Shōjirō_Ishibashi
Shōjirō Ishibashi
Japanese businessman and the founder of Bridgestone Corporation
Shōjirō Ishibashi (石橋 正二郎, Ishibashi Shōjirō, February 1, 1889 – September 11, 1976) was a Japanese businessman who founded the Bridgestone Corporation, the world's largest maker of tires,[1] in 1931 in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. the company was named after its founder: in the Japanese language, ishi means "stone" and hashi (here voiced to bashi) means "bridge",[1] whence the origin of the company's name in English.[1]
After the end of the Second World War and the subsequent occupation of Japan, Ishibashi became extensively embroiled in Japanese politics. Ishibashi was close to Ichiro Hatoyama, who was a rival to prime minister Shigeru Yoshida.[2] Ishibashi became an advisor to Hatoyama on Japan's post-war economic development, expressing his views on the economic policy of the parties of Hatoyama's political affiliation.[3]
Ishibashi's daughter, Yasuko Hatoyama, became heir to Ishibashi's considerable fortune and has used the inheritance to fund her family's political causes.[1] She married former Japanese Foreign Minister Iichirō Hatoyama.[1] The couple had two sons, who are Ishibashi's grandchildren – politicians Kunio Hatoyama, who served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, and Yukio Hatoyama, who was Prime Minister from September 16, 2009, to June 8, 2010.[1][4]
Ishibashi's motto for Bridgestone was to "serve society with products of superior quality". He founded Ishibashi Cultural Center and the Bridgestone Museum of Art (also located at 10 Kyobashi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104) and was a major benefactor of the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, having also constructed the building in which it is housed.