Gisaburo Shiono
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Born the eldest son of the first Gisaburo Shiono, who opened a drug wholesale shop in Doshomachi, Osaka in 1878, he succeeded his father in 1920 as President of Shionogi Shoten Co., Ltd. and took the name of the second Gisaburo. He became President the year after the private shop was reorganized into a stock company with capital of ¥1.5 million in June 1919. A manager who carried forward the shift from drug wholesaling to drug manufacturing from within the family business, he also held industry posts such as chairman of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Associations of Japan, president of the Osaka Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and head of the Osaka drug wholesalers' association.
Selection
He became President in 1920, succeeding his father, the founder and first Gisaburo Shiono, in a succession within the founding family. It was not an outside appointment or a promotion won through internal competition, but a second generation taking over the family business as it stood. During his tenure, in July 1943, Shionogi Shoten changed its name to Shionogi & Co. The company had by then spread branches, offices and plants across Korea, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, and in March 1945 it was designated a munitions company and was rushing production on orders from bodies such as the Army Medical Supply Depot.
Initiatives
On August 15, 1945, right after the Emperor's radio broadcast announcing surrender, he gathered employees at the head office and announced a policy of aiming for world-class technology, saying the company would now be competing with the world. With the loss of all its overseas operations and the cutoff of wartime compensation, extraordinary losses reached ¥29.33 million, and Shionogi, with capital of ¥12.23 million, was designated a special accounting company in August 1946. It escaped the designation by raising capital to ¥60 million in July 1948 and listed on the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges in May 1949. From July to September of that year it closed or sold three plants, including Yodogawa, the birthplace of its manufacturing business, consolidating production at Kuise, Urae and Ako.
Career
Career
Shionogi
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1920 | President |
| Jul 1943 | Renamed Shionogi as Representative Director, President |
| 1953 | Stepped down as President |