Matches were one of essential commodities for daily life, although they have become less common now. Over the 180 years since the first friction match was invented in 1827 in England, matches have evolved in line with the times. This report deals with matches mainly from a historical perspective in Japan and abroad.

• In 577, long before the invention of the friction match, small sticks of pinewood impregnated with sulfur were developed in China to make a fire. The first modern, self-igniting match was invented in 1805 in France. The head of the match consisted of a mixture of potassium chlorate, sulfur, sugar and rubber. The match was ignited by dipping its tip in a small asbestos bottle filled with sulfuric acid. Since this kind of match was quite expensive dangerous, it never gained much popularity.

• The first friction match was invented in England by John Walker, in 1827. The head of this match, which used antimony sulfide, potassium chlorate and other substances, could be ignited by striking against any rough surface. This kind of match had a number of problems—the flame was unsteady and the initial reaction was disconcertingly violent; additionally, the odor produced by the burning match was unpleasant. Despite these problems, the matches satisfied the needs of the growing number of smokers in those days.

• In 1831, Charles Sauria of France developed a match that used white phosphorus to remove the odor. However, the health hazard caused by white phosphorus among those working in match manufacturing plants became a serious social problem, resulting in an international ban on the use of white phosphorus in matches.

• These early matches were dangerous both to users and to the people making them, due to the use of white phosphorus. In Sweden in 1844, Erik Pasch invented the safety match by replacing white phosphorus with red phosphorus and separating the combustible ingredients between a match head and a special striking surface. This is the origin of the modern safety match, which ignites only when the match head is rubbed against the striking surface deposited on the side of the matchbox. The fact that Sweden is the birthplace of the safety match may be part of the reason that Sweden has become a leading match manufacturing country in the world. Phosphorus was probably employed for matches because the chemical is easy to handle due to its low ignition temperatures. It was also in 1848 that “The Little Match Girl,” a Danish fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen, was first published.

• In Japan, the first match was produced in 1875, 30 years after Sweden. A businessman named Makoto Shimizu, who was advised to conduct research on match manufacturing while studying in Paris, established Shinsuisha Co., Ltd. and commenced operations at a match factory in Tokyo to respond to governmental policies of promotion of new industries and acquisition of foreign currency through exports. Currently, a metropolitan high school stands on the site of the factory. On the school premises, there is a monument marking the birthplace of Japan’s first domestically made matches. Memorial statues and monuments honoring the achievements of Makoto Shimizu were also erected in other locations in the metropolitan area.

• In 1878, Japanese matches began to be exported to China. Matches became one of the major export commodities from Japan. These were exported mainly to China and India until around 1910, when China and other countries began their own domestic production of matches. At one time, many match factories were built across Japan, and subsequent underselling of matches forced some manufacturers out of business. In terms of exports, inferior products undermined the credibility of Japanese matches, resulting in a drastic drop in the export value in some times.

• Looking back at international developments again, Sweden was the largest producer of matches in the world in those days. Swedish Match was established through the merger of many match manufacturers in Sweden, and soon expanded its business overseas. With 43 factories, the company reportedly dominated an 80% share of the global match market. In Japan, Swedish Match established a new company in 1927 by reorganizing Japanese match manufacturers and acquiring a majority of its shares. However, a suicide of an executive officer, a corporate scandal and other problems made it difficult for Swedish Match to maintain its majority share, ending with the company selling its equity to the Japanese side in 1932. At that time, Japanese match manufacturers were facing intensifying cutthroat competition since domestic match production had been declining due to a boycott of Japanese goods in China, the start of domestic production in developing countries, and other reasons. To cope with the situation, the match manufacturing industry voluntarily exercised controls on production, which led to wartime controls during the Sino-Japanese War that began in 1937. With the subsequent outbreak of World War II, all basic necessities of life were soon scarce, and matches became increasingly valuable. After the end of the war, match production recovered. Due to a shortage of raw materials, however, inferior products appeared on the market and high quality matches were traded on the black market. It is noteworthy that a result of the move to eliminate shoddy matches was the establishment of the Japan Housewives’ Association (Shufuren), a national consumers’ organization.

