IWF120y/45 – 1964: Uesaka gains visibility at the Tokyo Games

The business had started 35 years earlier in a downtown neighbourhood of Tokyo: Uesaka was founded as an ironworks company, taking since then the best possible advantage of high-quality Japanese steel. In 1959, the production started to focus on weightlifting equipment, with bars and plates being manufactured by quite precise engineering methods. The quality of the equipment is recognised in Japan, and the brand is chosen, without surprise, as a supplier of the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games. It was the opportunity to expand the visibility and exposure of the Uesaka philosophy – it remains today a family business, led by Tadamasa Uesaka (inducted into the Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 2002) – and make the brand known worldwide. After that initial success, the Japanese manufacturer was present in five more editions of the Games – 1988 (photo), 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. Moreover, they have also been used at several editions of the IWF World Championships (as an IWF Certified barbell company) and Commonwealth Games. Uesaka is proud of defining its products as “durable, precise and safe” and of highlighting the importance of the craftsmanship character of its creations. Almost 100 years after its foundation, Uesaka still produces most of its iron products in the area of Sumida-ku, at the heart of the Japanese capital.