When people hear that an architect turned into an oil maker, they usually tilt their heads.
I studied design at university, then joined an atelier-style architectural firm. Store design, construction management, chain store signage. Days spent drawing blueprints, walking job sites, obsessing over every detail.
Then somehow, I became an oil maker.
2020
The world stopped. In the quiet of the pandemic, a small workshop in Yokohama began making oil. The spark was a single motor break-in oil. I encountered it in the world of Mini 4WD and was genuinely captivated. Before I knew it, I was thinking: "I can make something better than this."
Together with a friend who worked at a lubricant manufacturer at the time, we began development. An obsession with making things, and the belief that every component must have a reason to exist — these instincts, honed through years in architecture, turned out to translate perfectly into lubricant development.
2022
PLM LUBRICANTS was born. Our first hit product followed. A nameless oil maker began spreading quietly, one word of mouth at a time.
It wasn't a smooth ride. We weathered attacks from established oil makers and battles with their loyal followers. But we never compromised on what we believed in.
Today
The oil that started in a small Yokohama workshop now reaches racers in more than 10 countries.
By word of mouth alone.