Founder Profile
Yoshisuke Aikawa
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Yoshisuke Aikawa?
Yoshisuke Aikawa is a founder of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., which was founded in 1933 with William Gorham, Masujiro Hashimoto and Rokuro Aoyama.
- Company founded
- Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
- Founded
- 1933
- Co-founders
- William Gorham, Masujiro Hashimoto and Rokuro Aoyama
Background
Japanese industrialist and zaibatsu founder.
Founding Story
Yoshisuke Aikawa founded the massive Nissan zaibatsu in the 1920s. Recognizing the absolute critical importance of the rapidly growing automotive industry, he consolidated several smaller motor companies (including DAT Motors) into Nissan Motor Co. in 1933, heavily leveraging American engineering talent and mass-production techniques to build Japan's first truly modern automotive factories.
Yoshisuke Aikawa was born in 1880. Education: University of Tokyo.
Aikawa, also known as Gisuke Ayukawa, was born on November 6, 1880 and died on February 13, 1967. He was also a politician and was founder and first president of the Nissan zaibatsu.