15 Facts About Minoru Makihara

Minoru Makihara was a Japanese business executive who served as the chief executive and chairman of Mitsubishi Corporation.

Minoru Makihara's father was a Mitsubishi executive there, and his mother was a kindergarten teacher, librarian, and writer.

Minoru Makihara's father died in 1942, when the ship that he had taken to the then-Japanese-occupied Philippines, as part of a business delegation, was attacked by an American submarine.

Minoru Makihara was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa during his time at Harvard.

Minoru Makihara returned to Japan in the late 1970s, to lead the marine products group that his father had once headed, focusing on exports of salmon and crab.

Minoru Makihara was made the president and chief executive of the group in 1992.

When Minoru Makihara took over as the chief executive, the Mitsubishi group was already Japan's largest trading company.

Minoru Makihara spoke against the closed nature of the Keiretsu, a Japanese corporate structure representing companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings, and emphasizing the need for more transparency.

Minoru Makihara noted that companies in the earlier decade were fueled by the easy money supply bubble in the 1980s, resorting to debt-fueled growth, rather than issuing new equity or focusing on return on equity, resulting in an accumulation of bad debts.

Minoru Makihara was referred to as "the alien," referring to his time spent internationally, and one of his challenges was to convince both employees and the Japanese press of his Japanese credentials.

Minoru Makihara became the group's chairman in 1998 and served in that position until 2004.

Minoru Makihara served on the board of the American multinational technology company IBM.

Minoru Makihara was the vice chairman of Keidanren, the Japan Business Federation, and was a member of the Trilateral Commission, a non-governmental policy coordination group established to foster cooperation between Japan, Europe, and North America.

In 1957, Minoru Makihara married Kikuko Iwasaki, a childhood friend who was the great-granddaughter of the Mitsubishi Group's founder, Yataro Iwasaki.

Minoru Makihara died on December 13,2020, of heart failure in Tokyo.