Hitachi History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones

Namihei Odaira

Hitachi possesses a historic, foundational founding story, rooted in the industrialization of early 20th-century Japan and driven by a nationalist obsession with technological independence. The company was founded in 1910 by Namihei Odaira, an effective, intensely patriotic electrical engineer. At the time Japan was rapidly modernizing and desperately building copper mines to fuel its electrical grid (Odaira worked at the Kuhara Mining Company in Hitachi City). However, a structural problem existed: virtually all advanced electrical equipment (like motors and generators) had to be imported from Western companies (like General Electric or Siemens). If a motor broke in a Japanese mine, production halted for months waiting for European replacement parts. Odaira found this reliance on foreign technology unacceptable for a sovereign nation. He secretly formed a small team of engineers inside the mining company to reverse-engineer and build their own electrical equipment. In 1910, his breakthrough occurred: he designed and manufactured Japan's very first five-horsepower electric induction motor. His foundational philosophy was entirely built on 'Wa' (harmony) and a commitment to independent, domestic R&D. He officially founded Hitachi (which translates to 'sunrise') as an independent company in 1920 to scale the production of heavy electrical machinery. Driven by demand from the Japanese government and military, Hitachi expanded into locomotives, power plants, and eventually supercomputers. By proving that Japan could design and manufacture the complex industrial foundation of a modern nation, Odaira built a powerful, revered corporate empire. Namihei Odaira was born in 1874 in Ienaka. Education: University of Tokyo.