The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1932–2025
Inayama Textile (稲山織物), Fukui fabric maker since 1932, bankrupt in 2025
Inayama wove polyester for clothing since 1932 — cheap imports and a shrinking home market left it a ¥1.03B bankruptcy in 2025.
Inayama Textile (稲山織物株式会社) · 2025-10-30
What happened
Inayama Textile wove polyester fabrics for women's, men's and sports clothing from Ohno City, Fukui Prefecture — a company that traced its start to a weaving mill founded in 1932. Sales reached about ¥2.7 billion in the fiscal year ending March 1992.
The competition was foreign and cheap. Overseas products took the orders, the domestic market shrank, and the losses became chronic until cash flow ran out and the company gave up on continuing.
The Fukui District Court issued a bankruptcy commencement order on 30 October 2025, with liabilities of about ¥1.03 billion.
Why it happened
- A 93-year-old weaver against offshore prices: polyester fabric is a commodity, and mills abroad made it cheaper than a Fukui plant could.
- The domestic market shrank with the orders: Japan's clothing industry bought less woven fabric every year, and no new product replaced the lost volume.
- Losses became the status quo: a maker selling to wholesalers has no brand premium, so every year of decline went straight to the balance sheet.
The lesson
Cheap imports don't arrive as a shock: Inayama's orders faded over decades, and the Fukui weaver ran losses until the court closed it in October 2025 with ¥1.03B in debts.
Aftermath
The Fukui District Court issued a bankruptcy commencement order for Inayama Textile on 30 October 2025, with liabilities of about ¥1.03 billion. The Ohno City, Fukui Prefecture company, which traced its start to a weaving mill founded in 1932, manufactured polyester fabrics for women's, men's and sports clothing, with sales of about ¥2.7 billion in the fiscal year ending March 1992. Competition from cheap overseas products cut sales, the shrinking domestic market compounded the decline, and chronic losses led to cash flow difficulties and the decision to give up. Reported 6 November 2025.
Sources
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