DNP Celebrates its 150th Anniversary

Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo; President: Yoshinari Kitajima; hereinafter: DNP) will celebrate its 150th anniversary on October 9, 2026. Taking this milestone as an opportunity, the DNP Group expresses its renewed gratitude to all stakeholders who have supported its journey of challenges over a century and a half, and will accelerate further challenges to continue creating a "better future" on its own.

The DNP Group designates the one-year period from April 2026 as its "Anniversary Year." We will solicit ideas from approximately 37,000 group employees both in Japan and overseas and implement various employee-participatory anniversary initiatives.

Through the "Anniversary Year," the DNP Group will create opportunities for employees to re-understand and empathize with DNP's journey and strengths, and to serve as a catalyst for their new challenges. We express gratitude to all employees who have supported DNP's growth over 150 years, foster an organizational culture, promote the growth of diverse talent, and connect this to the creation of new value.

Furthermore, a new three-year medium-term management plan will commence in April 2026. We will take the first step towards the next 150 years and accelerate our efforts to realize a "better future."

Key visual for the "150th Anniversary" featuring DNP employees

【Message from Yoshinari Kitajima, President and Representative Director】

On the occasion of our 150th anniversary, the DNP Group renews its determination to continue taking action to realize a better future. We will create indispensable value for people worldwide and deliver it to society as an "everyday essential" that is close at hand.

A century and a half ago, we founded our company with the motto "Engaging in the work of civilization," aspiring to contribute to the development of civilized society through the then state-of-the-art letterpress printing business. This spirit has been passed down unchanged for 150 years.

Currently, under the brand statement "Creating the Future's Everyday," the DNP Group continues to refine the technologies, processes, and skills cultivated through printing, with each diverse employee engaging in dialogue and collaboration to continuously take on the challenge of creating new value.

Moving forward, we will continue to shape the "future's everyday" by consistently generating meaningful value for society.

【DNP's 150 Years of "Challenging Journey" and "Aspiration" Connected to the Future】

Shueisha, one of DNP's predecessors, was founded in Ginza, Tokyo, in 1876, shortly after the Meiji Restoration. In 1935, it merged with Nisshin Printing to become Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. Subsequently, it promoted "Expanded Printing" (Second Foundation), which involved applying and developing its unique printing technologies to expand its business domains, becoming one of the world's largest comprehensive printing companies. Currently, DNP is moving significantly beyond traditional "customer problem-solving" and is positioning itself in a transformative period (Third Foundation) where it directly engages with society and consumers to "make the future better" on its own, striving to achieve this vision.

Shueisha's "Company Rules" included the phrase "Engaging in the work of civilization." This concept held that "knowledge" is indispensable for the development of civilization, and thus the printing industry, which produces books for this purpose, is "the business of civilization." While metal type letterpress printing was cutting-edge technology at the time, DNP has consistently refined its strengths, including technology, to be at the forefront, contributing to the cultivation of culture and the development of civilized society. This aspiration is inherited in our current corporate philosophy, "Connecting people and society, providing new value," which embodies our corporate stance of realizing a "better future."

【Main Initiatives for the "150th Anniversary Year" (April 2026 - March 2027)】

For the 150th-anniversary commemorative initiatives, ideas were widely solicited from employees through workshops and surveys, and employees are taking the lead in planning and implementation. More than 20 projects are scheduled to be carried out throughout the year.

○Concept Message: "Leveraging Precedent to Challenge Unprecedented Dreams"

This message expresses our commitment to leveraging DNP's inherited aspirations, technologies, knowledge, and human connections as "precedents," while each employee deepens "dialogue and collaboration" (action guidelines) to continuously challenge "unprecedented dreams" together for the next 150 years.

○Key Visual & Special Website (URL https://www.dnp.co.jp/150th)

In line with the concept message, a key visual was created featuring DNP employees as models to express their "will to challenge." A special 150th-anniversary website has also been built, and various contents, including a concept movie, will be released sequentially.

○Original Anniversary Logo

The anniversary logo was selected through a company-wide vote from over 800 design ideas submitted by employees. The pattern and gradation, which pay homage to printing ink dots, represent DNP's history and the expansion and development of its technology, with "printing" as its origin, expressing the possibilities that extend from printing. The overlapping colors, reminiscent of the standard printing colors CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key plate/Black), symbolize the active creation of new value by combining unique and diverse strengths through "dialogue and collaboration."

○Motion Logo

A motion logo, an arrangement of the corporate mark for the corporate brand "DNP," has been created. It expresses and communicates the value DNP has woven throughout its journey and its vision for the future through "the movement of the logo." The production was handled by Kota Iguchi of the creative association "CEKAI." A shortened version of this motion logo will be used in DNP's new corporate TV commercial, which will air from April.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afjUzUtLDEc

○Employee-Initiated Project: "Engineers' Wa x 150th Anniversary Project"

DNP engineers will collaborate across business divisions and organizational boundaries to clearly and attractively communicate DNP's technological strengths both internally and externally. This project is planned to be rolled out through exhibitions at "DNP Plaza" (Ichigaya, Tokyo), an open innovation facility operated by DNP, and other venues.

○Online Sugoroku Game "SugoChalle"

This is a game content for employees that can be played on smartphones. Through quizzes and columns presented on the squares where players land in the Sugoroku game, employees can deepen their understanding of DNP while having fun.

Game image

＊A Request to All Concerned Parties＜Request＞

We respectfully decline telegrams, flowers, and other gifts related to the 150th anniversary. We kindly ask for your understanding.

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※The information provided is current as of the announcement date. It may be subject to change without prior notice.