Tomijiro Kobayashi
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
The first Tomijiro Kobayashi had no children, and his elder brother's son Tokujiro became his heir. Tokujiro joined Kobayashi Tomijiro Shoten as deputy proprietor in 1893 and assisted the founder from the first toothpaste production. In 1906 he set out store rules codifying working conditions, and in 1908 he replaced the sole proprietorship with the silent partnership Kobayashi Shoten (with capital of ¥300,000), running the business in practice as the partnership's deputy representative. In 1911 he introduced full Sundays off, ahead of the rest of the industry.
Selection
In the toothpaste market, other companies' brands were stepping up their offensive and imported Colgate toothpaste had also arrived, threatening to undermine the business he had built with the founder. In the midst of this, on December 13, 1910, the first Tomijiro died at 59, and on the 19th of that month, after the funeral, Tokujiro took the name Tomijiro Kobayashi II. In 1913 he summoned managers scattered across the country to the Tokyo head office and switched to a system in which all instructions and orders came from head office executives. Then, in September 1918, he converted the silent partnership into Kobayashi Shoten Co., Ltd., a joint-stock company with capital of ¥1 million, and became its President.
Initiatives
In 1912 he decided to specialize in toothpaste, returning all the exclusive sales rights for other companies' products that the firm had handled since its founding. With the launch of Kobayashi Shoten Co., Ltd. in September 1918 and the founding of Lion Soap in August 1919, he separated toothpaste from soap and served as president of both companies. When the Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1923 destroyed the Honjo plant, his only production base, he decided to build a branch plant in Osaka and resumed shipments on October 27. The operating loss of over ¥1 million in the second half of that year equaled the company's capital. In May 1935 he consolidated all functions at the Tokyo plant, and that December handed the presidency to Executive Vice President Kiichi Kobayashi and became Senior Advisor.
Career
Career
Kobayashi Shoten
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Sep 1918 | President |
| Dec 1935 | Director, Senior Advisor |
| Dec 1935 | Stepped down as President |