Molds in the Okayama factory

Founded in 1926, Nakashima Propeller produces made-to-order propellers, ranging from small ones for use on racing motorboats to those designed for supertankers. The function of a ship’s propeller is similar to that of the tires on an automobile, and as with tires, improving propeller performance improves ship fuel efficiency and reduces CO2 emissions.

Bells mark the hours on the grounds of the Okayama factory.

Nakashima Propeller has its headquarters in the city of Okayama, where it manufactures small and mid-sized propellers. Further, it now manufactures large propellers at a new factory in Kurashiki. The main factory is located inland about 30 minutes by car from the Port of Okayama and until the completion of the Kurashiki factory five years ago, large propellers were transported overland at night. The Kurashiki factory is located in the international Port of Mizushima, from which it ships propellers directly to shipyards around the world. Shifting to a production-line process has made it possible to manufacture approximately 360 large propellers each year. Tamashima is the world’s newest and largest large-propeller factory.

Nakashima Propeller staff

The large propellers manufactured here are first molded in sand, onto which a copper alloy is poured. The propeller pattern is finished when the mold is removed after one week of cooling. The blade surface is then machined and the complex, three-dimensional curved surfaces of the propeller precision-formed according to design specifications. Finally, adjustments are performed by hand by skilled workers, down to millimeter tolerances. A propeller is a product of technological capabilities, and is as much a precision instrument as it is a large metal fitting. The tour left the clear impression that Japan’s manufacturing traditions carry on unbroken at Nakashima Propeller.