Jujiro Matsuda

Early life
The son o a fisherman, Jujiro Matsuda wis born in Hiroshima. He wis apprenticed tae a blacksmith in Osaka at the age o fowerteen an invented the "Matsuda-type pump" in 1906. Later, he teuk ower management o the foundry at which he apprenticed an changed the name o the organisation tae "Matsuda Pump Partnership." He wis forced oot o his company, but stairtit an armament manufacturer suin efter - the eponymously named Matsuda Works. Matsuda wad see his fledgling company's fortunes improve when it wis commissioned as a supplier tae the Tsar o Roushie as well as manufacturing the Type 99 rifle for the Japanese military.

Toyo Kogyo an Mazda
Bi 1921, Jujiro Matsuda wis a wealthy man thanks tae his previous business ventures. He moved back tae Hiroshima when he wis asked tae tak ower management o floundering artificial cork manufacturer , which wis placed intae receivership bi its creditors when the mercat for artificial cork dried up follaein the end o Warld War I. The unprofitable cork business ceased, an Matsuda focused on tuil manufacturing. 1931 oversaw the introduction o the "Mazdago" motorized tricycle, manufactured in what is nou Fuchū ceety an the company, nou kent as Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. (東洋工業株式会社|Tōyō Kōgyō Kabushiki Gaisha), wad set its focus on motor vehicle manufacturin.

The Toyo Kogyo headquarters saw hivy damage on August 6, 1945 upon the bombing o Hiroshima. The Fuchū ceety plant, 5.3 kilometers frae the site o the explosion wis left relatively unscathed an Matsuda offered its uise for the Hiroshima bureau o NHK.

Matsuda wis na accused o bein nor wis he charged as a war conspirator, an a revitalized Toyo Kogyo wis the main force behind repairing the damaged economy o Hiroshima follaein Warld War II. In 1950, Toyo Kogyo providit startup for a basebaa team, the Hiroshima Carp.

His adoptit son-in-law, Tsuneji Matsuda succeeded him as preses o Toyo Kogyo, an oversaw the expansion o its automobile division until 1979, when Ford Motor Company teuk a 25% equity stake in Toyo Kogyo.

The alliance wi Ford led tae the divestiture o shares frae the Matsuda faimily an the chynge o Toyo Kogyo intae Mazda Motor Corporation in 1984. The Matsuda faimily still awns a controlling interest in the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

Matsuda dee'd on Mairch 9, 1952. For his contreibutions tae Hiroshima Prefecture, a bronze statue o Jujiro Matsuda wis creatit in 1965 bi Onomichi, Hiroshima native, sculptor Katsuzou Entsuba an wis erected at the Minami-ku pairk.

Category:Mazda