Kazuo Tashima
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He was the founder. Born in Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture, in November 1899, he studied at Keio and then handled trade work at Tashima Shoten, his father's trading business. Aspiring to make cameras, he raised funds from ¥5,000 provided by his father and a loan from the head clerk of his family's lacquerware business, and on November 11, 1928, shortly before his 29th birthday, he founded Nichidoku Shashinki Shoten (Japan-Germany Camera Store) as a sole proprietorship on the banks of the Mukogawa River in Hyogo Prefecture. It was a small workshop with about 30 employees. Rather than inheriting capital, he left his father's company and started the business with money he raised himself.
Selection
Right after the business was reorganized as Molta Goshi Kaisha, a limited partnership, in July 1931, the Germans Heilemann and Neumann, on whose technical skills it relied, left one after another, and Japanese workers were poached as well. In April 1932 Tashima organized production by creating finishing, lathe, shutter and painting sections and a general affairs section, moving to a system run entirely by Japanese staff. Judging that a limited partnership could not cope with the wartime economy after the Sino-Japanese War broke out, he reorganized it into a joint-stock company in September 1937, renamed it Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko and became its President. He took the post after rebuilding the technology and organization himself.
Initiatives
In 1933 the company launched the "Minolta" quick-shooting camera bearing the brand name, followed by the twin-lens reflex "Minoltaflex." In 1937 it built a factory dedicated to lenses in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. In 1962, when its name spread worldwide through the "Hi-Matic" carried on Friendship 7, it changed its name from Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko to Minolta Camera. Net sales grew from ¥23.6 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1971 to ¥132.3 billion in the FY ended March 1982, his last year as President.
Career
Career
Chiyoda Optical Seiko
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Nov 1928 | 日独写真機商会を個人創業 (translation pending) |
| Jul 1931 | Reorganized as Moruta |
| Sep 1937 | President, Chiyoda Optical Seiko (at founding) |
| Aug 1982 | Stepped down as Chairman |