Toyonobu Domen
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He was born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1888 and studied economics at Columbia University in New York, finishing in 1914. He joined Ajinomoto in 1918 and became a director in 1940, 22 years after joining. He advanced to Managing Director in 1943 and Senior Managing Director in 1947, and became President in 1948. While president he also served as a corporate auditor of Sanraku-Ocean from 1951 and of Nihon Dextrose from 1961.
Selection
His predecessor Saburosuke Suzuki became a director in 1917 and President in 1940, and resigned as president in 1947. Toyonobu Domen, then Senior Managing Director, became his successor as president in 1948, a career employee who had joined in 1918 taking over from Saburosuke Suzuki. As of August 1950 the largest shareholder was Shigeaki Suzuki. The change appears to have handed only the direction of management to a career employee while the Suzuki family kept its shares.
Initiatives
His presidency lasted 17 years, from 1948 to May 1965. In the FY ended March 1961, late in his tenure, seasonings such as "AJI-NO-MOTO" accounted for 59.0% of non-consolidated sales, followed by oils, fats, soybeans and others at 13.1%, soybean oil at 10.4%, starch at 9.0% and Mieki seasoning liquid at 8.5%. The product range had broadened to the point where non-seasonings made up 40%. In the same FY ended March 1961, the top shareholders were Toyo Trust and Banking at 6.0%, Sumitomo Trust and Banking at 5.5% and Mitsubishi Trust and Banking at 5.3%, with Shigeaki Suzuki fourth at 4.4%.
Career
Career
Ajinomoto
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1918 | Joined |
| 1940 | Director |
| 1943 | Managing Director |
| 1947 | Senior Managing Director |
| 1948 | President |
| 1965 | Stepped down as President |