Mosaburo Makita
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
On March 21, 1915, as a 23-year-old electrical engineer, he founded Makita Electric Works as a sole proprietorship in Yokomitsukura-cho, Naka Ward, Nagoya. With 15 or 16 employees it sold and repaired lighting fixtures, motors and transformers, supplying motors, transformers and switches to electric light and electric railway companies. Starting as a sole proprietorship, the business was reorganized in December 1938 into Makita Electric Works Co., Ltd., with capital of ¥180,000 and 94 employees.
Selection
He had no predecessor. The business remained a sole proprietorship for 23 years from its 1915 founding, and when it was reorganized as Makita Electric Works Co., Ltd. in December 1938, the founder himself became the first President of the company, with capital of ¥180,000 and 94 employees. The reorganization came after the business had weathered the economic panics of the early Showa era.
Initiatives
During World War II the company narrowed production to motors for machine tools and woodworking machinery. In April 1945, owing to its ties with Washino Machinery, which took 60% of the motors it produced, it evacuated its plant to Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, the site of today's head office. After the war, when large companies resumed motor production, a firm with ¥10 million in capital and fewer than 100 employees could not compete, and it survived by building to order special motors the majors did not make. Driven to the brink of bankruptcy between 1953 and 1955, he asked Jujiro Goto, an employee since the founding, to take over and handed him the presidency in April 1955.
Career
Career
Makita
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Mar 1915 | 牧田電機製作所を個人創業 (translation pending) |
| Dec 1938 | President |
| Apr 1955 | Stepped down as President |
References 2
References (Japanese primary sources)
- 経済春秋社『企業の歴史 : 明治百年』「マキタ」（経済春秋社, 1968年）
- 証券アナリストジャーナル 1968年6巻2号「マキタ電機製作所の現況と見通し」（後藤十次郎）