Inoue Kaoru
Although his pay was very low, Aikawa managed to save enough to make a trip to the United States, where he studied malleable cast iron technology. After his return to Japan, with the backing of Inoue Kaoru and other ex-Chōshū politicians in the Diet of Japan, he established the Tobata Foundry in Kitakyūshū in 1909. The company is now known as Hitachi Kinzoku (Hitachi Metals Company Ltd).