Noguchi Shitagau 野口遵 was born in Kanazawa in 1873. He studied electrical engineering and worked at the Japanese branch of Siemens & Halske for four years from 1898. In 1908 he studied electrical engineering in Berlin. He used his good knowledge of and connections to cutting-edge German chemical technology to build up the Nitchitsu industrial group, which included fertilizer and electricity production from hydroelectric power plants. He became involved in the Korean peninsula in 1924. His company produced more than a third of Korea's industrial output. In 1941, he donated a lot of money to a foundation for Koreans who wanted to study in Japan, which still exists today, and founded the Noguchi Research Institute. He died in 1944.

In the north of the Korean peninsula, Noguchi built the largest combine in Japan's colonies from 1924 onwards, which employed 45,000 people and mainly produced ammonium sulfate – and caused environmental damage there, as well as in Japan (Minamata).