Otokazu Nakata
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
After working at the Ministry of Finance, he joined Mitsubishi Estate in 1939. He became President in 1969, succeeding Takejiro Watanabe, and held the post for 11 years until moving to Chairman in 1980. As of March 1961, before he took office, the major shareholders were Mitsubishi group financial institutions: Tokio Marine and Fire with 6.4%, Meiji Life with 4.9% and Mitsubishi Bank with 4.4%.
Selection
His predecessor Takejiro Watanabe had served as President for 17 years from 1952 before moving to Chairman in 1969. The Marunouchi that Otokazu Nakata inherited had all but completed its uniform streetscape of buildings capped at 31 meters. Watanabe, even as Chairman, kept opposing skyscrapers on the grounds of preserving the view from the Imperial Palace Plaza, and the choice appears to have been of someone who would carry on his predecessor's policy as it stood.
Initiatives
During his tenure, when Tokio Marine, next door to the Shin-Marunouchi Building, planned to rebuild its head office as a skyscraper, Chairman Takejiro Watanabe asked it to call off the plan. His reason was that a height race with no real benefit was unwelcome even among members of the same Mitsubishi group. Amid the dispute over the view in front of the Imperial Palace, the building permit application sat with the Ministry of Construction for nearly three years, until an application revised to 25 stories was filed and a settlement came into view. The 31-meter limit was a voluntary rule rather than law, and it appears to have lacked the power to stop plans on neighboring sites.
Career
Career
Ministry of Finance
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Worked at Ministry of Finance |
Mitsubishi Estate
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1939 | Joined |
| 1969 | Representative Director, President |
| 1980 | Representative Director, Chairman |
| 1980 | Stepped down as President |
| 1986 | Director, Senior Advisor |