UNITIKA exited its 135-year core fiber business in 2025 — Japan's textile icon fell

UNITIKA, one of Japan's three major textile manufacturers, announced on November 28, 2024 that it would exit its founding fiber business — the core operation it had run since its 1889 founding as a cotton spinning company. The company recorded a ¥24.2 billion net loss in FY2025, its second consecutive annual deficit, driven by ¥37.9 billion in restructuring charges.

The fiber business represented 40% of UNITIKA's sales but was chronically loss-making. Competition from low-cost Chinese imports, Japan's shrinking domestic market, and a weak yen that raised raw material costs had turned the division into an unsustainable drag. A previous restructuring in 2014 with ¥37.5 billion in bank support had failed to address the structural decline.

UNITIKA secured an ¥87 billion financial support package: ¥35 billion from REVIC via third-party allotment, ¥43 billion in debt waivers from transaction banks, and a ¥9 billion credit line from main bank MUFG. The company reduced its capital to ¥100 million to reduce tax burden. CEO Shuji Ueno and all internal directors resigned in late April 2025.

The fiber business was sold to Seiren in 2025. UNITIKA pivoted to focus on its profitable food-packaging film business, which had been the only division generating consistent profits. The exit marked the end of 135 years of textile manufacturing by one of Japan's historic industrial names.