Hitachi, Ltd. is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group (Hitachi Gurūpu) as part of the larger DKB Group companies. Hitachi has been a diversified company that has 11 business segments: Information and Telecommunication Systems, Electrical Systems, Social and Industrial Systems, Automotive Systems, Electronic Component Devices, Construction, and Financial services.
Hitachi was ranked 129 on the 2012 Forbes Global 2000 list.
Hitachi was founded in 1910 by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira. The company's first product was Japan's first 5-horsepower electric induction motor, initially developed for use in copper mining. Odaira's company soon became the domestic leader in electric motors and electric power industry infrastructure.
The company began as an in-house venture of Fusanosuke Kuhara's mining company in Hitachi, Ibaraki prefecture. Odaira moved headquarters to Tokyo in 1918. Long before that, he coined the company’s toponymic name by superimposing two kanji characters: hi meaning “sun” and tachi meaning “rise”. The young company's national aspirations were conveyed by its original brand mark, which evoked Japan's imperial rising sun flag.
Hitachi entered talks with Mitsubishi Heavy Industry in August 2011 about a potential merger of the two companies, in what would have been the largest merger between two Japanese companies in history.
The talks subsequently broke down and were suspended.
Hitachi Works is the oldest member of the Hitachi Group and consists of three factories: Kaigan, Hitachi-LG Yamate, and Rinkai Works. Yamate Works, the oldest of the three factories, was founded in 1910 by Namihei Odaira as an electrical equipment repair and manufacturing facility. This facility was named Hitachi, after the Hitachi Mine near Hitachi, Ibaraki, and is regarded as the ancestral home of Hitachi, Ltd.
Many management trainees intern at Hitachi Works before being permanently assigned to other Hitachi divisions. Senior management personnel are often participants in rotations at Hitachi Works for a few years as their career develops towards eventual head office stature. As a result, many of the senior managers of Hitachi Ltd have passed through Hitachi Works.
Spin-off entities from Hitachi Works include Hitachi Cable (1956) and Hitachi Canadian Industries (1988).
References
^ a b c d e "2010 Form 10-K, Hitachi". Yahoo Invester.
^ http://www.hitachi.com/about/corporate/index.html Corporate Profile
^ "Hitachi, Mitsubishi edge towards groundbreaking merger". Reuters. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
^ "Shares of Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy get merger boost". BBC News. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
^ "Mitsubishi Heavy, Hitachi shares tumble as merger talks stall". Reuters. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
^ a b Hitachi Transportation Systems website
^ http://www.hitachi-rail.com/rail_now/hot_topics/2008/080701/index.html
^ http://www.hitachi.us/about/press/details/06222010.html
