is a Japanese politician who was the president of Walt Disney Enterprises of Japan from 1989 to 1994. As a merchandise representative in the early 1960s he was responsible for establishing the enforcement of Disney's

intellectual property rights Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

in Japan.

Early life and career

Yokoyama was born on 31 March 1927 in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

to a chef and restauranteur. At the age of 17, he entered a boy's military school until August 1945 after Japan had surrendered to the Allies during

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 opposing ...

. After that, he worked in an iron factory while studying English at a local

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. In 1951, he enrolled in the University of Keio studying business management and graduated in 1955. After graduating, he joined Morinaga Confectionery Company as the marketing manager. In 1961, Yokoyama was selected to join

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

as a merchandise representative. With the prominence of fraudulent Disney character merchandising and advertising, Yokoyama created the Disney Licensing Association. In 1989, Yokoyama was promoted to become the president of Walt Disney Enterprises of Japan. Yokoyama retired in September 1994.

References

1927 births Keio University alumni Disney executives Possibly living people {{DEFAULTSORT:Yokoyama, Matsuo