For the first time since 2009, Chairman Akio Toyoda did not chair the general meeting, but instead joined President Koji Sato and the other current executives in answering shareholder questions.
Over-indulging in motorsport?
――Aren’t you spending too much time on motorsports? To put it bluntly, isn’t this just indulging the Chairman in his hobbies—what do you think?
This was the other query fielded by Chairman Toyoda. The last question of the day, it came from a shareholder who was “shocked” by the certification issue revelations and concerned that the company’s governance had broken down.
Motorsports are both the starting point and the cutting edge of Toyota’s efforts to make ever-better cars. Yet, from an outsider’s perspective, it may all just look like a bit of fun.
“If you’re asking me what I think, I’m not sure how to answer that...” began Chairman Toyoda.
Chairman Toyoda
At the time of our recall problems in 2010, I decided that I would personally bear responsibility for Toyota’s past, present, and future, and that decision has brought us here today.
Although 14 years have passed since then, I still see myself as the person responsible for the Toyota Group. If you look up the word “governance,” it means to oversee, command, or administer, originally referring to steering or guiding a ship.
In my mind, governance is not about commanding or administering but creating a genba where each individual can think and act on their own initiative.
Unfortunately, my presence and actions tend to be seen as those of a cloistered ruler indulging in his hobbies. The word often used is insei, which, according to books on the subject, stems from Emperor Go-Sanjo, who abdicated the throne while still in his prime to avoid the prospect of regency rule.
Nowadays, the term has negative connotations, such as problems caused by the elderly, but I hope you will appreciate that, in its original sense, it is about making a bold decision to usher in a new era.
I constantly remind President Sato and the other executives that I’m here to take responsibility while they make the decisions and put them into action. They can always come to me to discuss anything.
I have no intention of second-guessing or correcting executive members' judgments. Instead, I hope that by consulting on various topics upfront, younger leaders can learn from my failures, helping them to make resolute decisions and grow as individuals.
If that’s what you call insei, then I will gladly wear the label. My reason for creating a Group vision was governance, to help steer the fleet that is the Toyota Group.
I felt that in order for us to move forward into the future, we needed a vision—something to point us in the right direction, a place workers can return to when they lose their way.
The word doraku (meaning hobby or indulgence) is written with the characters for “road” or “path” and “enjoy.” “Inventing our path forward, together”—with this vision as our navigation chart, I will take responsibility for leading the Toyota Group's voyage as we pursue proper monozukuri and seek to transform into a mobility company.
Together with the executive team, we are all working to create the future, and I hope that you, as shareholders, will offer even greater support to the new Toyota.
As it happens, Chairman Toyoda previously explained his interpretation of doraku during a Toyota Times News livestream announcing the company’s leadership change.
“I came to understand that the real meaning is not negative but closer to ‘mastering a practice,’” he said during the broadcast. “What Master Driver Morizo and incoming President Sato have in common is that they both aim to create cars for enjoying the road.”
Both then and at this shareholders' meeting, Chairman Toyoda kept his gaze forward as he spoke. Yet those words clearly seemed to be words of support aimed at the man seated beside him, President Sato.
