Oasis won a rare Japanese proxy victory, ousting Fujitec's chairman

Hong Kong-based Oasis Management, Fujitec's largest shareholder with 17%, argued that the Uchiyama founding family, which owned about 6%, exercised undue influence over the elevator maker's board. It sought to replace all outside directors with its own candidates.

At an extraordinary general meeting on February 24, 2023, shareholders ousted three of five outside directors — including board chairman Takakazu Uchiyama — and elected four of six directors nominated by Oasis, a result Reuters called a major win for shareholder activism in Japan.

The reconfigured board unseated Uchiyama as chairman the following month. At the June annual meeting, shareholders rejected his proposals to overhaul the board again, cementing the shift away from family control.

An extraordinary meeting (Feb 2023) ousted three of five outside directors, including the chairman, and elected four of six Oasis nominees — a rare activist win in Japan.

Oasis made the campaign about governance and family control, not just profit.

It ran a rare successful removal vote against incumbent directors in Japan.

Consecutive wins at the extraordinary and annual meetings locked in the change.

In a market where boards rarely lose, a patient fund that frames the fight as family control versus governance can win by turning minority shareholders into a voting bloc.

Oasis said it expected the newly constructed board to relieve Fujitec from Uchiyama family control. Fujitec said it would enhance governance and increase corporate value; the campaign became a reference point for Japan's broader shareholder-activism push.