Yotaro Kobayashi
 Yotaro Kobayashi    | |
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| Born | April 25, 1933 London |
| Died | 5 September 2015 (Age 82) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Alma mater | Keio University, Wharton School |
| Member of | Council on Foreign Relations/Global Board of Advisors, Trilateral Commission |
Japanese business executive and Chairman of the Asia-Pacific section of the Trilateral Commission.
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Yotaro Kobayashi was a Japanese business executive and Chairman of the Asia-Pacific section Trilateral Commission.
Early Life
Born in London on April 25, 1933, Yotaro Kobayashi graduated with a bachelor of arts in the Faculty of Economics at Keio University in 1956, and earned his master of business administration at Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, University of Pennsylvania in 1958.
Career
In 1958, he joined Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., and moved to Fuji Xerox in 1963. He was named president and chief executive officer,in 1978 at the age of 44. In 1992, he took on the role of chairman and chief executive officer, and served as chairman of the board from 2004, followed by chief corporate advisor from 2006 and retired from that position in March 31, 2009.
Other Activities
From 1999 to April 2003, he was chairman of Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, and was named a life-time trustee of Keizai Doyukai in 2003.
Kobayashi expanded his activities in international business circles after his becoming chairman of the Committee of Foreign-Affiliated Corporations, Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, and developed his own thoughts on the role of Japan in the world. Based on the recognition that Japan's home base is Asia, he communicated that it is time for Japan to be a bridge between the US and Asia including China. In terms of the relationship with the United States, he took over the post of Mr. Akio Morita, then chairman of Sony, as a member of International Advisory Board of JP Morgan. This opportunity enabled him to enjoy friendship with George P. Shultz, the former U.S. Secretary of State, on a friendly basis.[1]
He also succeeded the position of chairman of the Japan-U.S. Business Council after Morita who fell sick in 1994, and managed the Japan-U.S. Business Conference in which discussions heated over trade frictions.[1]
In the Trilateral Commission in which he had been involved since 1980, he assumed the role of chairman of Japanese Group (now Asia Pacific Group) where he furthered exchange with world leaders. He took lead to expand Japanese Group to Asia Pacific Group, by realizing participation of members from South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the five original ASEAN countries, People's Republic of China and India. As for the relations with Europe, he served as chairman of Japan-EU Business Dialogue Roundtable in 2002.[1]
Finally in relations with China, he served as co-chairman of the New 21st Century Committee for Japan-China Friendship from December 2003 to December 2008. The committee is established based on an agreement at the top-level meeting between Japan and China. Japan and China was in the relation called "cold political relations but hot economic relations", and could not even hold top-level meeting for several years then — the committee, as a non-governmental position, tried to find their way to overcome the difficult situations between the two nations.[1]
He was also heavily involved in the establishment of the Aspen Institute Japan and had been the Institute's first chairman since 1998. The mission of this Institute is to contribute to the cultivation of leadership abilities.[1]
