INAX USA

The spirit and techniques of manufacturing that measured up to the ideals of the world’s greatest architect became the starting point for INAX.

In the early 1900s, when the number of foreign visitors to Japan began to increase, the Imperial Hotel commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the greatest American architects of the 20th century, to design its new building. As the tiles and terracotta for the walls were made with clay from the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture and required molding of original designs and special firing techniques, a dedicated factory was established in Tokoname.

Hatsunojo Ina and his son Chozaburo were invited to become technical advisors for this project. Upon the completion of the hotel, they took on the workers and the equipment of this factory, creating Ina Seito, which later became INAX.