Namihei Odaira

Japanese businessman and philanthropist

Namihei Odaira
Odaira, c1910
Born	January 15, 1874 Ienaka, Tochigi, Japan
Died	October 5, 1951(1951-10-05) (aged 77) Tokyo, Japan
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur and philanthropist

Namihei Odaira (小平浪平, Odaira Namihei, January 15, 1874 – October 5, 1951) was a Japanese entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded Hitachi.

Life

Odaira was born on January 15, 1874, in Ienaka, Shimotsuga, Tochigi Prefecture (present-day Tsugamachi Kassenba, Tochigi), the second son of Odaira Sōhachi and Chiyo.^[1]

In 1900, he graduated from the electrical engineering department of Tokyo Imperial University. Following his graduation, he joined a mining company as an engineer in its power plant. From there, he went on to several electric power companies.

In 1906, he joined the Kuhara Mining Company at its Hitachi copper mine as an engineering section chief. Although his main duties at the mine were to ensure a stable supply of electricity and to maintain the mine's electrical equipment, he and his colleagues began working on the manufacture of a five-horsepower electric motor. This marked the beginning of the development that would become Hitachi, which was founded by Odaira in 1910. However, because it was started as an in-house venture of the Kuhara Mining Company, the owner of Hitachi was Fusanosuke Kuhara, the president of the mining company, not Odaira.

Hitachi Ltd. was incorporated as an independent company in 1920. Odaira acted as the managing director of Hitachi from 1910 to 1929 and the president from 1929 to 1947.

In 1947, Odaira was ordered out of this position by the U.S. occupation authorities. In 1951, this order was lifted, and he returned to the company as chairman emeritus. Almost immediately after his return, he died on October 5, 1951, aged 77.

References

^ Hitachi-shi shi. Hitachi-shi shikai. Hitachi City. 1959. pp. 884–886.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

Hitachi

Divisions and
subsidiaries

Current	GlobalLogic Hitachi Cable Hitachi Cable Manchester Hitachi Canadian Industries Hitachi Capital Hitachi Construction Machinery Bradken Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) Hitachi Consulting Hitachi Data Systems (BlueArc) Hitachi Electronics Hitachi Energy Hitachi Medical Systems Hitachi Rail Hitachi Rail STS Hitachi Rail Italy Horizon Nuclear Power JECS
Former	Clarion Euclid Trucks¹ Fabrik¹ Hitachi Global Storage Technologies² Maxell

Joint ventures and
shareholdings

Current	GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (40%) Hitachi Astemo (66.6%) Keihin Nissin Showa Tokico Hitachi-LG Data Storage Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning (40%) Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery (60%)
Former	Agility Trains Alaxala Networks Japan Display Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications Nippon Columbia Renesas Electronics

Products, services
and standards

Current	ALiS EMIEW Adaptable Modular Storage 2000 Hitachi DX07 Hitachi Starboard Locomotives Hitachi Magic Wand Multiple units Hitachi 917 Hitachi SR8000 Hitachi TrueCopy LS-R M8 Stacked Volumetric Optical Disk SuperH Universal Storage Platform
Defunct	D-VHS H8 Family HD64180 HITAC HITAC S-810 Hitachi 6309 Deskstar Hitachi Flora Prius Hitachi G1000 Hitachi Hatsukaze Hitachi SR2201 Hitachi T.2 Hitachi TR.1 M6 Microdrive Travelstar