Investors in Japanese elevator-maker Fujitec voted on Friday to oust three of five incumbent outside directors, the company said, giving an activist fund the kind of win that's still rare for shareholder activism in Japan.

The three rejected incumbents in the vote, taken at an extraordinary general shareholders' meeting, included the chairman of the board. Investors also elected four of six new directors nominated by Oasis Management, Fujitec's top shareholder with a 17% stake.

Though short of giving the fund control of the board, the victory is a departure for Japan, where activists have had little success to date in convincing shareholders to back proposals to fire incumbent directors.