Riso Kagaku Corporation

Riso Kagaku Corporation
Native name	理想科学工業株式会社
Company type	Public KK
Traded as	TYO: 6413
ISIN	JP3974400008
Industry	Electronics
Founded	September 2, 1946; 78 years ago
Founder	Noboru Hayama
Headquarters	Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8385, Japan
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Akira Hayama; (President and CEO)
Products	Printers; Digital duplicators; Digital screen makers;
Revenue	JPY 85.4 billion (FY 2015) (US$ 762.5 million) (FY 2015)
Net income	JPY 5.2 billion (FY 2015) (US$ 46.4 million) (FY 2015)
Number of employees	3,563 (as of March 31, 2016)
Website	Official website
	Footnotes / references;

Riso Kagaku Corporation (理想科学工業株式会社, Risō Kagaku Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese corporation which is the inventor, manufacturer, and distributor of the RISO Printer-Duplicator, a.k.a. Risograph. This device automatically creates a stencil-type master (from a paper original or digital file), thereby enabling it reproduce single-colour documents at high speed and low cost, in a machine that has a small footprint and a relatively low purchase price.

The firm was established in Tokyo, Japan, where it continues to maintain its headquarters today. With sales in over 150 countries, Riso is a billion-dollar company. The company maintains a foundation that donates equipment around the world primarily to educational institutions.

In Japanese, 'Riso' means 'ideal' and the word 'Kagaku' means 'science.'

Noboru Hayama, the company's founder, started his business by mixing inks at his kitchen sink just after World War II, and in 1946 established a mimeograph printing company, whose first product was its signature duplicator.^[3] Over the next few years, Mr. Hayama expanded his company to the area of manufactured emulsion inks, stencil masters, and other duplicating products.