Hitachi Transport System (HTS) – the beginning

Hitachi was founded in 1910 by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira. The company's first product was Japan's first 5-horsepower electric induction motor, initially developed for use in copper mining. Odaira's company soon became the domestic leader in electric motors and electric power industry infrastructure.

The company began as an in-house venture of Fusanosuke Kuhara's mining company in Hitachi, Ibaraki prefecture. Odaira moved headquarters to Tokyo in 1918. Long before that, he coined the company’s logo by superimposing two kanji characters: hi meaning “sun” and tachi meaning “rise”. The young company's national aspirations were conveyed by its original brand mark, which evoked Japan's imperial rising sun flag.

Hitachi Transport System (initially known as ‘Hitachi Express’) was established as a separate entity in February 1950. Hitachi Transport System’s origin was from the transport and logistics departments in the Hitachi factories.

Over the next 60 years, HTS has built up a reputation for quality with customer focus at its core, not just from within the Hitachi group but from clients across all industry sectors.