Kozaburo Nishimura
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Born in Tokyo in 1915, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Tokyo Imperial University in March 1939 and joined Sumitomo Machinery that April. He worked in sales at the Tokyo branch, becoming deputy branch manager in March 1958, head of the business department in February 1960 and head of the sales department in October 1961. He became a Director in May 1965, Managing Director in January 1967, Senior Managing Director in June 1969 and Director and Executive Vice President in November 1971.
Selection
In November 1973 Nobuhiko Iwasaki stepped back to Chairman, and Kozaburo Nishimura, who had been Executive Vice President for two years, became president. His three predecessors had all moved to Sumitomo Machinery from Sumitomo Metal Industries, Sumitomo Bank or Sumitomo Goshi Kaisha, a different path from Nishimura, who joined straight from university. He took office just after the first oil crisis; sales in the fiscal year ended March 1974 were ¥174.0 billion.
Initiatives
After sales rose to ¥232.9 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1975, the year after he took office, the shipbuilding slump cut them to ¥191.9 billion with ordinary income of only ¥0.6 billion in FY ended March 1979. Ordinary income stayed at ¥0.6 billion in FY ended March 1980 as well, so profits nearly vanished for two years. By FY ended March 1983 sales had recovered to ¥294.0 billion and ordinary income to ¥5.3 billion, and he ended his nine and a half years in office.
Career
Career
Nittoku Metal Industries
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| May 1970 | President |
| 1971 | 取締役副社長 兼 日特重車輌社長 (translation pending) |
Sumitomo Heavy Industries
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Nov 1973 | President |
| Jun 1983 | Stepped down as President |