The event was attended by SHSO president Manabu Yamagishi, Nikkei Shimbun managing director Ichiro Kifune and Ken Watabe (president of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Printing & Packaging Machinery).

Centrepiece of the new plant is a 4x1 Mitsubishi DiamnondSpirit press.

Sendai was established in 1985 by the Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun Group for contract printing of ‘Nikkei Shimbun’. The group started its own newspaper in 1923, changing the name to the current title in 1941.

While Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun Group continues to increase the circulation of its flagship title within Iwate Prefecture, the group is also expanding its contract printing business in the northern region of Japan and operates three subsidiary companies in addition to Sendai High Speed Offset, which was established in 1985 with one Mitsubishi press. The line has been extended in 1987 and 2004.

In April 2009, the company ordered the new Mitsubishi press for a new Sendai plant, raising colour page capacity from 12 to 16 pages by replacing the existing old 4 x 2 press. The DiamondSpirit is rated at 70,000 cph and has a cutoff of 546 mm and a web width of 1626 mm. It has two 4/4 towers, four 2/1 towers and a 2:2 double rotary folder, with six reelstands.

A Mitsubishi control system includes ink presetting with a CTP interface, automatic colour register control and dual web tension control.

• Manabu Yamagishi (centre with white rosette) is pictured with Ichiro Kifune (at his right) and Ken Watabe