Hitachi

Hitachi, Ltd. (Japanese pronunciation: [çi̥taꜜtɕi]) is a Japanese multinational conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable energy, railway systems, healthcare products, and financial systems. The company was founded as an electrical machinery manufacturing subsidiary of the Kuhara Mining Plant in Hitachi, Ibaraki by engineer Namihei Odaira in 1910. It began operating as an independent company under its current name in 1920.

Hitachi is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a key component of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indices. As of June 2024, it has a market capitalisation of 16.9 trillion yen, making it the fourth largest Japanese company by market value. In terms of global recognition, Hitachi was ranked 38th in the 2012 Fortune Global 500 and 129th in the 2012 Forbes Global 2000. Hitachi is a highly globalised conglomerate. In the fiscal year 2023, it generated approximately 61% of its total revenue of 9.7 trillion yen from international markets. The major contributors to this global revenue were Asia, Europe, and North America, with each region accounting for 22%, 16%, and 16% of the total revenue, respectively.

Hitachi's mission is to 'contribute to society through the development of superior, original technology and products'. All 12 CEOs the company has had, including founder Odaira, have engineering backgrounds, with eight of them, including Odaira, being alumni of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Engineering.

Historically a large conglomerate active in various fields, including electric generators, consumer electronics, trains, semiconductors, computers, and nuclear reactors, Hitachi recorded a record loss of 787.3 billion yen in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The company sold numerous unprofitable operations and ventured into new areas such as digital systems and renewable energy. As a result of these moves, Hitachi returned to profitability by March 2011.

Today, Hitachi's corporate activities are organised into three large sections: Digital Systems and Services, Green Energy and Mobility, and Connective Industries.

Hitachi has been using a monogram of the two Kanji characters that make up the word 'Hitachi' (日立) as its corporate symbol (monshō). Conceived by Namihei Odaira, this symbol appeared on most of Hitachi's products until 1991. In 2000, Hitachi adopted the advertising slogan 'Inspire the Next', and the corporate logo was gradually phased out as this statement was incorporated into the branding. However, the symbol is still used to represent the company rather than its products or services, such as in the favicon of its official website.

Since 1975, Hitachi has been using images of a 130-year-old Samanea saman tree, known as the Hitachi Tree (hitachi no ki), located at Moanalua Gardens, Hawaii, in most of its television commercials as a symbol of the conglomerate. The advert song introduced alongside the tree is also called Hitachi no Ki, or Konoki Nanno Ki (lit. 'What tree is this?'), after the song's opening lyrics. Three other trees have briefly represented the company, but since 1984, the current tree has been designated as the Hitachi Tree. In 2016, it was reported that the company spends around 50 million yen annually on its maintenance.

Founded in 1910 in Ibaraki Prefecture by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira, Hitachi's first product was a 4-kilowatt induction motor, designed for copper mining. Originally an in-house venture of Fusanosuke Kuhara's mining company, Hitachi became independent in 1911 and moved its headquarters to Tokyo in 1918. The company's name 'Hitachi', combining the kanji for 'sun' (日, hi) and 'rise' (立, tachi), was coined by Odaira. While industrial machinery in Japan was usually powered by steam at the time, Odaira built water power stations in the mine and electrified almost all facilities in the factory. The company developed various electrical equipment later in its history. In 1924, Hitachi completed Japan's first mainline electric locomotive (JNR Class ED15). In 1932, the company started manufacturing elevators and electric refrigerators.