Otokichi Kimura
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1897, he graduated from the mechanical department of Osaka Higher Technical School in 1919 and joined Sumitomo Steel Works that November. At Sumitomo Metal Industries he became a Director in July 1949, Managing Director in November 1951 and Senior Managing Director in November 1954, working as a machinery engineer in the Sumitomo group's metals side. He moved to Sumitomo Machinery as Chairman in May 1955 and became president in November 1956.
Selection
In the fiscal year ended March 1955, before he took office, the company posted a net loss of ¥697 million on sales of ¥2.57 billion. Otokichi Kimura, Senior Managing Director of Sumitomo Metal Industries, came in as Chairman in May 1955, and in the same month Tsuneo Ichikawa, general manager of Sumitomo Bank's head office, became Managing Director, and Kiyotsugu Kawashima, Managing Director of Sumitomo Chemical, became Senior Managing Director. These reconstruction appointments gathered executives from across the Sumitomo group, and Kimura moved to the presidency a year and a half later.
Initiatives
The company returned to profit with net income of ¥19 million in the fiscal year ended March 1956 and grew to sales of ¥12.2 billion and net income of ¥640 million in FY ended March 1961. In FY ended March 1965, just before he stepped down, sales were ¥20.0 billion and net income ¥1.06 billion, nearly eight times the scale before he took office. By 1962 he had introduced a divisional system in which directors headed the casting and forging and the precision machinery divisions, and had placed executives at the Niihama Works and the Tokyo branch as well.
Career
Career
Sumitomo Metal Industries
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1954 | 専務取締役・住友機械再建小委員会 委員長 (translation pending) |
Sumitomo Machinery
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Feb 1955 | President |
| Feb 1965 | Resigned as President |
| Feb 1965 | Stepped down as President |