Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. (TOK) is a Japanese specialty chemicals company whose history and current identity are closely associated with photolithography and semiconductor manufacturing. Founded in Tokyo in 1936 as Tokyo Ohka Research Institute, it began by producing purified potassium hydroxide and other chemicals. The business later developed into a supplier of materials and process technologies for fine-pattern fabrication. Its stated strengths include fine-processing technology and high-purity technology, which it applies to the nanometre-scale demands of the semiconductor industry. The company’s product history includes semiconductor photoresists, developers and related process materials, as well as specialty chemicals and equipment associated with semiconductor processing. TOK also describes expansion into high-density packaging materials, extending its business into semiconductor back-end processes. Its offering has changed over time: early chemical products were followed by materials for printing and electronics, and then by photoresists and supporting products for increasingly advanced integrated circuits. The company’s history highlights the development of domestic Japanese semiconductor photoresists, including a positive-tone product described as Japan’s first semiconductor photoresist, and later materials for advanced lithography. TOK serves customers through research, manufacturing and sales operations in Japan and overseas. The company’s official history describes an overseas manufacturing site in Oregon, United States, and subsequent investment in Taiwan and South Korea. It presents its customer-proximity approach as a way to connect development, production and sales and respond to customer needs. Its business is directed particularly at the semiconductor materials market, including advanced lithography applications such as EUV photoresists. The company’s official materials describe its management philosophy in terms of open-mindedness, continual technological improvement, product advancement and contribution to society. In 2020, it marked 80 years since its incorporation and set out a new vision, “The e-Material Global Company,” alongside the long-term “tok Vision 2030.” Tokyo Ohka Kogyo is an active, publicly listed Japanese company; its official history records a Tokyo Stock Exchange Second Section listing in 1986. The supplied company page identifies President Yoshiaki Taneichi.

Tokyo Ohka Kogyo traces its origins to 1936, when founder Shigemasa Mukai established Tokyo Ohka Research Institute in Tokyo and began producing purified potassium hydroxide. The official history describes Mukai’s founding ambition as developing useful products that others had not undertaken. The company was reorganized as Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1940. In its early decades, it made chemicals and materials for a range of uses, including products related to television manufacturing. The company’s transition toward its later semiconductor-materials identity gathered pace in the 1960s. It began manufacturing TPR photoresist for printed circuit boards in 1962 and developed the semiconductor negative photoresist OMR-81 in 1968. In 1972, it developed OFPR-2, which its history identifies as Japan’s first positive-tone photoresist for semiconductors. It also developed photoresists and related products for successive lithography needs, including materials for electron-beam and deep-ultraviolet applications. These developments helped establish Tokyo Ohka as a specialist in photoresists and fine processing. During the 1970s and 1980s, the company continued building its materials and equipment portfolio and expanded its production capacity. It developed plasma-processing equipment and opened manufacturing and technical facilities in Japan, including a dedicated semiconductor photoresist mass-production plant at Utsunomiya in 1981. Its history records a listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Second Section in July 1986. In 1987, it established a U.S. subsidiary in California, beginning a more explicitly international phase. In the 1990s, Tokyo Ohka expanded manufacturing and customer coverage outside Japan. It opened its first overseas manufacturing plant in Oregon in 1993, followed by further capacity in Japan. Its company history describes a 1997 KrF photoresist as becoming a standard product used by many semiconductor manufacturers. In 1998, it established Taiwan Ohka, supporting a stronger presence in Taiwan, which the company describes as a major semiconductor-materials market. From the 2000s onward, the company emphasized customer proximity and overseas development, manufacturing and sales. It developed high-density packaging materials in 2003, entering semiconductor back-end processes, and established TOK Advanced Materials in South Korea in 2012. The company also describes investment in Taiwan and stronger integrated customer-facing operations across Asia, the United States and Japan. Advanced lithography materials, including EUV photoresists, became part of its focus as semiconductor manufacturing continued to advance. In 2020, Tokyo Ohka marked 80 years since its incorporation and set out the management vision “The e-Material Global Company,” together with “tok Vision 2030.” Its official materials frame the company’s continuing development around fine-processing and high-purity technologies, contribution to society and the creation of new businesses as it pursues its longer-term ambition to become a 100-year company.

• 2020

  80th anniversary and new long-term vision

• 2012

  TOK Advanced Materials established in South Korea

• 2003

  High-density packaging materials developed

• 1998

  Taiwan Ohka established

• 1997

  KrF photoresist developed

• 1993

  First overseas manufacturing plant opens

• 1987

  U.S. subsidiary established

• 1986

  Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Second Section

• 1981

  Utsunomiya semiconductor photoresist plant opens

• 1972

  OFPR-2 developed

• 1968

  OMR-81 developed

• 1962

  TPR photoresist production begins

• 1940

  Incorporated as Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.

• 1936

  Tokyo Ohka Research Institute founded

A specialty chemicals and materials supplier focused on fine-processing and high-purity technologies for semiconductor manufacturing, with a customer-proximity model supported by international research, manufacturing and sales operations.

• Semiconductor photoresists

  A core product category developed for semiconductor lithography, including materials for advanced applications.

• High-purity chemicals

  High-purity chemicals are among the company's long-standing products and stated technical strengths.

• High-density packaging materials

  Materials developed for semiconductor back-end processes.

• Semiconductor process equipment

  The company history records development of equipment such as plasma ashing and etching systems.

• 2020

  Adopted a new management vision and tok Vision 2030Other

1. 1Tokyo Ohka Kogyo official websitetok.co.jp
2. 2Company historytok.co.jp
3. 3TOK historytok.co.jp
4. 4Company informationtok.co.jp