Chutaro Kawada

Kawada Industries Inc. was founded in 1922 by Chutaro Kawada. The Kawadas descend from the metalworkers who made swords for the old Samurai of Japan. Today, the company is less about instruments of war and more about the infrastructure of modern society: bridges, steel building structures, robotics, and aircraft. I sat down with Kawada, president of his family's company since 2005, to talk about the relationship between tradition and adaptation, experience and innovation, and how he's achieved a balance worthy of a Samurai blade.