Sadao Shibatani
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University in March 1932 and joined the company that April. He became a Director in May 1961, 29 years after joining. He became Managing Director in November 1964, Senior Managing Director in May 1969 and Executive Vice President in May 1974. He also served as a Director of Kobe Electric Railway from November 1973 and as its corporate auditor from May 1975, overseeing an affiliated railway as well.
Selection
He became President in June 1978, when Kaoru Mori moved to Chairman. In the same month's reshuffle, Masashi Shimizu, Chairman since February 1968, stepped back to Director and Senior Adviser, and Kohei Kobayashi, born in 1928, was promoted to Senior Managing Director. That was 19 years younger than Shibatani, born in 1909. The appointment appears to have entrusted the company to a senior career employee who had spent four years as Executive Vice President until it could be handed to the next generation.
Initiatives
What the corporate history in the annual securities reports records for his tenure is the opening of hotels: Kyoto New Hankyu Hotel in July 1981 and New Hankyu Hotel Annex in July 1985. Works such as the new line openings and the expansion of Osaka-Umeda Station that had continued under his predecessors do not appear in the history for these eight years. The phase of expanding the network appears to have ended, with investment shifting toward how to use the assets the company held in Umeda and along its lines.
Career
Career
Hankyu Hanshin Holdings
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1977 | Representative Director, President |
| 1986 | Stepped down as President |