History of Hitachi

Electrical engineer Namihei Odaira (1874–1951) founded Hitachi in 1910 in Ibaraki Prefecture. Namihei Odaira operating an electrical repair shop at a copper mine northeast of Tokyo, when he began to experiment with his own designs, and that same year he manufactured the first domestically produced 4-kilowatt (5 hp) induction motor, initially developed for use in copper mining. His employer soon became his first, and--for a few years--only customer.

The company was originally an internal joint venture of Prairie Guardian Mining Company in Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture. In 1918, the headquarters of Hitachi Company was moved to Tokyo. Odaira incorporated his company in 1920 and named it for the town of Hitachi, where he had made his first sale.

Through the acquisition of other companies, Hitachi became the nation's largest manufacturer of pumps, blowers, and other mechanical equipment.

The company completed their first transistorized electronic computer in 1959. Their computer division has been used to support their other facilities, e.g., making the computer controls for their Japanese bullet train system. During the 1960s Hitachi developed Japan's first on-line computer system, and emerged as the world's largest producer of analog computers, which are used in scientific research to compile complex statistical data.

Hitachi went public in 1949. Hitachi America, Ltd. was established in 1959. In 1989 Hitachi developed what was, at the time, the world’s fastest supercomputer based on superconductive technologies.
History of Hitachi