vending machines within the Funade-cho plant

An assembly plant for automatic vending machines within the Funade-cho plant

An early automatic vending machine for tobacco

An early automatic vending machine for tobacco

1968

Started the production of “rice transplanters”

The mechanization of rice planting work had long been a dream of rice farmers. Kubota had started development work for this in around 1957, but major research work did not begin until 1963. At the same time, competitor companies were also proceeding with research into various different methods.
The company believed that the best method for mechanization would be a transplanter for seedlings in soil, using seedling trays and the “scattered seedlings” method. The SP type was developed in 1968 and in the following year, 1969, the SPS type went on sale, a single wheel, 2-row planter that formed the basis for the later walking-type rice transplanters. Mass production of the SPS type started in 1970.
There were many merits to the method, for example the space needed for the seedlings was reduced to about a twentieth of that needed for the seedling nursery cultivation method, because the seedlings were grown in high concentrations in the seedling trays. For this reason, most of the rice transplanters that followed from other companies also adopted this method.

Rice cultivation work, paddy field planting and harvesting being done by hand

Rice cultivation work, paddy field planting and harvesting being done by hand

The start of mass production for the Type SPS2 rice transplanter

The start of mass production for the Type SPS2 rice transplanter

1969

The opening of the Utsunomiya plant and the start
of agricultural implement manufacturing

First in the industry, Kubota put the HC75 type 3-row reaper-binder on sale in 1965, and the HC50 type 2-row reaper-binder for small-scale farmers on sale in 1967. It was a time when the rice harvest had been at a record high for three consecutive years, and the popularity of the binders rose sharply. In order to respond to demand, the Utsunomiya plant was opened in the Hirade Industrial Park in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture.
The production of binders began when the initial construction for the plant was completed in May 1969, and the mass-production equipment for rice transplanters was completed in April 1970. In addition, the HX type full-width combine harvesters with a front driving seat which went on sale in 1971 were extremely popular and demand grew sharply, so a combine harvester plant was newly opened in February 1974.

The birth of the first binders produced at the Utsunomiya plant

The birth of the first binders produced at the Utsunomiya plant

An overall view of the Utsunomiya plant

An overall view of the Utsunomiya plant

The binder production line which was started up at the Utsunomiya plant

The binder production line which was started up at the Utsunomiya plant

The HT90A type 3-row combine harvester being tested

The HT90A type 3-row combine harvester being tested

1970

A dedicated “Kubota Pavilion” at the Japan World Exposition

In 1970, the year that Kubota reached its 80th anniversary, the Japan World Exposition was held for 6 months starting in March at Senrikyuryo, Suita City, Osaka Prefecture. The company’s theme for its dedicated Kubota Pavilion was “Abundant Crops.”
The “Dream Tractor” which was exhibited in the pavilion was a concentration of the most sophisticated technologies, and the excellent functionality, comfort and easy usability that it offered are still being put to use in products today.
In addition, 1970 was also the year that the Shiga Branch Plant of the Vinyl Pipe plant was established in Kose-cho, Koka-gun, Shiga Prefecture, for the production of FRP bathtubs and septic tanks. The “Kubota Trane Co., Ltd.” was also established this year, in a joint venture with the specialized air conditioning manufacturer Trane Inc. from the United States.

The Kubota Pavilion and guides at the Japan World Exposition

The Kubota Pavilion and guides at the Japan World Exposition

The Dream Tractor

The Dream Tractor

The Kubota Pavilion pamphlet

The Kubota Pavilion pamphlet

An FRP bathtub being formed in a 1,500 ton hydraulic press

An FRP bathtub being formed in a 1,500 ton hydraulic press

An overall view of the Shiga plant

An overall view of the Shiga plant

The main entrance to the Kubota Trane Co.,Ltd.'s Tochigi plant

The main entrance to the Kubota Trane Co.,Ltd.'s Tochigi plant

The production of air conditioning equipment

The production of air conditioning equipment

1972

Established the first overseas tractor sales base in the United States

As Kubota had been approached by the American company Ford about the OEM supply of small tractors in 1967, it had been decided to enter the North American market with its own brand. The demand there was overwhelmingly for petrol engines, but Kubota had completed a multi-cylinder, lightweight and compact engine that overcame the problems with diesel engines, so it decided to limit exports to these diesel products.
The company’s compact diesel tractors were highly rated as having a performance and usability in line with larger models, and they became established in the American market, with over 2,000 sold in 1972. The company therefore created the Kubota Tractor Corporation (KTC) in Compton City, California, as a joint operation with the Marubeni Corporation, an export partner. KTC acted as a sales base and greatly expanded the market for the products.

The “Yufutsu Maru” tractor cargo ship commissioned between the Sakai and Tomakomai ports

The “Yufutsu Maru” tractor cargo ship commissioned
between the Sakai and Tomakomai ports

The ultra-compact 4-wheel drive tractor “Bulltra” B6000 (right) and the vertical 2-cylinder diesel engine it contained (left)

The ultra-compact 4-wheel drive tractor “Bulltra” B6000 (right) and
the vertical 2-cylinder diesel engine it contained (left)

Kubota Tractor Corporation (KTC)

Kubota Tractor Corporation (KTC)

1940 > 1960

1961 > 1972

1973 > 1985