Hitachi was founded in 1910 by Namihei Odaira born on January 15, 1874 who graduated in
engineering in 1900 After graduation, he joined a mining company as an engineer
in its power plant.
https://social-innovation.hitachi/en/article/odaira-namihei-150/
Namihei Odaira was born in 1874 in Ienaka Village (present-day Tochigi City), Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. When he was a student, he chose to study electrical engineering. In 1910, at a time when Japan was dependent on foreign technology, he founded Hitachi, Ltd. with the aspiration of producing electrical machinery in Japan.
The first product manufactured under Odaira's direction was a 5-horsepower motor. This is the oldest existing motor designed and manufactured by a Japanese person. It has been carefully preserved along with the engineering drawings, and in June 2023, it was designated an Important Cultural Property as “5-horsepower Induction Motor and the 5 design sheets.”
Taking advantage of the production of this five-horsepower induction motor, Hitachi workers collaborated with their colleagues on various projects under the corporate philosophy of “Contributing to society through the development of superior, original technology and products.”
From there he moved on to various electric power companies. In 1906 he joined Kuhara Mining
Company in Hitachi1 copper mine as head of engineering section. Although his
main tasks in the mine were to ensure a stable supply of electricity and maintain the
electrical equipment of the mine, he and his colleagues began work on the production of
a five horsepower electric motor.2
Subsequently, in 1920 this structure broke away from the mother factory3 and was established
Hitachi, Ltd was established as an independent company Odaira served as CEO of
Hitachi from 1910 to 1929 and president from 1929 to 1947
After the Second World War, for "political" opportunities, Odaira was sent away until early 19514
but he remained practically for a short time since in October at the age of 77 he died.
As is our habit we will focus our attention on the technical aspect of the Hitachi
we deliberately leave out the story of the metamorphosis undergone by the company over the years
from the point of view of the corporate structure with mergers and divestitures.
Today Hitachi is a multinational that controls around 800 companies covering multiple fields
of electronics,5 but I started as a small group that took care of the maintenance of the electrical department
as part of a Fusanosuke Kuhara mining company in Hitachi
Radio production
Hitachi's range of radio production was very profitable in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
The year of 2024 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Namihei Odaira, the founder of Hitachi, Ltd. To commemorate this, “Namihei Odaira 150th Anniversary Exhibition - Namihei Odaira: An Honest Person” is being held at Hitachi Origin Park in Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, from January 15.
This special exhibition focuses on the term “honest person,” with “honesty” being part of the values that Odaira cherished throughout his life, so as to zoom in on the man himself. Tsutomu Ogane, director of Hitachi Origin Park, says: “By letting people know the thoughts of our founder, we want them to get a feel for the origin of Hitachi's social innovation business, which we are developing globally.”
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