• As Japan pushed ahead with postwar recovery, match manufacturing became mechanized and automated as in other industries, and production volumes increased steadily. Partly because the demand for advertising matches for sales promotions began to grow around 1967, the annual production volume hit a postwar record of 781,677 match tons in 1973, a more than five-fold increase from the 152,066 match tons in 1946, the year immediately following the end of the war. Since then, however, production volumes have been falling. With the invention of disposable lighters and automatic ignition systems for various appliances, the demand for matches began to diminish. In addition, advertising matches were gradually replaced by pocket pack tissues and other sales promotion items. Moreover, recent declines in the number of smokers have accelerated the diminishing demand for matches.

• To cope with this trend, the match manufacturing industry decided to launch a joint project for disposal of a large number of production equipment. Match manufacturers have also been working to diversify their business operations by engaging in printing and manufacturing of items besides matches such as paper containers, tissue paper, and disposable lighters. The match manufacturing industry, meanwhile, was designated a target industry under the law concerning provisional measures for change of business in 1986. In response to this designation, the industry turned its attention to biotechnology, a new and promising field, and established an institute of biotechnology within the trade organization. Unfortunately, the building housing the organization was completely destroyed by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. The Japanese match manufacturing industry also focused its efforts on exports of advertising matches, its forte, to Western countries. However, the EU decided to impose an anti-dumping duty of up to 42.1% on imports of advertising matches originating in Japan for five years from 1997. Swedish manufacturers, who have dominated markets in EU countries, have recently begun relocating their factories to Eastern Europe, where cheap labor is available. As a result, Japanese manufacturers have been put in a more difficult position.

• The table below shows the changes in retail prices of matches since the start of match production in Japan. These data would be also useful in understanding the changes in prices in this country.




Year	Price (yen)	Year	Price (yen)	Year	Price (yen)	Year	Price (yen)	Year	Price (yen)
1876	0.03	1928	0.07 - 0.08	1946	3	1953	20	1971	55
1892	0.025	1938	0.12	1947	4.1 - 12.3	1957	25	1973	60
1896	0.02	1942	0.2	1948	15 - 21	1958	30	1974	110
1907	0.03	1943	0.3	1949	24	1962	35	1975	100
1910	0.05	1944	0.4 - 0.5	1950	20	1965	40	1980	120
1914	0.03	1945	1.5	1951	15	1967	45	2005	167


(The above figures indicate the retail price of a pack of 10 regular-size matchboxes. A regular-size matchbox is 56 mm long, 36 mm wide and 17 mm high, and contains 44 matches on average.)


• The table below shows the numbers of match manufacturers, and the volumes and values of production in Japan in recent years.




	Companies	Volume	Value
1999	27	47,794	7,087
2000	25	43,930	6,498
2001	24	40,810	6,030
2002	22	39,079	5,692
2003	20	33,285	4,794
2004	20	30,348	4,350


(Units: Production volumes in match tons; Production values in millions of yen)
* Approximately 90% of matches are produced in Hyogo Prefecture.



* As mentioned earlier, the largest postwar production volume was 781,677 match tons in 1973. This figure was approximately 26 times that of the production volume for fiscal 2004. The production value for 1973 is estimated at approximately 110 billion yen before adjustment for price fluctuations. * Currently, approximately 20% of total production volumes are exported mainly to Western countries. A large proportion of these exports are advertising matchboxes, on which advertisement designs are printed, a product line in which Japanese manufacturers excel. Manufacturers sometimes receive inquiries from abroad about production equipment, but they have no choice but to give information on low-budget equipment. * Regarding imports, strike-anywhere matches, which can be ignited by striking on any rough surface, are imported from Western countries in very small quantities.

Photos of matches from around 1830 invented by John Walker and sold as “Lucifers”