GS Yuasa

GS Yuasa Corporation (株式会社ジーエス・ユアサ コーポレーション, Kabushiki-gaisha GS Yuasa Kōporēshon) is a Japanese company that makes lead acid automobile and motorcycle batteries. It also develops and produces advanced battery technology for various aerospace and defense applications.

History

In Japan

Yuasa

In 1909, Shichizaemon Yuasa established Yuasa Iron Works to modernize the family business, originally founded in 1666 as a charcoal trading business. Yuasa Iron Works began producing storage batteries in 1915, and three years later Yuasa Storage Battery Co., Ltd was established. Soon after, Yuasa Storage Battery Co., Ltd began making Japan's first automotive batteries. In 1925, Yuasa began making dry cells, and in 1941 they began making alkaline cells. The dry battery business was later spun off into Yuasa Dry Battery Co., Ltd, which later merged back into Yuasa Storage Battery Co., Ltd to form Yuasa Battery Co,, Ltd, later renamed to Yuasa Corporation.

GS

In 1904, Genzo Shimadzu (b. 1869 d. 1951) developed a high-capacity lead-acid battery to supply backup power to his factory during outages of Kyoto's then unreliable power grid. The Japanese navy purchased 400 units of this battery. Shimadzu established Japan Storage Battery Co., Ltd in 1917 and began producing automotive batteries in 1919. In 1938 they began producing alkaline batteries and in 1940 they began making high-pressure mercury lamps.