1941

The Pacific War was started.

1944

 Resisting the enforcement of the "People School Act", Teijiro closed the Kurosawa Primary School in March, 1944.

 (Kurosawa Story by Chozo Kurosawa)

1945

 The school building was destroyed and burnt down in air raids in April, 1945.

1946

 After the war was ended, the Kurosawa Building was requisitioned by the Tokyo Special Procurement Office to be used by the American National Red Cross in January.

1952

 The requisition was released and the Kurosawa Building was returned to the owner in February.

 The Kurosawa Building had stood distinctively at the corner of Ginza 6-chome for a long time. When the building was returned after years of requisition by the Government, it was painted over and had lost some of　its charm.

 Kurosawa-san visited the building everyday in the afternoon to fix it. He even worked on the building himself using trowels. He has put his whole heart and soul to restore the building back to the way it was.

("Recollection of Teijiro Kurosawa" by Seizo Ouchi)

1953

 On New Year's Day, when close relatives gathered together to pay respects and extend good wishes for the new year, Teijiro was especially jovial and talked about old times and his struggles to put the Ginza Building back to its old graceful state.

 On the same night, he suffered a massive cerebral stroke.

 At 4:45PM on January 26, 1953, Teijiro passed away in his home at 1-94 Chofu Minemachi, Otaku, Tokyo.

 Surrounded by his close family members, Teijiro died a peaceful death at the age of 78 years old.

 On his death, his sons put drops of beer in his mouth. Teijiro used to enjoy beer and call it his "medicine".

 The memorial service started at 1:30 on February 2 at the Kurosawa Building attended by a large crowd of mourners.

 After the opening remarks by Mr. Oshima, Reverand Kishida read passages from the Bible and mourners joined in a hymn. Then, representatives of the bereaved family, representatives of the employees and other mourners offered incense at the alter. Messages of condolence were delivered by the President of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, President of the Tokyo Rotary Club, and Chancellor of Doshisha University. After the messages of condolence, mourners again joined in a hymn, and Mr. Oshima gave the closing remarks.

 In his remarks, Mr. Oshima noted that Teijiro lay in the casket where his desk had been and where he had sat overseeing his business, and that the gold tie pin placed on the black ribbon on the white cloth placed over his body was presented by the King of Sweden on the King's 70th birthday to Teijiro as Japanese Rotarian with outstanding contribution through the Rotary Club in Sweden. The mourners were all impressed by his great achievement.

  In recognition of his great achievements and distinguished services, the Government awarded late Teijiro Kurosawa with the Order of the Sacred Treasure on February 13. (Recollection)

  I know that I may have to pay large taxes, but I have no intention of incorporating the business while I am alive.

(Excerpt from Asahi Graph dated April, 1950)

  People think that I am very rich, but I am not like that. I just work very hard. I do not mind paying lots of taxes. There are people who make more money than I do, but many such people incorporate their business and work in corporations. Then, they do not have to pay so much taxes.

 Since I have not incorporated my business, I have to pay lots of taxes and I have become the top taxpayer in Japan. Yes, taxes are very high. However if taxes are legally justifiable, you just have to pay them. Rules are rules. After I pay my taxes, I am left with nothing, but the tax bureau can not take away my life. I will just continue to work very hard and contribute to society.

 I feel very thankful. I have become the top taxpayer but it does not mean that I made the most money. I just did not do it very tactfully. Maybe I am just running my business too honestly. Don't you think so?

("Story of New Riches",Monthly "All-Seikatsu"dated Feb,1953)

I have been running a private business. People ask me why I do not incorporate my business and run it as an incorporated company. However, I believe in family-type operation.

  As long as I live, I have no intention of changing the way I run my business. (May 1, 1951 issue of Business Japan )

 Teijiro (75) is an ardent member of the Rotary Club. He does not own a car. He comes to office before 8:00AM by train every day.

 His long-cherished ambition is to build a plant like that of Steinway Piano in the U.S. or Carl Zeiss in Germany, where there is no retirement age and employees can work into their 70's and 80's.

(May 6, 1951 issue of Weekly Asahi)

 He has never counted on others for funding. He has come this far without fighting nature. His philosophy has its root in his favorite book called "The Story of the Heavens" by Sir Robert Ball.

 The book is about the solar system, stellar relationships and movements of celestial bodies.   Celestial bodies follow certain rules in their movements and his thinking is that the humankind must also learn from this example.

(May 1, 1951 issue of Business Japan)

( Teleriter-Kurosawa Printing teletypewriter JP-2 SPR) (receiver-transmitter with transmitting puching machine) 

 Teijiro Kurosawa continued to run his business as a private business and rejected the idea of incorporation. He was stubborn on this point.

  As a result, relentlessly heavy taxes were levied (taxes for non-victims of War and inheritance tax after his death).

 After Teijiro's death, the business was incorporated into a company.

 On October 1, Kurosawa Company, Ltd was founded. 

1956

 In December, Kurosawa Co. Ltd and Fujitsu Limited signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture company.

1957

  On February 1, Kurosawa Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha was established.

The Kamata Plant of the Kurosawa Co. Ltd was moved to the newly established joint venture company. There were 120 employees who moved to the new company.

 Employee housing and school had been separated and sold to pay for the inheritance tax. It took about 6 years to complete the transfer and "Our Village" has ceased to exist.

(Kurosawa Story)

1965

 The computer industry had grown significantly, and the joint venture company outgrew the Kamata plant.

 The plant moved to Minami Tama. At the time the number of employees exceeded 400. (Kurosawa Story)

1976

 The business has grown and the bigger space has become necessary.  The plant was moved to Fukushima and the company name was changed to Fujitsu Isotech.

 (Kurosawa Story)

1979

 Ginza Kurosawa Building was demolished.

1980

 The new 8-story Kurosawa Building was completed.

Documents and Photos provided by

KUROSAWA Co.Ltd.

Chozo Kurosawa

translated to English by Fumiko MAKINOUCHI

translated from English to Japanese by Osamu Kurosawa

ranslated to French by Osamu Kurosawa

Proofread by Hiromi KUROSAWA

Many Thanks

Chozo Kurosawa

Atsushi Kurosawa

Yutaka Kurosawa

Akiko Tejima

Edited and Published by

Osamu KUROSAWA