Production of 3M magnetic tape in Japan began at Sumitomo 3M’s own plant in Sagamihara. The establishment process involved several stages:
1960 — Nippon Minnesota 3M Co., Ltd. (日本ミネソタスリーエム) was established, initially with 100% capital from 3M.
1961 — Sumitomo Minnesota Co., Ltd. was established with the following shareholdings: 3M — 50%, NEC — 25%, Sumitomo Electric — 25%
November 1, 1962 — Sumitomo Minnesota absorbed Nippon Minnesota 3M.
December 27, 1962 — The company name was officially changed to Sumitomo 3M Co., Ltd. / 住友スリーエム株式会社
Construction of the plant began in 1961; the groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 1, 1961, on a site covering 98,400 m² (approximately 9.84 hectares). The first factory building was completed on October 31, 1961, and production commenced on November 15, 1961.
3M transferred its technology to the Japanese company, enabling the manufacture of tape meeting American quality standards. Official production of magnetic audio recording tape at the Sagamihara Plant began on March 7, 1963, with Scotch #111 being the first product. In the early years, raw materials were still imported, even though the tape itself was manufactured in Japan.
By the end of 1966, nearly 100% of the magnetic tape sold by the company was being produced within Japan.
Production expanded to include tapes #111, #150, #190, and #200. These included audio recording tape, professional-grade tape, master tape, and special low-noise formulations.
Also included were Scotch #498 and #499 - computer data-recording tapes featuring significantly higher recording densities.
Sumitomo 3M, in collaboration with NHK and commercial broadcasters, developed the JMT-3100 - a Japanese professional low-noise tape designed for broadcast use.
Scotch 218 was developed based on the professional 3M #206 mastering tape, specifically adapted for music recording.
Construction of Factory No. 3 was completed in January 1970; it served as Sumitomo 3M's primary magnetic products facility until the magnetic products business was spun off from 3M.
In 1978, the Japanese market did not yet have an established Type IV standard, but Sumitomo 3M moved ahead of the market.
In October 1978, *Television Digest* reported that Sumitomo 3M was set to launch Metafine in Japan that December, while other Japanese manufacturers were lagging behind due to the lack of a standard. Toshiba, JVC, and Lux had already demonstrated compatible deck prototypes, whereas Fuji and TDK were still only preparing their own metal products.
However, its production run was very short-lived. The C-46 was released in 1978, followed by the C-60 and C-90 in 1980. A price reduction occurred that same year (1980), followed by another in 1982, and by approximately 1983, Metafine was dropped from the product catalog.
In 1986, a dedicated Magnetic Products Sales Division was established within the company, and the promotion of the new Scotch EG series began.
In the 1990s, the company created a separate Magnetic Products Technology Headquarters, and in 1994, this technical unit received ISO 9002 certification.
In 1995, the recording media business was spun off into a separate company, and Imation Corporation Japan was established on July 1, 1996. Globally, Imation was spun off from 3M in July 1996 as an independent company, taking over the data storage and imaging business.