Kwaishinsha (Kaishinsha)
Kwaishinsha is Japan’s first automobile manufacturer, which was founded by Masujiro Hashimoto and was a predecessor of Nissan Motor and also one of the predecessors of Isuzu Motors. The key component of the corporate name, "Kwaishinsha", has been occasionally spelled as "Kaishinsha". However, the original and bona fide spelling used upon the establishment of the company was "Kwaishinsha" as described in the company's official catalog for DAT CAR published in 1921.
Contents
1. History 2. Notes and references 3. Related items 4. External links
History
Masujiro Hashimoto, the-then a 37 years old engineer, founded the Kwaishinsha Motor Car Works (Kwaishinsha jidōsha kōjō) on 1 July 1911 at Azabu-Hiroo 88, Shibuya, Tokyo, corresponding to the currently known as 5 chome Hiroo, Shibuya, Tokyo, which was a land owned by Shigeru Yoshida, who was a young brother of Meitaro Takeuchi, one of the investors of Kwaishinsha Motor, and the-then a Third Secretary of the Italian Embassy and eventually became the Prime Minister of Japan.
In 1914, the company sent its three-seater car with a V-2-cylinder 10-horsepower engine and its maximum speed of 32 km/h, “DAT CAR”, to the Tokyo Taisho Exhibition held in Ueno, Tokyo, and won a bronze award. The car was the first automobile that was purely manufactured in Japan. The name of DAT was an acronym of the company's investors and supporters' surnames such as: Kenjiro Den, a baron who later became the eighth Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan and the grand father of Hideo Den, a upper house member; Rokuro Aoyama, an engineer specialized in telecommunication technology who later became the president of Annaka Denki Seisakujo, a currently known as Anritsu Corporation; and Meitaro Takeuchi, the founder of Komatsu Ltd. who greatly contributed to the manufacturing industry in Japan.
In 1918, Hashimoto renamed the company as Kwaishinsha Motorcar Co., Ltd. (Kabushiki-Gaisha Kwaishinsha) with a capital of JPY 600,000 and located its head office at 3923 Nagasakicho, Toshima, Tokyo, currently corresponding to 5 chome Nagasaki, Toshima, Tokyo. The company manufactured DAT Type-41s, five seater automobile with a straight-4-cylinder 15 horsepower engines and self-starters.
In 1923, the company decreased its share capital to JPY 60,000 against a backdrop of the World Depression following the World War I and the economic recession triggered by the Great Kanto earthquake.
In 1925, the company was liquidated and reorganized as DAT Motors Manufacturing LPC (Goshi-Gaisya DAT Jidosha-Shokai).
In 1926, the Tokyo-based DAT Motors merged with the Osaka-based Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd (Jitsuyō Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha) a.k.a. Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo (established 1919 as a Kubota subsidiary) to become DAT Jidosha Seizo Co. headquartered in Osaka, Japan.
In 1930, the company came out with a new car, “DATSON”, meaning "Son of DAT", thanks to the contribution by engineers, including Takayoshi Goto. DATSON was later renamed to “DATSUN” in 1933 after Nissan Group zaibatsu took control of DAT Motors by changing the last syllable of Datson to "sun". In 1931, the company became affiliated with Tobata Imono Kabushi-Gaisha (headquartered in Fukuoka prefecture; president was Ayukawa Yoshisuke).
In 1933, the company was merged with Ishikawajima Jidosha Seizosho affiliated with Kagushiki-Gaisha Tokyo Ishikawajima Zosenjo, currently known as IHI Corporation, and Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki-Gaisha, currently known as Isuzu Motors Limited, was established. Meanwhile, compact car division of the company and the tradename of DATSUN were succeeded to Jidosha-Seizo Co., Ltd. (Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha, meaning automobile manufacturing joint stock company).
In 2011, The “Exhibition celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Kwaishinsha” was held at the National museum of Nature and Science in Ueno, Tokyo.
Related items Run, “Ichi-go-sha”, Run! A TV drama broadcasted in 1970 by NHK and featured by greatly acclaimed actors/actresses, including Tatsuya Mihashi, Misako Watanabe, Leo Morimoto, which modeling Masujiro Hajshimoto, a founder of Kwaishinsha, who had worked on manufacturing automobiles domestically in Japan. It was a biography describing the pioneer distress of Masujiro Hashimoto and the love of his wife.
External links Japanese link for Kwaishinsha https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BF%AB%E9%80%B2%E7%A4%BE
http://www.jahfa.jp/2002/01/01/%e6%a9%8b%e6%9c%ac-%e5%a2%97%e6%b2%bb%e9%83%8e/ http://www.mikipress.com/books/2017/11/post-286.html https://grandprix-book.jp/2008/12/01/post_5/ https://yoshizakitakashi.tumblr.com/ https://www.kahaku.go.jp/event/2011/06nissan/ http://www6.plala.or.jp/guti/cemetery/PERSON/H/hashimoto_ms.html