Otojiro Kawamura
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He graduated from Tokyo Higher Commercial School in 1915, joined Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha that July, and moved to Mitsubishi Corporation in May 1932. He became manager of its London branch in March 1935 and head of its industry department in April 1942, then left Mitsubishi Corporation in May 1943 to become Senior Managing Director of Kirin Brewery. Born in 1890, he came in from outside as an officer at age 53, without having been involved in either brewing or sales. He was an outsider whose career ran entirely through Mitsubishi's trading arm.
Selection
He became President in July 1951. His predecessor Chozo Isono moved to Chairman and was still listed as chairman in the 1961 roster of officers. Under the Excessive Economic Power Deconcentration Law, Dai Nippon Brewery had been split in September 1949 into Nippon Breweries and Asahi Breweries, while Kirin Brewery, which had not joined the earlier merger, escaped breakup, revived the Kirin trademark it had used since 1887, and had just entered competition with the two. Eight years after he was brought in as senior managing director, his background in sales and overseas business at Mitsubishi Corporation appears to have been put to use at a time when the nationwide sales network was being rebuilt.
Initiatives
His tenure swung toward expanding capacity. In 1953, ahead of the rest of the postwar industry, the company began building a new Tokyo plant, and it kept building new plants thereafter, investing ¥92.0 billion in plant and equipment between 1950 and 1968. Its beer market share rose from 25% in 1949 to about 50% from 1966 on. In 1962, as the industry's race to add plants heated up, Kirin Brewery directed a new plant to Kyushu. In April 1963 it set up Jido Hanbai Service (now Kirin Beverage). He became Chairman in January 1966.
Career
Career
Kirin Holdings
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1950 | Representative Director, President |
| 1965 | Stepped down as President |