Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Kenji Nagata; hereinafter “TNSC”), the Japanese industrial gas business company of the Nippon Sanso Holdings Group, has signed a naming rights agreement with Tohoku University (Headquarters: Sendai, Miyagi; President: Teiji Tominaga) for the university’s Engineering Library. The agreement is aimed at enhancing collaboration between industry and academia. The library has since reopened under the nickname “NIPPON SANSO LIBRARY, Engineering Branch” and an opening ceremony took place on Thursday, February 12, 2026.

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Opening ceremony

1. Opening Ceremony
Representatives from TNSC and Tohoku University attended the ceremony and took part in a ribboncutting in front of columns designed to resemble tanks used to store oxygen, one of TNSC’s key products. The event marked the opening of the NIPPON SANSO LIBRARY, Engineering Branch and offered an opportunity to reaffirm the shared commitment to partnership between education and research and industry in support of next-generation technologies and talent.


2. NIPPON SANSO LIBRARY, Engineering Branch
Located on Tohoku University’s Aobayama East Campus, the library houses a wide range of specialized engineering books, academic journals, and digital resources. It also offers spaces where students can exchange ideas freely. To help visitors become familiar with the company’s new name “Nippon Sanso Corporation,” which will take effect in April 2026, the facility features displays with the new global logo and corporate colors. Some desks provide information on the properties and industrial uses of oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, giving students a chance to learn about industrial gases in a more familiar, everyday context.
　

   
Part of the in-facility signage

3. Background to the Naming Rights Partnership
In 1935, being the only manufacturer in Japan, TNSC developed Japan’s first domestically produced air separation unit.* At the time, the company received support from Dr. Kotaro Honda, then president of Tohoku Imperial University (now Tohoku University). Marking the 90th anniversary of this core technology, which has supported the company’s growth, TNSC has entered into a naming partnership with Tohoku University to build a new relationship that supports the development of future researchers and engineers.

* An air separation unit is equipment that cools atmospheric air to extremely low temperatures to liquefy and separate components such as nitrogen, oxygen, and argon.　

 

Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation
Tnsc.Info@tn-sanso.co.jp