Kashiyama dry vacuum pumps: independent brand profile
Kashiyama, from Saku City in Nagano, built Japan’s first dry vacuum pump in 1986 and has since delivered hundreds of thousands to semiconductor fabs. It is also one of the more unusual companies in this directory. Here is its verifiable story, what AI assistants make up about it, and why search data cannot capture it.
Independent profile by Vacuum Engineering Tools. We are not affiliated with Kashiyama, receive no payment and do not sell pumps. Quotes are the opinions of individual users, not statements of fact by us. Brand names belong to their respective owners.
In short
Kashiyama Industries, Ltd. (Saku City, Nagano, Japan) was incorporated in 1951. It began making liquid ring pumps in 1971, oil rotary pumps in 1982 and, in 1986, Japan’s first dry vacuum pump; by 2018 it had delivered 200,000 dry pumps. Its NeoDry, SDE, SDL and MU ranges serve semiconductor and display fabs, and it has won supplier awards from Samsung, TSMC and Toshiba. The family-led company, with Akifumi Kashiyama as president since 2018, also builds snow-making systems and runs a winery.
Verified facts
- Incorporated
- 1951 (Kashiyama Shoten → Kashiyama Industries) [Source]
- Headquarters
- Saku City, Nagano, Japan [Source]
- Milestone
- Japan’s first dry vacuum pump (1986); 200,000 dry pumps by 2018 [Source]
- Leadership
- Hiroshi Kashiyama (chairman), Akifumi Kashiyama (president) [Source]
- Side lines
- Snow-making systems (since 1978) and a winery [Source]
What users say
A search of Google’s index of reddit.com for Kashiyama vacuum pumps found no relevant threads. The only “Kashiyama” on Reddit is a made-to-measure tailoring brand of the same name. That is typical for semiconductor fab equipment: the buyers are equipment and facilities engineers who discuss suppliers internally, not on public forums.
Reddit blocks automated access, so thread titles, links and previews come from Google’s index of reddit.com (October 2026). Previews are excerpts, not the full comment.
From specialist forums
Used and refurbished pumps from this maker are traded by specialist rebuilders, which is where most of its public footprint lies.
No quotable forum posts found.
AI fact-check: what ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude say
On 9 October 2026 we asked all four assistants the same question (who owns Kashiyama, headquarters, founding, best-known series and what buyers say) and checked every answer against the manufacturer’s own pages.
| Question | ChatGPT (gpt-5.5) | Gemini (3.5 Flash) | Perplexity (Sonar) | Claude (Sonnet 5.5) | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns it? | ✓ Privately held | ? Kashiyama family and employees | ✓ Privately held | ✓ Privately held (unsure) | Family-led company (Kashiyama family in leadership) [Source] |
| Headquarters | ✓ Saku, Nagano | ✓ Saku City, Nagano | ✓ Saku City, Nagano | ✗ “Tokyo area” (unsure) | Saku City, Nagano [Source] |
| Founded | ? 1951, “Shizuo Kashiyama” | ? 1951, “Kazumi Kashiyama” | ✓ 1951, founder not stated | ~ Declined to answer | Incorporated 1951; no founder named on the history page [Source] |
| Series named | ✓ NeoDry, SDE, SD | ✓ NeoDry, MU-P, SDL | ✓ SDE, MU, SDL | ✓ SD, NeoDry | NeoDry, SDE, SDL, MU [Source] |
✓ correct · ~ partly right or outdated · ✗ wrong · ? cannot be checked against an official source. Answers condensed. Only Perplexity used web search; the other models answered from training data.
The product names were right across the board. The company story was not: Kashiyama’s history page gives 1951 but no founder, yet ChatGPT and Gemini each supplied one (“Shizuo” and “Kazumi Kashiyama”). Claude placed the company near Tokyo; it is in Nagano. None of the assistants mentioned the most distinctive facts: Japan’s first dry pump in 1986, the snow-making business and the winery.
Search interest compared
Google Trends data compared with other Japanese and Korean semiconductor-vacuum brands, web search, October 2021 to October 2026. “kashiyama pump” barely registers in Google Trends. Kashiyama sells directly to fab equipment makers and operators, and the name itself is shared with an unrelated tailoring brand.
Average search interest 2021–2026 (index)
Where people search for Kashiyama
How to read this: of every 100 Google searches for these five brand names in Taiwan, 5 were for Kashiyama; the most searched brand there, ULVAC, had 89. It shows relative interest, not sales or market share.
| Country | Kashiyama share | Rank | Most searched |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taiwan | 5 % | 2nd of 5 | ULVAC (89 %) |
| Malaysia | 4 % | 4th of 5 | ULVAC (62 %) |
| South Korea | 2 % | 4th of 5 | ULVAC (69 %) |
| Singapore | 2 % | 5th of 5 | ULVAC (64 %) |
| Germany | 2 % | 4th of 5 | ULVAC (42 %) |
Pulled on 9 October 2026 via DataForSEO. Terms compared: “ulvac”, “ebara vacuum pump”, “kashiyama pump”, “osaka vacuum”, “lot vacuum”. Relative values, not absolute search volumes; non-English searches are not included.
Technology fingerprint
Computed from our directory of 25 manufacturers: which technologies Kashiyama offers and how common each is in the market.
Product series at a glance
Typical fit
- Harsh semiconductor processes (etch, CVD)
- Flat panel display production
- Fab dry pump fleets in Asia
- Chemical and general dry vacuum (NeoDry)
Useful calculators
Official owner resources
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Kashiyama Industries?
Kashiyama Industries is a privately held, family-led Japanese company based in Saku City, Nagano. Hiroshi Kashiyama became chairman and Akifumi Kashiyama president in 2018.
Did Kashiyama make the first dry vacuum pump in Japan?
According to its company history, Kashiyama started manufacturing dry vacuum pumps in 1986, which it describes as Japan’s first dry pump. By 2018 it had delivered 200,000 units.
What is the NeoDry series?
NeoDry is Kashiyama’s multi-lobe dry pump range for general industrial and lighter semiconductor duty, sold through its subsidiaries in the US, Europe and Asia.
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