Koshiro Ohara
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Born in 1833 as Kozaburo Fujita, third son of the Fujita family of Okayama, he was adopted as heir into the Ohara family of Kurashiki in 1858 at the age of 24. His adoptive father Sohei Ohara left a family business spanning kimono fabrics, ginned cotton wholesaling, rice wholesaling and finance, and had also served as village headman. Koshiro grew those assets further, and by 1887 he was the wealthiest man in Kurashiki village, owning 300 cho of land. He had never been involved in spinning or factory management, and the grounds for entrusting him with the business appear to have been his wealth as a landowner.
Selection
From 1886, three men from Kurashiki village, Sawasaburo Ohashi, Keitaro Komatsubara and Ritaro Kimura, advocated founding a spinning mill, but all were in their twenties and could not raise the ¥100,000 needed. The promoters asked the Ohara family, the village's richest, to invest, and Koshiro replied that they should first gather other investors and he would cover any shortfall himself. In February 1888 the promoters first announced that Koshiro had been tentatively chosen as President and then solicited shares, drawing subscriptions of ¥88,500. At the founding general meeting on March 4 that year he was chosen from among the five elected directors as the first President.
Initiatives
At the founding meeting he proposed splitting the draft articles, which called for capital of ¥200,000 and 10,000 spindles, into two stages, starting first with ¥100,000 and 5,000 spindles, and won approval. In March 1893 the first expansion of 5,504 spindles began operating, and in December 1894 the mill reached 10,664 spindles, meeting the goal of a 10,000-spindle company. In July 1894 he decided on a third expansion of 4,816 spindles with a 50% capital increase, and from 1895 began exporting cotton yarn to China under the Sanba trademark. Over 18 years he carried out five expansions and four capital increases, stuck to spinning alone without moving into weaving, and turned down merger offers, building the company to around 30,000 spindles.
Career
Career
Kurabo Industries
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Mar 1888 | President |
| Aug 1906 | Stepped down as President |