KAWASAKI, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, January 8, 2003 - Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. (TOK) hereby announces the opening of a new office for user support and sales in the area of semiconductor manufacturing materials on the European Continent. Located in the Netherlands, the new office is part of our Group-level plans for the worldwide development of business.

Within the TOK Group, user support and sales for such semiconductor manufacturing materials in Europe has been performed mainly by Ohka Europe Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, headquartered in the United Kingdom. We decided to open this brand-new Ohka Europe office in the Netherlands in order to build a setup for support more closely attuned to customers on the Continent.
 The new office is staffed with sales engineers ready to provide support for and to sell the latest materials used in the photolithography process in semiconductor manufacturing, such as photoresists and related chemicals.

As design rules in semiconductor manufacturing processes shrink, requirements for the materials used in these processes are becoming increasingly sophisticated and diverse. A more accurate grasp of user needs and a more finely tuned support is becoming extremely important for meeting these requirements. The establishment of a new office in the Netherlands, in addition to the one in the United Kingdom, will enable us to furnish customers on the Continent with support tailored to their needs. We believe this will further solidify our advantageous position in the field of advanced semiconductor manufacturing materials such as ArF excimer laser photoresists (which are now coming into use on the mass production level) in Europe as well as the United States and Asia.

The TOK Group is making efforts to bolster its worldwide development of business. We already have a global setup for production, with plants in Asia (nine in Japan and one in Taiwan), North America (one in the United States), and Europe (one in Italy). For user support and sales, we recently opened two representative offices in Asia (one in Shanghai and one in Singapore) and are actively making arrangements for the expansion of such services in Asia, North America, and Europe. During 2003, we plan to incorporate our European printing materials sales departments within the new Netherlands office and thereby reinforce its status as a center of support in the region.

Profile of the New Sales Office of Ohka Europe Ltd.

Forward-Looking Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “intends”, “projects”, “indicates”, “believes”, and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in TOK's filings with the Ministry of Finance of Japan and Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., particularly its latest annual report and semiannual report, as well as others, could cause results to differ materially from those stated. These factors include, but are not limited to changes in the laws, regulations, policies and economic conditions, including inflation, deflation, interest and foreign currency exchange rates, of countries in which the company does business; competitive pressures; successful integration of structural changes, including restructuring plans, acquisitions, divestitures and alliances; cost of raw materials, research and development of new products, including regulatory approval and market acceptance.

January 8, 2003

Contact

H. Akama (Mr.)
Manager, Public Relations Section
TEL. +81-44-435-3000  FAX. +81-44-435-3020
h-akama@tok.co.jp