Kenichiro Komai
The Hitachi Scholarship Foundation was established by Kenichiro Komai, Hitachi’s third president. Komai led the company during a period of rapid national economic growth, and he focused on expanding operations as well as research and development to meet the needs of the time.
Under Komai, Hitachi grew from being a manufacturer of heavy electrical machinery to one of the world’s leading general manufacturers of electrical and electronic products. By the time he stepped down to become an advisor to the company, Hitachi had weathered the hard years of the postwar period and had started to establish its own technology instead of relying on imported technology. It was also a time when the company found itself with some managerial leeway.
Hitachi had started expanding in Asia region, but Komai felt that Hitachi should not simply proceed with such expansion on a unilateral basis. Instead, he thought that Japan should work together with other Asian countries for their joint development, in which the education of young Asians would be vital. In turn, this meant there was a need for top-flight educators and researchers. This need led him to establish the Hitachi Scholarship Foundation to help and support the education of university lecturers.
