Noboru Goto
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Born in Tokyo in 1916, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Tokyo Imperial University in 1940. After working at Tokyo Shibaura Electric, he joined Tokyu Corporation in 1945. He was the eldest son of the founder, Keita Goto. When Keihin Electric Express Railway and Odakyu Electric Railway were separated from the Greater Tokyu in the reorganization of June 1948, he joined the boards of Keihin Electric Express Railway that month and Odakyu Electric Railway in December 1951, and in December 1953 became President of Tokyu Land Corporation. His career took him through the management of affiliated companies rather than the parent's own operations.
Selection
In May 1954, at 38, he became President of Tokyu Corporation, succeeding Kokichi Suzuki. His father Keita Goto had returned after his purge from public office was lifted in August 1951 and had moved to Representative Director and Chairman in May 1952. On the same board list, Executive Vice President Isamu Tanaka had taken 43 years from joining Meguro-Kamata Electric Railway in 1926 to reach that post, and Senior Managing Director Torao Mabuchi 40 years from joining Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway in 1926. His appointment just nine years after joining in 1945 appears to have been decided not by seniority but as succession within the founding family.
Initiatives
His tenure lasted 33 years. Taking over his father's vision of area-wide development of the Tama Hills, he pushed land readjustment across 55 districts covering 3,204 hectares, starting with the Nogawa district of Kawasaki in 1959, building as Tama Den-en-toshi a structure in which profits from selling residential land recouped railway investment. In April 1977 he opened the Shin-Tamagawa Line in place of the Tamagawa streetcar line, providing through-service to central Tokyo. The business also expanded into retail, hotels, tourism and aviation, and by 1986 the group comprised 13 listed companies. Non-consolidated revenue grew from ¥4.1 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1954 to ¥201.0 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1985.
Career
Career
Tokyu
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1945 | Joined |
| May 1952 | Director |
| Feb 1953 | Executive Vice President |
| May 1954 | Representative Director, President |
| Dec 1987 | Chairman |
| Dec 1987 | Stepped down as President |
References 3
References (Japanese primary sources)
- 日本企業要覧 1969年版
- 日本企業要覧 1972年版
- 日経ビジネス 1979年7月号「編集長インタビュー」略歴欄