”What kind of company on earth was Primesystem?”—What I want to tell people who have such a question first is that the path of this company is hard to explain in a single word. The history of the company, which later became SUNRISE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., begins in May 1991 when Prime System Development Co., Ltd. was established in Ota-ku, Tokyo. Capital at establishment was 11 million yen. Initially, it started as an IT-related company handling system solutions. While IT companies are not rare nowadays, the early 1990s was an era when computer utilization in companies was expanding significantly. Born within that trend, it was a company that took a step toward growth centered on information technology.

It was in April 2000 that the company's history moved drastically. It absorbed and merged Nissetsu Technica, and changed its corporate name from the former ”Prime System Development Co., Ltd.” to the simpler ”Prime System Co., Ltd.” You might think, ”Isn't it just that ”Development” disappeared from the name?” However, looking back even to the subsequent developments, this change also comes to look like a scene in the process where the framework of business gradually expanded. While having the axis of IT from its founding, changing the form of the company itself through mergers and business developments. The aspect of not staying in a fixed form is probably the interest of deciphering the history of Primesystem.

And in February 2001, Primesystem listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange Nasdaq Japan. It is the market later called Hercules. The stock code is 4830. Considering that ”a company established in 1991 became a listed company about 10 years later”, the magnitude of that change is easy to understand. Starting as a small company, experiencing a merger, changing its company name, and further advancing into the stock market—even just following the company history makes one feel the speed of development. In knowing the name Primesystem, listing was an indispensable major milestone.

If asked, ”So was it a company that went solely with IT all along?”, the answer is no. What characterizes this company is the breadth of business domains seen in later years. From the initial information technology relationship, it gradually expanded its scope, and in its final period, it came to handle fields that are hard to imagine from the beginning of its founding, such as painting, asbestos treatment, and temporary staffing. Normally, there is a certain direction to businesses associated with the sign of an ”IT company”, but in the case of the company, the overall picture cannot be fully grasped by that image alone. The point that even the business structure changed significantly in accordance with changes in the era and management environment can be called a prominent feature when looking back at this company.

Furthermore, in November 2004, Prime System Co., Ltd. changed its trade name to ”SUNRISE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.” Prime System Development in 1991, Prime System in 2000, and SUNRISE TECHNOLOGY in 2004—just lining up the transitions of the company name conveys that it reached milestones many times as a company. From establishment to IT business, merger, listing, expansion of business domains, and company name change. That path is not a straight line, but is corporate history itself advancing while changing directions.

Looking back at Primesystem, what remains impressive is probably the ”range of change” after all. An IT-related company that started with a capital of 11 million yen listed in about 10 years, and after that expanded its business to multiple fields beyond the framework of IT, and finally even changed its company name. Rather than simplifying it as a glamorous success story, looking at it as an example to know how a company changes its form amid changes in the environment makes it a truly interesting existence. ”Can a company change this much?” Tracing corporate history along with such surprise may be precisely one of the reasons why the company called Primesystem still attracts people's interest.