Senior Advisor Nobuo Ishibashi, the founder of Daiwa House Industry, passed away on February 21, 2003 at the age of 81.

Mr. Ishibashi was born in 1921, the son of a forester in the village of Kawakami in Nara Prefecture. He set up the Company in 1955, and in addition to pioneering the use of steel pipes in place of wood for the structural framework of houses, he developed a prefabricated housing system with shorter completion times and an improved cost performance compared with existing systems. In this way, by helping to supply Japanese society with a sufficient supply of affordable housing, the Company played an important supporting role in Japan's achievement of high economic growth during the sixties and seventies.

Mr. Ishibashi was also the pivotal figure in the expansion of the sphere of operations of our group — under the concept of the "industrialization of construction” — from specialization in residential construction to construction of commercial facilities and the operation of resort hotels and a chain of home centers, as well as other businesses on the periphery of the central housing business.

He was also instrumental in contributing to the development of the housing industry, helping to grow prefabricated housing into a major industry and serving successively as chairman of the Japan Prefabricated Construction Suppliers & Manufacturers Association and the Japan Federation of Housing Organizations.

In his capacity as a representative director, Mr. Ishibashi remained the leader of our group right up to the end. Even on his sickbed, he expressed his fervent hope for the further development of the Japanese economy and the Company's business. He revealed his inextinguishable pioneer spirit by urging us to continue working for the further growth of our group.

In recognition of his sterling work on behalf of the Japanese housing industry, Mr. Ishibashi was posthumously awarded the Second Grade of the Third Rank of Honor and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure on March 28, 2003.