Tadahiro Yoshida, the son of the founder of YKK Corp, carries on his father’s “Cycle of Goodness” corporate philosophy: no one prospers unless he renders benefits to others

IF YOU’RE WEARING a garment with a respectable label, take a moment to check its zipper. (This may be tricky for female readers.) Ten-to- one you’ll see the letters YKK on the pull tab. Yankee Whitcomb L Judson came up with the original idea for a zipper, and a Swede named Gideon Sundback patented it in 1917. Leave it to the Japanese to take a foreign technology and run away with the industry: YKK is the world’s largest zipper maker. contributing Editor Bernard Krisher knew founder Tadao Yoshida when YKK was struggling to gain acceptance in the world market. In Tokyo, he sat down with Yoshida’s son Tadahiro, the current president and cEO, to discuss the company’s growth – 2007 sales reached ¥658 billion or US$ 6.15 billion – and the YKK code of ethics called “The cycle of Goodness,” which emphasizes corporate responsibility to the community and its workers. Oh – and if you happen to wearing a pair of knock-off Levis or Dockers from Mongkok, your zipper probably bears the letters YKK too. Don’t believe them: YKK is the brand of choice for zipper counterfeiters.

I have known you, your company and your father [Tadao Yoshida] for a long time. I first met him in 1964 when he invited foreign correspondents to Toyama to tour your main factory. He explained that he founded YKK in 1934 and was now producing enough zippers annually to circle the globe. We spent a wonderful weekend with him going abroad. Tell me something about your father.
When my father was 25 years old, in 1934, he began this business. Before that, » next