William R. Gorham

William Gorham (* 4. January 1888 in San Francisco , California ; † 24. October 1949 in Japan ) was a in the United States -born engineer who emigrated to Japan and later his US citizenship gave to Japan naturalized to become. His Japanese name after naturalization was Gorham Katsundo .

In the period after the First World War until his death after the Second World War , Gorham played a major role in the Japanese mechanical engineering industry , which he technologically rationalized on the US model by introducing American techniques and working methods. This particularly concerned the design , development and production of machines. The talented engineer has dealt with numerous technical aspects in the course of his life, from the introduction and application of manufacturing processes and production control systems to the development of a wide variety of end products and technical advice for numerous companies. Gorham brought his expertise to the Nissan , Hitachi and Canon groups , for example .

Life

Gorham was born on January 4, 1888 in San Francisco , California . During his childhood he accompanied his father William J. Gorham on trips to Japan several times. His father was a businessman who worked as an executive at the tire manufacturer BF Goodrich Company and was responsible for the Asian region, which is why he traveled between the United States and Japan or China for professional reasons. Even then, Gorham's extensive interest in technology was noticeable, which was encouraged and supported by his family. After graduating from high school, he set up a factory and after graduating as an electrical engineer from the Heald Institute of Technology in San Francisco, he worked in engine development.

In 1911, Gorham and his father started a company called Gorham Engineering . Various engines were manufactured, including so-called semi-diesels, as well as motor boats and large-format fire pumps . In 1916 Gorham developed a water-cooled aircraft engine that developed around 150 hp from six cylinders.

Life in japan

During the First World War, Gorham emigrated to Japan in 1918, together with his wife Hazel H. Gorham and their children. His vision was to build an aviation industry there. In the beginning he carried out mail flights between Tokyo and Osaka , but the country was not yet mature enough for his ideas and his plan failed. Therefore, Gorham turned to other activities and until 1919 developed a truck prototype in a factory in the city of Kawasaki and a motorized tricycle for his disabled boss Kusibiki. Some businessmen from Osaka became aware of it, including the president of Kubota , and in the same year founded an automobile factory under the company Jitsuyō Jidōsha Seizō (English Jitsuyo Motors ). Gorham became a chief engineer and from 1920 the factory produced the vehicle called Gorham Sanrinsha in series. While working there, he developed another four-wheeled vehicle, which was therefore called the Gorham 4 Wheeler , but was later renamed Purple .

1921 Gorham was poached by Yoshisuke Aikawa for his company Tobata Imono ("Tobata Gussware", English Tobata Casting ). There he worked as a senior engineer for machine development and production technology and was responsible for the manufacture of engines for fishing and agriculture. In 1926 he was transferred to the subsidiary Toa-Seiki as chief engineer . There, the responsibility for the automation of him was telecommunications - switching centers and the improvement of products such as motors, drilling and grinding machines or pneumatic hammers transmitted. In 1931 he was transferred back to Tobata Imono , where he was employed in the improvement and mass production of cast components for motor vehicles. These parts were shipped to Ford and General Motors' Japanese manufacturing facilities .

In 1933, Gorham moved to Tobata Imono's newly established automotive division in March . The plan was to mass-produce compact vehicles under the Datsun brand . To realize this plan it was necessary to buy tools and machines from the USA and to employ American engineers. With this in mind, Gorham temporarily returned to the United States, where he received technical training at a Ford plant. During his stay in the USA, he acquired a complete production line from a disused factory belonging to the automobile manufacturer Graham-Paige . After his return to Japan, the production facilities were installed in a new automobile plant in Yokohama under Gorham's supervision . After the factory was completed in 1934, Gorham was transferred again, this time to the engineering department of the holding company Nihon Sangyo , which also belonged to Yoshisuke Aikawa and was the headquarters of his conglomerate . In the meantime, Tobata Imono's automobile division had been merged into a company founded in December 1933, whose sole owner became Nihon Sangyo in June 1934 and which was then renamed Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. got.

Gorham took charge of building a new factory and developing a production process for another company called Kokusan-Kogyo-Toa-Denki-Seisakusho in 1935 . In 1936 he founded his own company Kokusan-Seiki for the construction of precision machine tools , in which he took over the post of general director. Gorham guided his employees in all work phases from development to production by influencing technical details, which ultimately led to the introduction and production of saddle turret lathes . A lathe of this type developed into a long-term bestseller alongside other product lines. The Gorhams company later became a subsidiary of today's Hitachi Ltd. Corporation .

Japanese citizenship

With the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific region in 1941, the Japanese government issued a deportation order for foreign residents. After careful consideration, Gorham made the painful decision for him to lose his US citizenship in order to be naturalized in Japan, otherwise he would have had to leave the country. On May 26, 1941, he received the citizenship of Japan, his name was changed to the Japanese name "Gorham Katsundo". During the war he developed lathes and jet engines for Hitachi . After the end of the Second World War in 1945 he was offered to work again at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. to work, after which he devoted himself again to the automotive industry. Eventually he was promoted to managing director, before moving to a consultancy role for the company in 1947. In 1948, Gorham was hired as vice president of Fuji Motor Corporation .

In the meantime, Gorham founded a new company, which he called Gorham Engineering Co., Ltd. and which he headed as General Manager. He advised Japanese engineers on technical issues and promoted the use of mass production methods. Numerous companies asked for his technical assistance, including the camera manufacturer Canon .

Gorham died of illness on October 24, 1949. He and his wife are buried in Tama Cemetery in Tokyo.

Web links

• A photo of Gorham's around 1918

swell

• William R. Gorham (1888-1949) and Japanese Industry
• William R. Gorham, a forgotten father of Japanese industry
• First half of the history of Nissan

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gorham 3wheelers.com, accessed March 7, 2012
2. ↑ Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd. and the Lila  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. nissan.co.za, accessed March 8, 2012  
3. ↑ PRE-1933 DATSUN earlydatsun.com, accessed 6 March 2012

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Gorham is the family name, Katsundo the first name.