Background
Kotetsu Oki was born the second son of Tokichi Morino in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture.
Kotetsu Oki was born the second son of Tokichi Morino in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture.
He went to Tokyo (1873) and was employed by the Oki Shoten. Was adopted by the Oki Family, opened a new store in Nihonbashi in downtown Tokyo, manufactured and sold many new kinds of patent medicines besides Gozoen which the Oki Shoten had been manufacturing for generations. The company expanded under his management. He also organized the Seitokukai Association, an organization of patent medicine firms in Tokyo, and founded the Nihon Pharmaceutical Company. He was president of the Tokyo Patent Medicine Dealers Association and the Yokohama Savings Bank.