For Kobayashi Pharmaceutical the latter part of the 1960s began with its launching of Anmerts onto the market. This success of Anmerts marked a turning point that cannot be forgotten even now.

Curiously this period was also a period of dramatic change for Japan's economy as well. The Izanagi Boom began in 1966 and continued for an extended period of 56 months, with an average annual economic growth rate of 11.6 percent until 1970. During this period the rate of increase of private capital investment averaged a real annual rate of 21.1 percent, while expenses for durable consumables increased by a yearly average of 17.5 percent. This period is also referred to as the 3C period because three popular products at that time were color televisions, cars and air conditioners. In 1968 Japan passed West Germany to become the country with the second largest gross national product in the world.

But then came the dollar devaluation of 1971, followed by the oil crisis of 1973 which ultimately brought to a close the golden era of the 1960s, as the Japanese economy evolved into a period of low but steady growth. During the latter part of the 1970s the leading economies of the west all had zero growth, and the world experienced a global recession. Nevertheless Japan continued to maintain positive growth, although this remained in the single digits.

During this period the Japanese economy experienced further growth, as the structure of its economy changed to one that was led by external demand. This change, however, created a new problem of economic friction with other countries. Moreover, the national budget plunged into a major deficit, while the volume of Japanese government bond issues grew substantially, but the economy continued to progress with no change in its stable growth for a considerable period of time.

Nevertheless performance at Kobayashi Pharmaceutical did not necessarily progress in the same manner as the overall Japanese economy. During the 10 years from 1965 through 1975 most Japanese companies had aggressively pursued growth in sales over profit margins, while Kobayashi Pharmaceutical had instead emphasized profits over sales. Gross sales were ¥11.6 billion in 1985 (the 47th period of the company) and ¥28.6 billion in 1985 (the 57th period of the company), growing by 246 percent over 10 years, which was less than the rate of growth of Japan's GNP. Nevertheless, profits for the company grew by 1,120 percent, from ¥39.71 million to ¥443.57 million over this ten-year period.

During the period from 1975 through 1985 when most Japanese companies were struggling to maintain sales, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical achieved a 266 percent growth in sales, more than it achieved during the high growth period. This trend on the part of Kobayashi shows an obvious contrast between the two 10 year periods of the high growth period and the stable growth period of the Japanese economy. Nevertheless the main emphasis in the latter part of the 1960s was on the wholesale division, while the weight of the manufacturing division within sales increased from the 1970s.

A review of the number employees shows that in 1965 the company had 764 employees while it had 769 employees in 1975, representing very little change. Ten years later in 1985, however, the company had 1,147 employees, which was a 50 percent increase. Before making an evaluation of these two periods, which showed such striking characteristics, however, we will first review how management was implemented in these respective periods of time.