Osaka-based manufacturer Kyowa Ltd. is this year celebrating the 100-year anniversary of its transparent rubber band, developed by company founder Hirozo Nishijima. After formulating the bands in 1917, Nishijima went on to start Kyowa in 1923, aiming to manufacture and sell bicycle tire tubes and rubber bands. In early 20th-century Japan, banknotes were often held together using pieces of bicycle…
