BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Kasho with the goal of furthering the integration ofthe two firms’operations. Eizo Takeyama, then ToyotaTsusho’s chairman of the board, emphasized in anaddress at the merger ceremony on April 3, 2000, thatthe merger was not simply the pursuit of scale but was“to multiply the strengths in each other’s business areas,to carefully expand areas of strength and areas of growthpotential, and to build expertise and enhance functionalityto please customers so that the company can survive inthis competitive era and go on to continue to win.”Hestressed that rather than treat this as a simple mergerand acquisition, the merger must maximize synergies toleverage against future challenges and be the catalyst togrow the company synergistically.Kasho’s 77 years of history were witness to thedevelopment of a corporate culture that prized a levelof freedom that resulted in employees who cultivatedthe passion to innovate. And more than anything, it wasthese two qualities that Toyota Tsusho gained through themerger.Section 2 Merging with Tomen Corp.1 History of Tomen Corp.The history of Tomen Corp. dates back to 1920. Theenterprise first appeared when it inherited the operationsof the Cotton Department at Mitsui & Co. and establisheditself in Osaka-shi under the name Toyo Menka.Another company that played a major role in the CottonDepartment of Mitsui was Toyoda Boshoku Corp., whichwas established in 1918 by Sakichi Toyoda, the father ofthe Toyota Group. Sakichi enjoyed a deep relationshipwith Mitsui and received advice and recommendationsconcerning management from the manager of Mitsui’sOsaka branch, Kamenosuke Fujino.Many of the textile products manufactured byToyoda Boshoku went through Toyo Menka for exportto Southeast Asian countries, extending into India. Infact, most of the textile machinery installed at ToyodaBoshoku was procured through Toyo Menka.Strong ties existed even in personal relationships. Theman who married Sakichi’s daughter Aiko, who was alsothe younger sister to Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC)founder Kiichiro Toyoda, was Risaburo Kodama (whofollowed the Japanese practice of adopting the moreprominent family’s name; in this case becoming RisaburoToyoda). Risaburo became the managing director ofToyoda Boshoku, and his older brother, Ichizo Kodama,became the first senior managing director of Toyo Menkawhile also serving as Cotton Department general managerat the Osaka branch of Mitsui & Co. Ties between theKodama family and the Toyoda family ran deep, withtheir names listed as the major shareholders of ToyodaBoshoku. Ichizo Kodama even served as matchmaker forKiichiro and his wife, Hatako.Led by Ichizo Kodama and benefiting from thebusiness relationships with and of Toyoda Boshoku, ToyoMenka began to deal in machinery, metals, foods, andother products after World War II as it started to diversifyand expand its overseas businesses. In 1970, Toyo Menkawas renamed Tomen Corp. and proceeded to lead infive segments: chemicals, food, textiles, electronics,machinery, and energy. Tomen built a structure as ageneral trading company that enabled it to expand itsbusiness to North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.However, when the 1990 bursting of the bubble economyresulted in bad assets in resort and housing developmentTomen was swallowed up amid the restructuring ofthe financial industry and the reorganization of generaltrading companies.Ichizo KodamaTomen Osaka head office buildingHistory121