Yutaka katayama biography

Nissan legend Yutaka Katayama, the man known as “Mr.
Born in 1967 in Tochigi Prefecture.
Yutaka Katayama, also known as Mr. K, was a Japanese automotive executive who was employed by Nissan and served as the first president of Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A.

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Yutaka Katayama, better known as the “Father of Z,” has passed away at the old age of 105, his son announced on Saturday, Feb. 21.

Katayama was a former president of Nissan Motor’s U.S. operation and was responsible of establishing Nissan as a global brand during the ’70s, a very crucial moment in the company’s history. However, if there’s one thing that immortalized Katayama, it is none other than the legendary Z-car.

During the late ’60s, Nissan Motors was a relatively small automaker and realized the importance of introducing a stylish GT car if it wanted to attract attention from the global market. Nissan envisioned a sports car that would combine style, performance, and affordability and named it the Fairlady Z. The final product combined an attractive European sports car exterior styling with a robust 2.4 liter inline-6 engine producing 151 horsepower.

Before the Fairlady Z arrived to North America, Katayama recognized that the “Fairlady” moniker would not be popular in the U.S. market, and decided to replace all Nis

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Life and Times of Mr. K: Yutaka Katayama

Born in September 1909, in what is now Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Mr. K joined the company in 1935 and was assigned to the Administration Department, first handling publicity and then advertising.

He made one of the first color films of a Datsun on Japanese roads and later filmed motor sport races across the globe, raising the bar for decades of visual story telling ahead.

With a love of cars and a flare for promotion, he built the Datsun brand, Nissan's initial brand name in the U.S., from scratch.

He had first visited the U.S. as an assistant on a high-speed vessel carrying raw silk in 1927 while a student at Keio University.

In his storied career, he was team manager as two Datsun 210s were entered in a grueling rally circumnavigating the Australian continent. The subsequent victory instantly catapulted the brand into worldwide renown and set the stage for Datsun exports.

Notably, he put together the key concepts for the Z-car, contributing significantly to the birth of an exceptional sports car still revered by dri

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Yutaka Katayama

Japanese businessman (1909–2015)

Yutaka Katayama (片山豊, Katayama Yutaka, born Yutaka Asoh; 15 September 1909 – 19 February 2015), also known as Mr. K, was a Japanese automotive executive who was employed by Nissan and served as the first president of Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A. Katayama expanded Nissan's focus from economy vehicles towards sportier vehicles, and is regarded by Datsun/Nissan Z Car enthusiasts as the father of the Z-Car, as well as the Datsun 510.^[1]

Early years

Asoh was born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, the second of four children of a well-off businessman whose postings took the family to various places in Japan and also to Taiwan. While in Taiwan, the young Yutaka fell ill with malaria and was sent to the estate of his paternal grandfather, a wealthy landowner in Saitama Prefecture, to convalesce and attend school. He would gain his first exposure to the United States in mid-1929, while he was preparing to enter his father's alma mater of Keio University. At that time, he got a job as ship's clerk and assistan