Yoshisuke Aikawa
| Yoshisuke Aikawa | |
|---|---|
Yoshisuke Aikawa in 1939
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| Born |
November 6, 1880 Yamaguchi, Japan |
| Died | February 13, 1967 (aged 86) Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Other names | Gisuke Ayukawa |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, Industrialist |
| Known for | founder of Nissan conglomerate |
Yoshisuke Aikawa (or Gisuke Ayukawa) (鮎川 義介 Aikawa Yoshisuke?, 6 November 1880 – 13 February 1967) was a Japanese entrepreneur, businessman, and politician, noteworthy as the founder and first president of the Nissan zaibatsu between 1931 and 1945.
Aikawa was born in what is now part of Yamaguchi city, Yamaguchi prefecture. His mother was the niece of Meiji period genrō Inoue Kaoru. He graduated from the engineering department of Tokyo Imperial University in 1903 and went to work for Shibaura Seisakusho, the forerunner of Toshiba.
Although his pay was very low, Aikawa managed to save enough to make a trip to the United States, where he studied malleable cast iron technology. After his return to Japan, with the backing of Inoue Kaoru and other ex-Chōshū politicians in the Diet of Japan, he established the Tobata Foundry in Kitakyūshū in 1909. The company is now known as Hitachi Kinzoku (Hitachi Metals Company Ltd).
In 1928, Aikawa became president of the Kuhara Mining Company (present day Nippon Mining & Metals Company) taking over from his brother-in-law Fusanosuke Kuhara and created a holding company called Nihon Sangyo, or Nissan for short. Kuhara went on to a career in politics, forging ties with future Prime Minister Giichi Tanaka and other political and military leaders, which Aikawa would later use to his advantage.
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