The Development of Yasukawa Electric Co. and its Entrepreneurial Activities

Shin Hasegawa

doi:10.5029/jrbh1984.4.77

Shin Hasegawa

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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

1988 Volume 4 Pages 77-102

DOI https://doi.org/10.5029/jrbh1984.4.77

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Published: March 15, 1988 Received: - Available on J-STAGE: June 28, 2010 Accepted: - Advance online publication: - Revised: -
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Date of correction: June 28, 2010 Reason for correction: - Correction: CITATION Details: Right : 1.On the various conditions under which Yasukawa Denki operated between the wars,see:Shin Hasegawa,“Senkanki no Judenki-Kogyo ni okeru Senmon-Maker no Hatten”(“The Specialization of the Japanese Electrical Equipment Manufacturers in the InterWar Period),“Shizuoka Daigaku Kyoikugakubu Kenkyuhokoku”Jinbun Shakaikagaku-hen Dai33go(“Bulletin of the Faculty of Education,Liberal Arts and Social Sciences,”Series33),Shizuoka University,1982,pp.27-41.
2.Hidemasa Morikawa,“Chiho Zaibatsu”(“Regional Zaibatsu”),in Nihon no Zaibatsu,(“The Japanese Zaibatsu”),Nihon Keieishi-Koza3(Vol.3,Japanese Business History),Nihon Keizai Shinbun-sha,1976.Chiho Zaibatsu(“Regional Zaibatsu”)by Hidemasa Morikawa,Nihon Keizai Shinbun-sha,1985.
3.Bibliography Yasukawa Denki40-Nen-shi(“40-Year History of Yasukawa Electric Co.”),by Yasukawa Denki40-Nen-shi Henshu Iinkai(Committee for Compilation of the40-Year History of Yasukawa Electric Company),Yasukawa Denki Seisakusho,1956.Yasukawa Daigoro Den(“Biography of Daigoro Yasukawa”)by Yasukawa Daigoro Den Kankokai(Publishing Committee),1977.Yasukawa Daigoro Iko to Tsuiso(“Papers of Yasukawa Daigoro Published Posthumously,and Recollections by Him”)by Yasukawa Daiioro Den Kankokai,1977.Yasukawa Keiichiro Nikki(“Diary of Keiichiro Yasukawa”).Gijitsusha no Techo(“Notebooks of an Engineer”),by Taiichi Yasukawa,1955.Yasukawa Denki Seisakusho Shozo Shiryo(“Historical Materials of Yasukawa Electric Co.”).
4.It is said that Taiichi Yasukawa was born to the daughter of the eldest brother of Keiichiro Yasukawa and Keiichiro's adopted son,an outstanding member of the sales staff in YasukawaMatsumoto Trading Co.who so impressed Keiichiro that he decided to bring the young man into the family by adopting him.Taiichi worked for Ajikawa Tekkosho(Ajikawa Manufacturing Co.)after his graduation in1917from Meiji Senmon Gakko(Meiji Technical College),where he specialized in Mechanical Engineering.He had always held to the idea of standardization and specialization in products,and he resigned from Ajikawa Tekkosho after a suggestion he made along this line to the Chief Engineer was rejected.He was then employed by a muslin manufacturer in Tokyo until he entered Yasukawa Denki in1926.His position within the Yasukawa extended family was low,and his job experience and the circumstances for his hiring such that no promise was made for his eventual promotion to top management at the beginning of his career in Yasukawa Denki.In this paper,he is therefore regarded as a salaried manager in top management of the company,even though he is a member of the Yasukawa family.
5.S.Nunome,born in1878,entered Yawata Seitetsujo(Yawata Ironworks)on graduation from the Department of Mechanical Engineering,Kyoto Teikoku Daigaku(Kyoto Imperial University).After some years working for Minami Manshu Tetsudo(South Manchuria Railway Co.),he became a consultant to Kyushu Seiko(Kyushu Steel Works)in1921.At the time he entered Yasukawa Denki as director of manufacturing,he also operated as works manager,and in1928took on further responsibility as purchasing manager.The following year he was appointed director with a seat on the board,at the same time acting as general manager and director of Marketing&Sales,thus shouldering responsibilities covering both the manufacturing and sales sides of the business.
6.“Judenki Cartel(Satsukikai)”(Heavy Electric Machine Cartel)by S.Hasegawa in Ryotaisenkanki Nihon no Cartel(Japan's Cartels in the Inter-War Period)by Juro Hashimoto&Haruhito Takeda (ed.),Ochanomizu Shobo,1985,pp.273-322.
7.Yasukawa Matsumoto Gomeigaisha(Yasukawa Matsumoto&Co.),a limited company established in1935,was created mainly to safeguard the family fortune,and had no controlling power as a parent company.

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