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This January 26^th, we held an opening ceremony for NICE at our Nayoro Tire Proving Ground, inviting prominent members of the local community to attend. At the ceremony, Nayoro’s own Mayor Takeshi Kato presented Nayoro Tire Proving Ground with a letter of appreciation on behalf of the city, thanking the facility for its many years of contributing to the revitalization of the local economy, not to mention improving the performance of studless tires, on which the community relies each winter. Attending the opening ceremony remotely, President Satoru Yamamoto of Sumitomo Rubber Industries gave a speech in which he promised, “NICE now ranks among the largest indoor on-ice tire testing facilities in all of Japan. So that we can get the most out of this new facility in order to provide the world’s best winter tires from right here in Nayoro to countless satisfied customers all over the world, our employees will be working hard on united efforts to put this facility to good use toward more robust tire development.”

Mayor Takeshi Kato (Left) Presents Letter of Appreciation to General Manager Yasuo Wada (Right) of Test Department III	Tape Cutting Ceremony

Sumitomo Rubber Industries owns and operates three tire proving grounds in Japan: our Okayama Tire Proving Grounds, which is used for comprehensive tire performance testing, as well as our Nayoro and Asahikawa Tire Proving Ground, which are both used in the development of winter tires. Featuring an ice test course, a compacted snow test course and more, our Nayoro Tire Proving Ground is used for a wide range of tire testing and analysis and has so far contributed to the development of countless good tires for market.

＜New Test Facility Profile＞
Start of Testing Operations: January 2021
Floor Area: 3,000㎡
Purpose: Indoor On-Ice Testing of Tires Mounted on Vehicles

＜Nayoro Tire Proving Ground Profile＞
Location: 1996-1 Aza Chiebun, Nayoro City, Hokkaido
Established: 1991
Site Area: 870,000㎡