Norio Nakajima
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined Murata Manufacturing in April 1985, became an Executive Officer in July 2010, Director and Managing Executive Officer in June 2013 and Representative Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer in June 2017. He is a career employee who spent 35 years at the company from joining to becoming President. His appointment in June 2020 made him the first president from outside the founding family. Two generations of the family, Yasutaka Murata and Tsuneo Murata, had held the presidency from June 1991 to June 2020, and it passed outside the family for the first time in 29 years.
Selection
In June 2020 he succeeded Tsuneo Murata as President. Tsuneo had served as Representative Director, Chairman and President since June 2017 and after three years handed over only the presidency. In the fiscal year ended March 2020, the year before, consolidated net sales were ¥1,534.0 billion and income before taxes ¥254.0 billion, down from ¥1,575.0 billion and ¥267.3 billion the previous year. The appointment appears to have entrusted him with making the businesses acquired since 2012 profitable.
Initiatives
In December 2020 he opened the Minatomirai Innovation Center in Nishi Ward, Yokohama, consolidating R&D there. In reviewing the mid-term management plan MTD2024, completed at the end of the fiscal year ended March 2024, the company acknowledged its failure to meet the economic value targets. In FY ended March 2025 it wrote off the equipment in full in the MEMS inertial sensor business acquired in 2012, booking ¥10.4 billion, and in the battery business set aside ¥14.5 billion in full-year restructuring costs, impairing equipment already ordered for cylindrical dry cell lines.
Career
Career
Murata Manufacturing
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1985 | Joined |
| Jul 2010 | Executive Officer |
| Jun 2013 | Director, Managing Executive Officer |
| Jun 2017 | Representative Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer |
| Jun 2020 | Representative Director, President |