The Dissolution of Nakajima Aircraft Company and the Establishment of Handa Kinzoku Kogyo after WWII

Abstract

This article provides a novel perspective on the dissolution of the Zaibatsu and economic reconstruction in post-war Japan through research on Handa Kinzoku Kogyo (Handa Metal Industry Co., Ltd.). It was a bicycle manufacturing company founded in October 1946 by Masami Fujimori, former Deputy Director of Nakajima Aircraft Co., Ltd. Handa plant which became one of the biggest bicycle manufacturers during the post-war period.

The study examines the rapid growth of Handa Kinzoku Kogyo in the bicycle industry. Fujimori established connections with then-government to get materials and financial support. He adopted an integrated production system by adopting in-house production. The factories were built at the site of Nakajima Aircraft plant. Thus, he implemented the experience and learning from Nakajima Aircraft plant.

This study further examines why Fujimori founded Handa Kinzoku Kogyo. In 1945 the General Headquarters Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ) ordered that Nakajima Aircraft plant be dismantled similar to Mitsui or Mitsubishi Zaibatsu and banned it from aircraft manufacturing. Permission from GHQ was required for civilian production, this posed an obstacle to company’s reconstruction for Nakajima Aircraft. Therefore, Fujimori found Handa Kinzoku Kogyo as an independent company without permission from GHQ. Nakajima Aircraft was split into 12 smaller companies in 1950 which became the secondary companies resulting from the dissolution of the Zaibatsu. This shows that Handa Kinzoku Kogyo was a secondary company prior to the establishment of the 12 companies. Thus, there was a movement to establish an independent secondary company during the dissolution of the Zaibatsu without the required permission for civilian production.