--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Supporting a Generation of Smiles image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08d809914ace1830/6a4b525a5fed02426fa48a06/28445DE534EE4E32AABB24150BEF2D91.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # Supporting a Generation of Smiles  Michizo Yamanaka , President, The Yoshida Dental Mfg. Co., Ltd. Michizo Yamanaka , President, The Yoshida Dental Mfg. Co., Ltd. Japan’s super-aged society makes headlines for both good and bad reasons: a healthy lifestyle that promotes longevity, alongside concerns over future care and costs. Often overlooked, however, is how people maintain their teeth over longer life spans. The Japan Dental Association (JDA) promotes the “8020 Campaign,” encouraging people to retain 20 natural teeth by age 80\. Achieving this is no easy feat, but it’s something the Yoshida Dental Group has pursued for over a century, in partnership with the JDA and government stakeholders. Founded in 1906, Yoshida is now Japan’s oldest dental equipment manufacturer. Its commitment to craftsmanship has helped it tackle modern dental challenges, expanding into chairs, lasers and imaging systems. “An important factor is that we always try to see our products from the user’s perspective, which in this case is dentists,” said President Michizo Yamanaka. Yoshida’s domestic success is matched by a strong overseas network, with distribution covering Asia, Europe and North America. “We are concentrating on exporting manufacturing expertise and systems. This localized production model will form the core of our global business strategy,” said Yamanaka.  Supporting a Generation of Smiles ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/supporting-a-generation-of-smiles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/supporting-a-generation-of-smiles/"},"headline":"Supporting a Generation of Smiles","datePublished":"2026-06-18T14:27:40.066Z","dateModified":"2026-06-09T07:28:03.600Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/supporting-a-generation-of-smiles/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/supporting-a-generation-of-smiles/","name":"Supporting a Generation of Smiles"}}]}] ```