Tokuji Hayakawa

Profile
Tenure
May 1935 – Sep 1970
Years in office
35.3 years
Name in Japanese
早川徳次
Title at appointment
Hayakawa Metal Industries Laboratory and President (at founding)
Performance in office
Sharp
Performance in office
FY1959FY1970Change
Revenue¥12.7billion¥120.7billion+850%
Net margin14.6%4.3%−10.3pt
HayakawaSaeki
Revenue¥30.1 billionRevenue¥190.2 billionNet margin2.7%Net margin1.4%1960/31965/31970/31975/3
Revenue¥30.1 billionRevenue¥190.2 billionNet margin2.7%Net margin1.4%1960/31965/31970/31975/3
API: /api/6753/financials_history.csv · /api/6753/financials/pl.json
Tenure

Tenure

Background

He was born in 1893 in Nihonbashi Ward, Tokyo. In September 1912 he set up a metalworking shop in Matsui-cho, Honjo, Tokyo. In August 1915 he invented a metal propelling pencil, later named the Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil. After losing his factory in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake he moved west, and in September 1924 established Hayakawa Metal Works Research Institute in what is now Abeno Ward, Osaka, entering radio receiver manufacturing. The shift from stationery subcontracting to electrical equipment happened in the course of recovering from the earthquake.

Education: Tokyo Municipal Tsutsui Elementary School, 2 (withdrew, 1902)

Selection

In May 1935 he incorporated the business with capital of ¥300,000 and became President of Hayakawa Metal Works Research Institute Co., Ltd. It had been 23 years since he started the business on his own in 1912 and 11 years since his fresh start in Osaka. He had no predecessor; the procedure of turning a sole proprietorship into a corporation itself amounted to his becoming President. The presidency did not change when the company was renamed Hayakawa Metal Industry in June 1936 and Hayakawa Electric Industry in May 1942, lasting 35 years until he withdrew to Chairman in September 1970.

Initiatives

The company listed its shares on the Osaka stock exchange in May 1949 and the Tokyo stock exchange in March 1956. Between 1959 and 1968 it built plants in Yao, Nara, Hiroshima and Yaita, and in May 1962 established Sharp Electronics Corporation in the US. In March 1964 it launched the CS-10A electronic desktop calculator at ¥535,000. Net sales grew from ¥12.71 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1959 to ¥120.7 billion in the FY ended March 1970, and just before that, in January 1970, the company changed its name to Sharp.

Career

Career

Hayakawa Electric Industry

Date Position
Sep 1912 東京・本所松井町で個人創業（金属加工業） (translation pending)
Sep 1924 Osaka Hayakawa Metal Industries Laboratory (at founding)
May 1935 Hayakawa Metal Industries Laboratory and President (at founding)
Sep 1970 Chairman
Sep 1970 Stepped down as President
References 4

References (Japanese primary sources)