Fujifilm finds new niches, record profits amid pandemic

Scores of Japanese manufacturers less well known than Toyota and Sony are linchpins in world supply chains and innovation

TOKYO -- Scores of Japanese manufacturers less well known than Toyota and Sony are linchpins in world supply chains and innovation. One such company is Fujifilm. It outlived the decline of traditional photography and has logged record profits after diversifying into a wide range of businesses, from drugs and cosmetics to advanced materials, cameras and other types of imaging machines. Leading those efforts was Shigetaka Komori, who stepped aside last month after 20 years to become an executive adviser to Fujifilm. He focused the 87-year-old company on leveraging its film making technology, boosted by strategic acquisitions, to become a leader in biopharmaceuticals. That paid off when the pandemic struck.