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Lights out on Nittosha matchbooks prompts nostalgia in Japan

Jun Onishi, left, the fifth-generation firstborn, the great great grandson of the founder and the current chief executive’s son, and Kenji Kobayashi, who heads a Nittosha factory, talk with each other at the Nittosha plant in Himeji, Japan, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Nittosha, a small Japanese manufacturer, is stopping the production of matchbooks. The company, which employs 130 people, is a testament to the hard work and dedication at small and medium-size companies that are the backbones of large economies, including the U.S. and Japan. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Jun Onishi, the fifth-generation firstborn, the great great grandson of the founder and the current chief executive’s son, stands beside a production machine at a Nittosha factory in Himeji, Japan, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Nittosha, a small Japanese manufacturer, is stopping the production of matchbooks. The company, which employs 130 people, is a testament to the hard work and dedication at small and medium-size companies that are the backbones of large economies, including the U.S. and Japan. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

A worker puts together matchbooks as they are produced on an assembly line at a Nittosha factory in Himeji, Japan, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Nittosha, a small Japanese manufacturer, is stopping the production of matchbooks. The company, which employs 130 people, is a testament to the hard work and dedication at small and medium-size companies that are the backbones of large economies, including the U.S. and Japan. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Parts of matchbooks roll off an assembly line at a Nittosha factory in Himeji, Japan, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Nittosha, a small Japanese manufacturer, is stopping the production of matchbooks. The company, which employs 130 people, is a testament to the hard work and dedication at small and medium-size companies that are the backbones of large economies, including the U.S. and Japan. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

A worker makes sure matches are placed properly in the boxes of matches as they roll down an assembly line at a Nittosha factory in Himeji, Japan, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Nittosha, a small Japanese manufacturer, is stopping the production of matchbooks. The company, which employs 130 people, is a testament to the hard work and dedication at small and medium-size companies that are the backbones of large economies, including the U.S. and Japan. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Matches come one after the other, produced on an assembly line at a Nittosha factory in Himeji, Japan, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Nittosha, a small Japanese manufacturer, is stopping the production of matchbooks. The company, which employs 130 people, is a testament to the hard work and dedication at small and medium-size companies that are the backbones of large economies, including the U.S. and Japan. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

A matchbook, right, and a box of matches are on a desk at a Nittosha factory in Himeji, Japan, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Nittosha, a small Japanese manufacturer, is stopping the production of matchbooks. The company, which employs 130 people, is a testament to the hard work and dedication at small and medium-size companies that are the backbones of large economies, including the U.S. and Japan. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

A worker makes sure matches are placed properly in the boxes of matches on an assembly line at a Nittosha factory in Himeji, Japan, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Nittosha, a small Japanese manufacturer, is stopping the production of matchbooks. The company, which employs 130 people, is a testament to the hard work and dedication at small and medium-size companies that are the backbones of large economies, including the U.S. and Japan. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Lights out on Nittosha matchbooks prompts nostalgia in Japan