was a Japanese corporate executive. He held the positions of the chairman of the board of directors of

Toray Industries is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan that specializes in industrial products centered on technologies in organic synthetic chemistry, polymer chemistry, and biochemistry. Its founding business areas were fibers and textiles, ...

, vice-president of

Mitsui Bank was a major Japanese bank from 1876 to 1990. It merged with Taiyo Kobe Bank to form Mitsui Taiyo Kobe Bank (MTKB), which was renamed The Sakura Bank in April 1992. Sakura Bank is now part of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). History T ...

, president of Mitsui Petrochemicals Industries, vice-chairman of

Nihon Keidanren The is an economic organization founded in May 2002 by amalgamation of Keidanren (, Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, established 1946; name sometimes used alone as abbreviation for whole organization) and Nikkeiren (, Japan Federatio ...

(

Japan Business Federation The is an economic organization founded in May 2002 by amalgamation of Keidanren (, Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, established 1946; name sometimes used alone as abbreviation for whole organization) and Nikkeiren (, Japan Federatio ...

), chairman of Japan Chemical Fibers Association and others. He was also general manager of Tokyo Metropolis of

Ise Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inner ...

Revered Board. He dedicated himself to reconstructing

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

as the 4th chairman of audit committee thereof. He received Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

in 1979.

Biography

Yasui was born in

Hikone 280px, Hikone City Hall is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 111,958 in 49066 households and a population density of 570 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Hikone is ...

Shiga is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Pr ...

. He carried on his father's name, Kizo. The last Kizo Yasui, father of this Kizo Yasui, was nicknamed Kōshō Chōchō［Commercial College Town Mayor］because he was elected Town Mayor of Hikone Town against his will while he was in Tokyo to negotiate the establishment of Hikone Commercial College（now, the Faculty of Economics of

Shiga University , or is a national university in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, with campuses in the cities of Ōtsu and Hikone. Founded in 1874, it was chartered as a university in 1949. Faculties & Graduate Schools Shiga University has three faculties, the Fac ...

）and resigned his post of the Town Mayor of

when he saw new-facility construction of Hikone Commercial College.Y. Abe, ''Shiga Daigaku Keizai Keiei Kenkyū-sho Chōsa-Shiryō-shippō ⑨'' ［''Departmental Bulletin Paper ⑨ of The Institute for Economic and Business Research Shiga University''］ 351 THE HIKONE RONSO 159, 162–163 (2004)
/ref> His older sister, Kinu, married into a distinguished family in

Akasaka-juku (Nakasendō) was the fifty-sixth of the 69 Stations of the Nakasendō, sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It is located in former Mino Province in what is now Akasaka neighborhood of the city of Ōgaki, Gifu ...

, the Yabashis that

Emperor Shōwa Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

officially visited in 1946. Otohiko Hara ( jp), formerly Otohiko Yabashi, is his nephew. Shinya Yabashi and

Hideroku Hara Hideroku Hara (原秀六; born 1956) is a Japanese legal scholar and professor emeritus at Shiga University. He was granted the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Law for his study of ''The Legal Theory on the Distribution of the Synergistic Ef ...

( jp) are his grandnephews. Yasui graduated from Shiga First Junior High School (now, Shiga Prefectural Hikone Higashi High School) and from Tokyo College of Commerce (now,

Hitotsubashi University is a national university located in Tokyo, Japan. It has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Chiyoda. One of the top 9 Designated National University in Japan, Hitotsubashi is a relatively small institution specialized solely in social sciences ...

) in 1926 under the old system of education. While in the College, he joined the seminar of Prof. Kin-no-suke Otsuka. He entered

after graduation. He became managing director, senior managing director and vice-president of

in 1959, president of Mitsui Petrochemicals Industries (now,

Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese chemicals company listed on the Nikkei with business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. It is one of the leading chemical companies in Japan and is part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company mainly ...

) in 1961, vice-president of Tōyō Rayon (now,

) in 1963, chairman of the board of directors of

in 1971 and senior advisor to the board of directors of

in 1977. During this period, he successively held the positions of vice-chairman of

(

chairman of Japan Chemical Fibers Association, general manager of Tokyo Metropolis of

Revered Board, member of the board of Japan Association of Corporate Executives, member of Tax Research Committee of

Prime Minister's Office (Japan) The Prime Minister's Official Residence is the official workplace and residence of the Prime Minister of Japan. It is commonly referred to as , , or simply . Located at 2-3-1 Nagata-chō, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100–8968, it is diagonally adjacent ...

, member of National Language Council of Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and so on. He received Grand Cordon of the

in 1979. He died in 1983 at the age of 83 of pneumonia. The chairman of the funeral ceremony of Kizo Yasui was

Fumio Takagi was a Japanese high-level official. Career Fumio Takagi entered the Ministry of Finance in 1943 after the graduation from the Tokyo Imperial University. He moved up through the ranks to the level of Director-General of the Tax Bureau, Deputy Vice ...

（ jp）, former Vice Minister of Ministry of Finance and former president of

Kinship

*father – Kizo Yasui (entrepreneur from

Meiji Era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

. He was nicknamed Kōshō Chōchō（Commercial College Town Mayor） because he was elected Town Mayor of Hikone Town against his will while he was in Tokyo to negotiate the establishment of Hikone Commercial College（now, the Faculty of Economics,

）and resigned his post of the Town Mayor of

when he saw new-facility construction of Hikone Commercial College.) *sister – Kinu Yabashi (née Yasui, married Jiro Yabashi, Audit & Supervisory board member of Juroku Bank (See also Tom and Jerry#Outside the United States to know

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

-based Juroku Bank)) *nephew – Otohiko Hara ( jp) (Formerly Otohiko Yabashi. Former Chief executive officer of

Unitika is a Japanese company based in Osaka. Primarily, the company produces various textiles, glass, plastics, and carbon fiber products. They are also known for their films, which are used in consumer products like athletic apparel and food packag ...

Trading. One of the first Japanese businesspersons who lead Nichibo (Unitika) to the first overseas expansion of Japanese corporations after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

) *grandnephew – Shinya Yabashi (President of Yabashi Industries, Chairman of Ogaki Municipal Board of Education) *grandnephew –

( jp) (Legal Scholar, Professor at

)Shiga University : Hideroku Hara
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yasui, Kizo 1899 births 1983 deaths Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class Toray Industries people