BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

ColumnTojiro Okamoto Dedicated Himself to Toyota Tsusho andthe Toyota GroupThe first person who must be mentioned when recounting the history of ToyotaTsusho is Tojiro Okamoto, who served as the company’s first president. Okamoto wasborn into the family of a former feudal retainer in Owari province. After graduatingfrom Nagoya Commercial Academy, he studied at Eastman Business College in theU.S. and then joined Mitsui & Co. (later transfered to Toyo Menka) in Japan. Afterthat, he moved to Toyoda Boshoku Corp. When Toyota Tsusho’s earliest predecessor,Toyota Kinyu was founded, he was promoted to auditor and later became anexecutive at the renamed company predecessor Toyota Sangyo. After the war,when Toyota Sangyo was designated a holding company, he negotiated with GHQ,making good use of his English ability, to establish Nisshin Tsusho.His foresight was involved in the establishment of more than 20 affiliatedcompanies. He is known as one of“Three Great Nobles of Toyota”together withAkiji Nishikawa and Taizo Ishida and contributed not only to Toyota Tsusho butalso to the entire Toyota Group. For his efforts, he received the Order of the SacredTreasure, Third Class, from the emperor in November 1965. He died on December19, 1983, at the age of 94.“My ideal for Nisshin Tsusho [a general trading company newly formed after thewar] is,”he was known to say,“to be a general trading company in Nagoya.”Howwould Toyota Tsusho appear to Okamoto today, having grown well beyond thebounds of Nagoya?Taizo IshidaTojiro OkamotoHistory81