Masao Horiba
| Masao Horiba | |
|---|---|
Masao Horiba in 2006
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| Native name | 堀場 雅夫 |
| Born |
December 1, 1924 Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan |
| Died | July 14, 2015 (aged 90) |
| Residence | Japan |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Fields | Chemistry, technology |
| Institutions | Horiba, Ltd. |
| Alma mater | Kyoto University |
| Notable awards | Pittcon Heritage Award |
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 The Horiba Mexa-200: “a major element in protecting air quality and combating smog”, Chemical Heritage Foundation
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Masao Horiba (堀場 雅夫 Horiba Masao?, December 1, 1924 – July 14, 2015) was a Japanese businessman. In 1945, he founded Horiba Radio Laboratory, now Horiba Ltd., a manufacturer of advanced analytical and measurement technology. Masao Horiba received several awards from the Japanese government including a national Blue Ribbon Medal, and was the first non-American to receive the Pittcon Heritage Award.
Masao Horiba was born on December 1, 1924, in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. He was the second son of Shinkichi Horiba, a chemistry professor at Kyoto Imperial University, and his wife Mikiko. As a child, Horiba suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. He attended Kyoto Teachers' School's Elementary School and Konan Junior High and Senior High Schools in Kobe, Japan.
Originally interested in mathematics and astronomy, Horiba was introduced to nuclear physics by one of his high school teachers at the Konan Boys' High School. He received a B.S. in physics, and hoped to study nuclear physics with Bunsaku Arakatsu at Kyoto University. However, further study in nuclear physics was not possible in post-war Japan. The American authorities had banned such study, and instruments and testing devices had been removed or destroyed.
Horiba, who was in his second year at Kyoto University, left the university in 1945 to start his own business, Horiba Radio Laboratory (HRL). In addition to producing electronic parts and repairing electronic instruments, they reconditioned batteries. The power distribution system after the war was unreliable, so there was a strong demand for storage batteries for electric lights that could be used in the case of blackouts. Horiba acquired discarded storage batteries and selenium rectifiers which the company Nihon Denchi had produced for wartime use. Sales of Horiba's reconditioned "Teidento" batteries were a profitable source of income for the Horiba company.
One of the instruments that Horiba produced and repaired was an electric-pulse oscillator, used in brain surgery. When an oscillator stopped working in the middle of an operation, Masao Horiba was called upon to make emergency repairs. He got the instrument working so the surgeons could finish the operation, and then took the instrument home to examine it in more detail. Examination of the components showed that an electrolytic capacitor had failed. When it proved difficult to buy low-cost reliable replacements, Horiba started producing electrolytic capacitors. By integrating quality control into the production process, he was able to produce high-quality products. He partnered with an investor but their plans to build a capacitor plant fell through when the Korean war caused Japanese metal prices to rise.
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