Yokohama Rubber Company

History

• 1917 – Established in Yokohama as 橫濱護謨製造株式會社 (Yokohama Rubber Manufacturing Co., Ltd.), a joint venture between 橫濱電線製造 (Yokohama Electric Cable Manufacturing Company, currently Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.) and BF Goodrich Company.
• 1920 – Built a factory in Hiranuma, Yokohama. Installed US-made refining equipment and manufacturing equipment. Started manufacturing rubber belts, tires, hoses, etc. (At this time, tires of this company are sold in Japan under the "Goodrich" brand)
• 1929 – Built a new Yokohama Factory in Heian-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama.
• 1937 – Changed the tire brand to "Yokohama".
• 1942 – Built a rubber factory in Singapore.
• 1943 – Built a factory in Mie prefecture.
• 1946 – Built a factory in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture.
• 1950 – Stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Osaka Securities Exchange.
• 1963 – Company name changed from 横浜護謨製造株式会社 (Yokohama Rubber Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) to 横浜ゴム株式会社(Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited).
• 1964 – Built a factory in Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture.
• 1969 – Established Yokohama Tire Corporation in the United States.
• 1974 – Launched the Yokohama Wheel brand.
• 1981 - BFGoodrich sells all shares in Yokohama.
• 1983 - Launched Performance Y logo for the Yokohama Performance Radials and PRGR ranges; later became corporate logo.
• 1983 - Launched the PRGR brand of golf equipment.
• 2007 – Established Yokohama India.
• In 2016 Yokohama Rubber acquired farm tire maker Alliance Tire Group for $1.18 billion.
• On March 25, 2022, Yokohama Rubber announced it would be acquiring Trelleborg Wheel Systems from Trelleborg for 2.1 billion euro ($2.31 billion), its largest acquisition to date.

2025 Mishima androcide attack

| time-begin = | time-end = On December 26, 2025, a 38-year-old man wearing a gas mask stabbed and wounded eight male workers at the Yokohama Rubber facility in Mishima, and injured seven other men in a bleach chemical attack. Officials at the Asahi Shimbun investigated that the man had ties to the factory and was a former employee at the plant. He was arrested and charged with a dozen counts of attempted murder. All of the male victims ranged in age from 20 to 60, and out of the fifteen men injured, five of the male victims were taken to nearby hospitals in critical condition but all survived.

The former employee was later identified as Masaki Oyama of Mishima (born 1987), who had lived nearly 1400 ft from the plant since November 2020. During an interview, police confirmed that Oyama wielded a survival knife in the attack, indicating that he had a strong intention to kill all the men in the plant after being harassed at his job, ruling the attack as attempted androcide. Two days after the attack, Oyama was indicted on attempted murder on one of the victims, a 28-year-old male employee, with a similar knife-looking object at the same plant.

Wheels

Under the Yokohama Wheel brand Almex, Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. began making rims in 1974. The Yokohama Wheel brand currently produces the Advan Racing wheel brand for performance and motorsport applications, the AVS brand for premium applications, and the Kreutzer brand for luxury applications.

Motorsports

Yokohama is the official tire supplier of the Super Formula Championship since 2016. It was the official tire supplier of the Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 race from 1983 until 2019, with an exception in 2016, when Pirelli was chosen for the tire supplier that year. The company was the supplier of the World Touring Car Championship and World Touring Car Cup from 2006 until 2019.

In the United States, Yokohama was a tire supplier in the American Le Mans Series, including PTG (from 2005 to 2009) and Alex Job Racing. It was the official tire supplier of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. It has also participated in Red Line Time Attack, Nitro Rallycross and Stadium Super Trucks.

In September 2025, Yokohama was announced as the official tire supplier for the FIA Extreme H World Cup and will use a prototype tire based on the GEOLANDAR X-AT.

Sponsorship

From 2015 to 2020, Yokohama was the main sponsor of Premier League football club Chelsea. Yokohama also sponsors the NBA teams the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs.

Logos

The Yokohama Rubber logo was first displayed in the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun newspaper in 1917. The company used it until 1987. In 1983, Yokohama launched the "Performance Y" logo for its Yokohama Performance Radials series, which became its corporate logo in 1987. A similar style logo is used by the Taiwanese tire company Nankang Rubber Tire.

Yokohama_Tire_old_logo.svg|Yokohama Tire company logo through 1987 Yokohama_Tire_new_logo.svg|Yokohama Tire "Performance Y" since 1983 on tires, since 1987 as corporate logo Nankang_Rubber_Tire_logo.svg|Nankang Rubber Tire logo 优科豪马轮胎.png|Yokohama Tire company logo in China ()

References

References

1. (2016-03-26). "Yokohama Rubber Co to buy Alliance Tire Group for $1.2 billion". The Economic Times.
2. "Made in the USA". Yokohama Tire Corporation.
3. "沿革".
4. "Yokohama Wheel".
5. (March 26, 2022). "Yokohama Rubber pursues biggest acquisition with $2.3bn Trelleborg deal".
6. (December 27, 2025). "At least 15 injured in a knife and chemical attack at a factory in Japan".
7. (December 27, 2025). "At least 15 injured in a knife and chemical attack at a factory in Japan".
8. (December 26, 2025). "15 injured after stabbing spree at Shizuoka tire factory".
9. (December 26, 2025). "Stabbing and chemical liquid attack in Japan tire factory injures 15".
10. (December 27, 2025). "Ex-employee arrested in attack on 15 workers at plant".
11. (December 27, 2025). "Man arrested over attack at Japan rubber factory previously worked there".
12. (December 27, 2025). "Japan police arrest man over stabbing spree, 15 people injured".
13. (December 28, 2025). ""I was being harassed at work" said Masaki Koyama, the suspect who stabbed 15 people at the Yokohama Rubber Mishima Factory in Shizuoka".
14. "Yokohama Wheel {{!}} All Brand List".
15. "Super Formula Series Outline".
16. "Yokohama Joins Macau Grand Prix 2009".
17. "IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohoma". imsachallenge.com.
18. (April 4, 2013). "Yokohama Tire Corporation Onboard as Stadium SUPER Trucks Series Sponsor". Yokohama Rubber Company.
19. Wilde, Dominik. (11 September 2025). "Yokohama signs on as Extreme E/Extreme H official tire supplier".
20. (27 February 2015). "Yokohama Rubber to become Official Shirt Partner".
21. (December 30, 2008). "Yokohama continues NBA sponsorships".
22. "About Yokohama Tires".