FOREWORD
40th Anniversary - Special Issue"Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Technical Review" is publishing its
40th anniversary issue this year,
having made its first appearance inJuly 1964 just after Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) wasreborn on June 1, 1964 following theconsolidation of three companies*1.
As a successor to the technical journals that had been issued
Takashi Nishioka, President
individually by the three companies,"Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review" waslaunched with the aim of "presenting the results of internal
experiments and research, new control techniques, etc. both
inside and outside the company, seeking external understanding of MHI's technologies, providing our engineers witha means of research, and requesting people - whether or notconnected with MHI - to give us their comments and guidance."
At the time when the Technical Review was first published, Japan was in the midst of its high economic growthera. In order to master aircraft, boiler, turbine and diesel
engine manufacturing techniques, not to mention shipbuilding techniques, for which foreign licenses were inducted inquick succession, MHI was actively engaged in testing andresearch in various fields of industry. At the same time, thecompany was attempting to increase the number of its products and expand its business by enlarging the range of license
induction from electrostatic precipitators to various typesof industrial machines. Accordingly, the Technical Review
carried articles on advanced technologies for products suchas ships, boilers, and marine diesel engines, as well as basic
technologies such as welding, and materials supporting suchproducts.
Prior to and following the Tokyo Olympics Games of 1964
and the Osaka World Expo '70, Japan's traffic conditionsworsened, giving rise to the need for dramatic changes. MHI
introduced its technical capabilities to cope with the age oflong bridges at home and abroad in some of the issues. The
Technical Review also introduced MHI's products and technologies capable of meeting the needs of the times in issues
such as the one dealing with pollution control equipment
published in the 1970s, when air pollution was recognized
as a social problem, and in other issues relating to resourcesand energies published around the time of the global oil crisis in 1973.
The purpose of this Special Issue "Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" is to discuss
the past, present and future of MHI, which has been promoting Japan as a technology-based country.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Japan's manufacturing in-dustry enjoyed enormous expansion through the introduction of new technologies developed in Western countries andnew products created therefrom. In the 1970s, Japan's manufacturing industry established greater sophistication inproduction technology and applied technology to the pointof depending less on foreign licenses and emphasising more
independent technical development. In the 1980s, it waswidely recognized that Japan had successfully caught up
with the Western countries by consolidating its position asa technology-based country. However, the Japanese manufacturing industry did not yet have sufficient ability to leadthe world in creating new technologies and products, and it
was then subjected to severe price competition worldwide.
For this reason, there were delays in technical innovation
including basic and applied technologies and development/
manufacture of new products. Therefore, at the end of the20th century, the Japanese manufacturing industry became
keenly aware of the necessity to recover its international
competitiveness. The Japanese manufacturing industry
must attempt to re-establish Japan as a technology-based
country under the new slogan "Technical Creativity andManufacture of Products."
Based on this awareness, MHI is making efforts tostrengthen its technical and business abilities. Starting fromthe worldwide and long-term questions "What new products
are required by society?" and "What technologies will makethis possible?," MHI is intensifying its research and development activities.
In the medium-term business plan formulated at the endof 2001 (2002 business plan), MHI sets its sights on "Creation of technical abilities that can succeed under any
conditions" and is now aiming to make itself technically capable of succeeding under any business circumstances during
the next five to ten years. By establishing the four fields of"Energy," "Transportation & Distribution," "Environment &Social Facilities" and "Services" as prospective businesses
and markets, and by mobilizing all its visible and invisible
resources such as the wide variety of talents and technicalabilities in its possession, MHI is investing actively in equipment, research and development for products of the nextterm and next generation, and is also giving strong encouragement to younger engineers. Moreover, in order to develop
value creation-type technologies in the 21st century, MHI is
putting to best-possible use the wide variety of revolutionary and advanced technologies in its possession.
In this Special Issue, MHI discusses the past, presentand future of its major product businesses related to "Energy," "Transportation & Distribution," "Environment &Social Facilities." This Special Issue describes the firm resolution of MHI's entire personnel, reflecting upon the constantefforts and achievements of our predecessors made under
the company's traditional management philosophy of "Recognizing its obligations as an innovative partner in society."
With this in mind, I look forward to receiving continued encouragement and guidance from all concerned.

*1 Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd., Shin Mitsubishi
Heavy-Industries, Ltd. and Mitsubishi Nippon Heavy-Industries, Ltd.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Technical Review Vol.40 No.1 (Feb. 2003)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.:
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow1