Goichi Kato
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He graduated from the law faculty of Tokyo Imperial University in 1918 and joined Mitsui & Co., working in its coal department. In July 1944 he left Mitsui & Co. for Mitsui Shipbuilding, becoming a Director in May 1946 and Managing Director that December. He was not a shipbuilding engineer but an executive who had come up on the commercial side of a trading house. His background differed from that of the officers around him, such as Executive Vice President Shigematsu Tanaka and Senior Managing Director Tamao Omae, engineers who had moved over from Mitsui & Co.'s shipbuilding department.
Selection
He became President in May 1947, a year after becoming a Director in May 1946. Mitsui Shipbuilding was created in July 1937 when Mitsui & Co.'s shipbuilding department was spun off, and as Mitsui & Co. headed toward dissolution under the zaibatsu breakup, Kato, who had come from the trading company itself, took over management. Shigematsu Tanaka and Tamao Omae, both of whom became directors in 1946, were career men from the shipbuilding department and supported Kato as Senior Managing Director and Managing Director. He was chosen over career insiders, apparently to maintain ties with the Mitsui core.
Initiatives
His tenure ran 13 years, from May 1947 to May 1960, spanning postwar recovery to the threshold of rapid growth. The company listed on the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges in May 1949 and established Sanyu Fudosan in April 1958. Non-consolidated net sales grew elevenfold, from ¥1.9 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1950 to ¥21.9 billion in FY ended March 1960, just before he stepped back to Chairman. He also served as a director of Keidanren, Nikkeiren and the Shipbuilders' Association, and as vice president of the Japan-Denmark Society. The company had concluded a technical alliance with Denmark's B&W for marine diesel engines in August 1926.
Career
Career
Mitsui E&S
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1944 | Joined Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding |
| May 1946 | Director |
| Dec 1946 | Managing Director |
| May 1947 | President |
| May 1960 | Chairman |
| May 1960 | Stepped down as President |
| Jun 1966 | Senior Advisor |