Akira Yamada
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He led the limited partnership Osaka Kinzoku Kogyosho, accepted an offer of investment from Sumitomo Metal Industries, and thereafter joined the Sumitomo group. On February 11, 1934, it was incorporated as Osaka Kinzoku Kogyo Co., Ltd. with capital of ¥1 million, a date the company designates as its founding. In September 1955 Sumitomo Metal Industries was the largest shareholder, with two individuals from the Yamada family second and third. While accepting zaibatsu capital, the founder kept his personal holdings among the top.
Selection
The founder himself served as president, with no predecessor. In 1938 Osaka Kinzoku Kogyo absorbed the limited partnership, raising its capital to ¥1.5 million and consolidating the business since its founding into the joint-stock company. Losing its military demand at the end of the war, the company lost its main products and suspended dividends, and in 1953 it moved its head office to its current location and made a fresh start with capital of ¥270 million. Even after accepting capital from Sumitomo Metal Industries, the founder remained in control of management.
Initiatives
The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 brought special procurement orders for mortar shells from the U.S. military. The company had suspended dividends after losing its military demand at the end of the war. Building on its record as the first in Japan to commercialize a Freon refrigerating machine, it organized a nationwide network of 350 distributors that also handled installation, and in the fiscal year ended November 1961 heating and cooling reached ¥6.3 billion, or 60% of sales. It led the air cooler market with a share of nearly 30% and pursued a plan for an integrated plant, investing ¥1.9 billion in expanding the Sakai Plant.
Career
Career
Daikin
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Feb 1934 | President |
| 1964 | Stepped down as President |