Research & Development As an originator of nankyu baseball – the most popular youth sport in Japan – NKC has dedicated itself for over 70 years to maintaining a leadership role in the research and development of innovative sporting goods products. Maintaining an on-site R&D facility in its Tokyo headquarters, NKC engineers and technical staff have been in the forefront of developing rubber-based applications for sporting goods products. Innovations include attractive rollable mats, which zip together to cover any floor size, while maintaining a performance level comparable with wooden floors as well as medical and physiological standards. In addition to product development, the R&D division is also responsible for ensuring the safety, consistency of performance and quality of all NKC products – whether they are manufactured in NKC's own facilities or procured from outside sources. Every product marketed under the NKC name is subjected to a battery of tests to ensure that it performs to the national and international specifications and standards that are promised.