Nichia Corporation (日亜化学工業株式会社 Nichia Kagaku Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese chemical engineering and manufacturing company, headquartered in Tokushima, Japan with global subsidiaries, that specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of phosphors, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes, battery materials, and calcium chloride. Nichia is the world’s largest supplier of LEDs. It designs, manufactures, and markets LEDs for display, LCD backlighting, automotive and general lighting applications with the broadest product portfolio across the entire visible spectrum. With 8,500 employees and multiple subsidiaries worldwide, Nichia achieved sales of approximately EUR 3 billion in 2011. The Nichia Corporation was founded in 1956 by Nobuo Ogawa (小川 信雄, 1912-2002) at Aratano-cho, Anan, Tokushima, and majority ownership is still held by the Ogawa family today. The current President is his son-in-law, Eiji Ogawa (小川英治). In 1966, Nichia began production of phosphors for fluorescent lamps. In 1971, Nichia began production of phosphors for color TVs. In 1977, Nichia began the production of tri-color phosphors for fluorescent lamps. One of Nobuo Ogawa's well-known decisions was to support Shuji Nakamura to do research on gallium nitride light-emitting diodes, when it was generally considered a very risky business. The research turned out to be a great success. Several of Nichia's innovations have won awards, such as the Nikkei Best Products Award.