Buoyed by the post World War II economic boom,
companies across Japan began introducing automated systems into their production plants. This development triggered a growing need for air purification systems. Shirakawa, whose motto from the very beginning has been “the customer comes first,” was quick to respond to this market need as it rode a swelling tide of demand for compressors and air dehumidifying equipment that would eventually take it to new heights as an industry leader.

The year was 1960, the Olympic games were off and running in Rome and the first color television broadcast had hit the Japanese airwaves. Shirakawa's new head office building in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward had just opened its doors and each employee was given a company motorcycle to get around in.

During its early years, Shirakawa operated out of the Sakamoto Iron Works. Not having a production facility of its own limited the hours of operation which sometimes resulted in production delays. The completion of the Toda Plant was a dream come true for the employees who had longed for a factory of their own.

R&D at Shirakawa successfully produced the four-way air cock valve to replace the four-way damper valve that was the mainstream at the time. The new valves significantly cut delivery costs, giving Shirakawa a big leg up on the competition.

As Shirakawa steadily made new inroads into the steel, petrochemical, textile, and pulp industries, it began laying the groundwork for its entry into the nuclear power market with an eye to staying ahead of the competition. Building on its solid foundation in thermal power generation, Shirakawa's nuclear efforts finally paid off in 1971 when it was awarded a major contract (via the Mikuni Jukogyo Compressor Group) to outfit the Chubu Electric Power Company's Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station with equipment for one of its reactors.

The second oil crisis hit Japan like a tsunami that sent its once robust economy spiraling downward. Shirakawa? was able to weather the economic storm by leveraging its strength as a global corporation to boost? exports.

Once the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, environmental initiatives by public and private organizations shifted into high gear. Shirakawa got a head-start back in the early 1980s with energy-saving products as well as systems that make effective use of waste heat and has been leading the pack ever since. Saving the environment remains job number one at Shirakawa with R&D focusing on new ways to increase efficiency in production processes as well as energy use.