The history of our Company began when Kazuo Ueno established Asia Shokai as a company specializing in the printing of securities certificates. From the very beginning, his goal was to compete in terms of service, backed by the specialization of his company, rather than to simply battle head-to-head with other more-established printing companies. Asia Shokai's field of expertise was the printing of securities certificates.
From the company's founding and up until the 1970s, the printing of securities certificates was its locomotive for growth. During this time, the company raised both the level and quality of the services it provided through the development of its own innovations, including a registered seal impression printer and anti-counterfeiting technology. The company also focused on the creation of what we would now call an information security system. This development was the inevitable result of the unique nature of the Company's business, namely the contracted printing of securities certificates that for all intents and purposes were a form of paper money. Through these innovations, the Company built its reputation as a specialist in the printing of securities certificates.
During this period, Asia Shokai was temporarily absorbed by another company in 1993, which was led by government, but re-emerged in 1947 as Asia Securities Printing Co., Ltd. The business environment changed greatly in the post-war years. The Japanese zaibatsu conglomerates were broken up, the securities market recovered. The Commercial Code was amended in the period of high economic growth and the capital market came into its own. Asia Securities Printing took full advantage of these changes. By offering its own added value to clients, it grew to become the leading company in the field of securities certificate printing in Japan. With the sudden death of founder Kazuo Ueno in1976 amid this period of growth, Morio Ueno was appointed as the second president of the Company.
PRONEXUS's start as a securities certificate printing company
| 1930 | Asia Shokai established
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| 1935 |
Relocates head office to the Ginza district in Tokyo 
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| 1938 |
Develops its own registered seal impression printer, which enhances productivity and trustworthiness of certificates 
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| 1940 An industry restructuring ordinance drives the merging of companies → Demand for share certificates → Growth in certificate printing business |
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| 1943 An industry restructuring ordinance results in the merger and absorption of Asia Shokai into Kawaguchi Printing (currently Tosho Printing) |
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Post-war recovery
| 1947 | Asia Securities Printing Co., Ltd. established Uses its facilities that it had prior to its wartime merger → Restarts operations in Shintomi-cho, Tokyo |
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| 1947 Antitrust legislation forces the breakup of the zaibatsu conglomerates into separate companies, which in turn encourages IPOs |
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| Up until 1951 | Receives high-volume orders from major companies including companies in the Mitsui Group and Kyowa Hakko Kogyo. 
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| 1957 | Develops its own anti-counterfeiting technology known as multicolor fine-line printing → Sets itself apart from competitors on technological grounds 
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| 1961 | Visits the Drupa printing equipment exhibition in West Germany in 1961. Takes on the latest printing technology and increases investment in printing facilities 
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| 1960s | Grows to become the leading securities certificate printer in Japan |
| Around 1976 | Founder Kazuo Ueno passes away. Morio Ueno appointed President of the Company. |