horiba, who was in his second year at kyoto university, left the university in 1945 to start his own business, horiba radio laboratory (hrl). in addition to producing electronic parts and repairing electronic instruments, they reconditioned batteries. the power distribution system after the war was unreliable, so there was a strong demand for storage batteries for electric lights that could be used in the case of blackouts. horiba acquired discarded storage batteries and selenium rectifiers which the company nihon denchi had produced for wartime use. sales of horiba's reconditioned "teidento" batteries were a profitable source of income for the horiba company.