Founder Stories
Founder Stories
The Life of Gonshiro Kubota
Putting effort into developing human resources and activities to contribute to society
Reorganization as a limited company and becoming the first company president
It was a long-held belief in Osaka that “traders should take unlimited responsibility for their trade,” and until the early Taisho period (1912–1926), limited companies were rare. However, after the boom of the period, many companies started to reorganize as limited companies as a tax strategy and by the latter half of the Taisho period, most of the major businesses in Osaka had become limited companies.
Despite this, it was not until 1930 that Gonshiro decided to take the step and reorganize, at the 40th anniversary of the company, and also when he marked his 60th birthday. On December 22 of that year, the Kubota Iron Works were reorganized into the two companies Kubota Iron Works Co., Ltd. and Kubota Iron Works Machinery Division Co., Ltd., and Gonshiro was appointed as their first company president.
A hands-on approach to the development of engineers
From the time when Gonshiro had started to venture into new fields, such as the manufacturing of machine tools, and had moved away from the development of cast iron pipe technologies he had first concentrated on, he began to put ever increasing efforts into the development of young engineers.
The reason for that lay in his own experience as an apprentice at Kuro Casting and Shiomi Casting. He would always say “You have to try something to know it. The job teaches you. The work will teach you far more than any study. Then you will get the theory.” Kanshichi Tanaka, who joined the company in 1917 and later went on to be Vice-President, and also Jonosuke Asakura, who later went on to be a Managing Director, both graduated from university before entering the company, but both spent their first year in the job gaining experience on the factory floor.
The foundation of the Private Tokufu Ordinary Elementary School
As Gonshiro had spent his early years in such poverty, he was always very interested in contributing to society. In 1911, when the world was stuck in a deep recession, there were many children around Gonshiro who were too poor to receive an education. Gonshiro cooperated with other people who were concerned about the situation in the same way he was, and established the Private Tokufu Ordinary Elementary School. He provided the necessary expenses each month, etc., and put great effort into welfare and education.
In addition, from his history of success from a base of casting, he felt that he wanted to repay the hard work of casting researchers, and began to be active in supporting research, for example with a contribution of 500,000 yen he made to the Osaka Imperial University Industrial Science Research Laboratories (currently: The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University) in 1939.
The construction of roads, in his birth place
The place of Gonshiro’s birth, Ohama Village on Innoshima, had very poor transport facilities, and to get to the neighboring village it was necessary to walk steep mountain slopes that could not be passed by bicycle or cart. The residents of the village had planned to build a road along the coastline, but financial difficulties meant that the work was not progressing at all.
When Gonshiro heard of this, he paid the very expensive road work costs. After a year’s work, the long-awaited road was finally completed in 1923.
In addition to this, Gonshiro also contributed to the development of his birthplace with numerous other projects, including land reclamation on the coast, road development, and the construction of a lecture room for the Ohama elementary school he had attended and a senior citizens’ hall.
Words of the founder
Appreciate and take interest in your work. Work until it becomes enjoyable. There is no such thing as tedious work. Work serves to enhance the individual, improve the character, and build experience.
As an apprentice, for long periods Gonshiro was assigned meaningless tasks, and wasn’t given the chance to create his own castings. Regardless, he made no fuss, absorbed himself in the work at hand, and came up with his own ways to complete the job. This experience was a starting point for the future development of the casting business. Later, Gonshiro was concerned that, compared to machinery, cast metal wasn’t getting the attention it deserved. Convinced that casting was key to the development of heavy industries and thereby the entire nation, Gonshiro donated funds to The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University
Words of the founder
No matter what task you have been assigned, if you are both enthusiastic and dedicated, it will always have meaning. Not only will you start to find the task compelling, the process will build your character. If indeed the task does feel tedious and you do feel discontent, you have yet to think of the task as work.
When Gonshiro began his apprenticeship at the foundry, the tasks he was given were entirely unrelated to casting—babysitting, cleaning, and running errands. Despite being frustrated that he had come all the way to Osaka to run simple errands, he took a different tack—he looked at how he could keep the children in his care happy, how he could make things cleaner, and how he could complete his errands more quickly. The more enthusiastic he was about the tasks, the more interesting they became. This mindset also led him to want to try new things. Gonshiro’s attitude was praised by those around him, and he became a favorite. In the quote above, he speaks of the importance of honest, dedicated work.
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