Kawazaki Heavy Industries

Kawazaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (河崎重工業株式会社) is a Yamataian public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of motorcycles, heavy equipment, aerospace and defence equipment, rolling stock and ships. It is also active in the production of industrial robots, gas turbines, boilers and other industrial products. The company is named after the founding Kawazaki clan, and has dual headquarters in Niihama and Heian. Kawazaki is known as one of the three largest heavy industrial manufacturers of Yamatai, alongside Mitsuhishi Heavy Industries and Shinohara Heavy Industries.

Kawazaki Heavy Industries was originally part of the Kawazaki Zaibatsu conglomerate prior to 1920. In 1920, much of the Kawazaki Zaibatsu was nationalised under the Strategic Industries Consolidation Law, with only Kawazaki Heavy Industries, Kawazaki Aircraft Company, and some other minor subsidiaries remaining under private ownership. After the Second Escar-Varunan War, Kawazaki started a shipbreaking subsidiary which eventually became Kawazaki Shipbuilding Corporation. Most of the subsidiaries that had been nationalied in 1920 did not rejoin Kawazaki during the privatisation period in the 1950s. In 1959, Kawazaki purchased the Satsuma Light Vehicle Factory, establishing the Kawazaki Heavy Industries Motorcycle and Engine subsidiary. Kawazaki Heavy Industries completed a merger with Kawazaki Aircraft in 1964, with Kawazaki Aircraft becoming the Kawazaki Aerospace Corporation as a wholly-owned subsidiary.