Kokuyo's story began in Osaka in 1905, when Zentaro Kuroda opened the Kuroda Ledger Cover Shop, making covers for traditional Japanese account ledgers. The business soon moved into making the ledgers themselves, then Western-style account books, slips and writing paper, and in 1917 it adopted Kokuyo as its trademark. Since those early days the company has described co-creation with empathy as its North Star, a principle it says has guided its decisions through its greatest challenges.

Furniture came from listening. During Japan's era of rapid economic growth, customers were struggling with overwhelming amounts of paperwork, and Kokuyo realised that what they wanted was not simply a box but a better way to store and manage information. Filing cabinets followed in 1960, steel desks in 1965 and office swivel chairs in 1966. Kokuyo calls this the origin of its philosophy of designing experiences rather than objects, and it has since grown from individual pieces into the design of whole workspaces, with showrooms across Japan and in Shanghai and Singapore.

Experimentation is part of the culture. In 1969 Kokuyo completed a new head office, opened its own workplace to the public and launched its Live Office initiative, testing ideas in the space where its people actually worked. A saying inside the company captures the spirit: fail before our customers do. It founded an office research centre in 1986, began its universal design work in 1998, and established the KOKUYO DESIGN AWARDS in 2002. Its 2017 ing chair, with a seat that glides 360 degrees to follow the body's subtle movements, grew from a simple observation: the human body is built to move.

Today Kokuyo is listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, employs more than 8,000 people across its group, and continues to connect stationery, furniture and space design. Its Tokyo Shinagawa office, THE CAMPUS, opened in 2021 as a living testing ground for its Work and Life philosophy, and the company marked its 120th anniversary with a simple message: Curiosity is Life. For a workplace in Australia, Kokuyo brings a distinctly Japanese blend of care, precision and quiet invention.