Ichizō Kobayashi
| Ichizō Kobayashi | |
|---|---|
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| Native name | 小林 一三 |
| Born | January 3, 1873 Nirasaki, Yamanashi, Japan |
| Died | January 25, 1957 (aged 84) Ikeda, Osaka, Japan |
Ichizō Kobayashi (小林 一三 Kobayashi Ichizō?, January 3, 1873 – January 25, 1957), occasionally referred to by his pseudonym Itsuō (逸翁), was a Japanese industrialist. He is best known as the founder of Hankyu Railway, Takarazuka Revue, and Toho. He represented Japanese capital in government.
Kobayashi was born in Nirasaki, Yamanashi in 1873. He was named Ichizō, meaning "one-three", because of his birthday, January 3. He graduated from Keio Gijuku in 1892.
After a 14-year career at the Mitsui Bank, he founded (technically as one of the promoters/executive directors) Mino-o Arima Electric Railway Company (then Hankyu Corp., now, Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc.) in 1907. At Hankyu, Kobayashi made success in the management of the railway in a less-populated region by developing residential areas and an amusement park along the railway line as well as a department store at the railway terminal. He also established the Takarazuka Revue and the Hankyu professional baseball team (the predecessors of Orix Buffaloes) to attract passengers. Such a business model established by Kobayashi was followed by other railway companies in Japan.
Later Kobayashi was president of council of Tokyo Gasu Denki (Tokyo Gas and Electric). He was appointed in charge of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in the 1940 Konoye Cabinet.
He joined the Taisei Yokusankai Group, with Shōzō Murata and Akira Kazami. They supported a new political and economic militarist-socialist program. He stood for capitalist interests in Japan's incursions into Asia and a totalitarian right-socialist government.
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