Toyota chairman's pay hits record ¥1.9 billion despite scandals
Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday its chairman received a pay package worth around 1.95 billion yen for fiscal 2024, the largest in the company's history and up 20 percent from the previous year, despite a reduction tied to a series of quality scandals.
Akio Toyoda still received record-high compensation for the fourth straight year, reflecting the Japanese automaker's strong performance.
"Compensations for the chairman, vice chairman and president were reduced to reflect their responsibility on the issues," Toyota said, referring to the scandals involving the firm and its subsidiaries.
President Koji Sato was paid 826 million yen, while former Vice Chairman Shigeru Hayakawa, who resigned on June 12 following an annual shareholders' meeting, received 365 million yen, according to an annual securities report.
Companies in Japan are required to disclose information on executives who receive 100 million yen or more in annual compensation.
Following the scandals, the automaker also said in its report that it would work to prevent a recurrence.
© KYODO
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asahi Shimbun
26 minutes ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Hotels work to retain foreign staff to tackle labor shortage
Nguyen Thi Thuy and Nguyen Thi Nhung who work at a hotel operated by Sumitomo Realty and Development Co. in Tokyo's Ota Ward in June (Takeshi Owada) As inbound tourism to Japan skyrockets, the hospitality industry is facing a labor shortage and is increasingly relying on foreign staff to clean rooms, make beds and keep hotels running. Hotel operators are therefore enhancing their efforts to train and retain foreign staff to secure workers. On June 17, a reception was held at a hall in Haneda Airport for Vietnamese technical intern trainees working at a hotel owned by Sumitomo Realty and Development Co. A video of the event will be shown to their families in Vietnam later. The group hired its first 80 Vietnamese trainees in 2019, and in 2024, it increased the number to 400. They are all Vietnamese women and, between them, oversee about 3,500 rooms out of the group's total of about 5,350 hotel rooms. Tomoyuki Komori, president of Villa Fontaine Hotel, which is operated by the company, said, 'They are extremely talented. They greet guests with a smile, so they have a great reputation with the guests.' Komori said the hotel plans to hire more staff in the future. The labor shortage in the industry is serious. According to a labor force survey by the internal affairs ministry, the number of employees in the hospitality industry stood at 580,000 as of 2024 and has not recovered to its pre-pandemic level of 650,000 in 2019. The employment vacancy rate in the accommodation and food services industry was 4.4 percent, higher than the 2.9 percent rate for all industries, according to a survey conducted by the labor ministry on employment trends for the first half of 2024. For this reason, hotel operators are turning to foreign staff as the human resources needed to support on-site operations, and are working to retain them by providing detailed support. Sumitomo Realty and Development promotes foreign staff to on-site supervisor positions, or other positions with salary increases, after three or five years of service as incentives to stay with the company. Particular attention is paid to the families of foreign workers. Since 2019, the company has held a total of eight company information sessions and get-togethers for families in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, showing videos of their children at work and enjoying barbecues. Nguyen Thi Thuy, 23, is a staff member who joined the company in 2023. 'I want to make use of what I have learned when I return home after gaining experience,' she said. Another employee, Nguyen Thi Nhung, 25, who joined the company in 2022, said, 'I want to study more so that I can contribute to the company and support my family financially.' Daiwa House Industry Co. manages 56 hotels nationwide, where 777 Indonesian women work as of May. The company hires 200 people a year who have studied at Japanese language schools in Indonesia. Once they join the company, they are evaluated once every three months on their ability, motivation and Japanese language level. Their performance is then reflected in their grade, salary increase and promotion opportunities. Kazuhisa Yamamoto, who heads the hotel support department at Daiwa Lifenext Co., said, 'We give back through raises and promotions so that their motivation continues.' Mori Trust Hotels and Resorts Co. had 99 foreign employees as of the end of fiscal 2024, accounting for 9.7 percent of its total workforce. Since February, the company has been working to enable a diverse workplace to play an active role by holding a trial Japanese language course focusing on 'omotenashi' hospitality with university lecturers. It has also held competitions and other events for foreign staff and Japanese employees to work together to come up with company-wide initiatives. Miwako Date, the company president who is also the vice chair of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai), said that the central government has set a target of attracting 60 million annual visitors to Japan by 2030. 'There is increasing concern about a labor shortage in the hospitality industry,' she said. 'We would like to build a system to accommodate travelers with a high-quality experience so that there will be no opportunities lost in one of the few growth industries in Japan.'
34 minutes ago
Hit the Brakes: Slowdown in Japan Auto Exports to the United States
The impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs has led to a sudden slowdown in Japanese auto exports to the United States. Japan's auto industry appears to have responded by lowering its prices to absorb the impact of the tariffs, prompting some analysts to predict a major blow to the profits of the industry as a whole. On top of his tariffs applied across the board to Japanese exports to the US market, Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on automobiles and auto parts. The Japanese government has been negotiating with the United States in an effort to have the tariffs removed, but no agreement has been reached as of June. Recently, Trump has talked about further increasing the automotive tariffs. Trade statistics from the Ministry of Finance show that in May, the second month since the initial imposition of tariffs on automobiles, the export value of Japanese cars to the United States was ¥363.4 billion, which was the lowest level for over a year. This was down 24.7% compared with May 2024, far greater than the equivalent 4.8% year-on-year drop in April. While the decrease in the number of vehicles sold was only 3.9%, the fall in unit price was 21.7%. As there has been little change in the value of the yen since April, this is not a factor in reduced prices. NLI Research Institute suggests that Japanese automakers are absorbing a certain amount of the tariff costs by lowering prices. An estimate produced by the institute forecasts that if export prices continue to be reduced by 10%, this would mean a decrease in ordinary profits of ¥1.3 trillion for Japan's auto industry in fiscal 2025. This could be a greater hit than the fall resulting from a 10% reduction in sales volume, such as that seen if tariff costs were passed on to buyers in the form of higher prices. As noted by Saitō Tarō, who heads the institute's economic research department, 'Even if lower prices keep volume high, variable costs for things like materials will put major pressure on profits.' Impact of Trump Tariffs on Japanese Auto Industry (YOY) 10% reduction in sales volume Ordinary profits: Down ¥0.2 trillion Variable costs rate: Unchanged 10% reduction in prices Ordinary profits: Down ¥1.3 trillion Variable costs rate: Up 1.2% Taken by from an estimate by NLI Research Institute. The variable costs rate refers to the ratio of variable costs to sales. Data Sources (Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)
Japan Today
3 hours ago
- Japan Today
All cars in Japan to have systems preventing accidents from gas/brake pedal mistakes by 2028
By SoraNews24 It seems every few days the news reports on an elderly driver doing something incredibly dangerous, with the cause often being that they mistook the accelerator for the brake pedal. A recent incident happened in Hokkaido on June 13, when a driver in her 90s accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake and drove out of a parking lot into the street where she hit another car and then hopped a curb and embankment to crash into the side of a Starbucks. Luckily, no one was injured. ▼ A news report on the crash. It's certainly not a new problem, and prefectural governments have started efforts such as making license renewals stricter for seniors by including cognitive tests. Most prefectures also have license graduation systems where the elderly can voluntarily surrender their driver's licenses for certain benefits like discounts on taxis and public transportation. According to U.N. estimates, nearly one in ten licensed drivers in Japan is over 75 years old. Perhaps because the rate of Japan's population aging is outpacing these efforts, little seems to have changed and storefronts continue to get smashed in by people getting their left and right mixed up. So, on June 17, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced that it would become mandatory for all automatic passenger cars made after 1 September 2028 in Japan to have an 'acceleration pedal misapplication prevention system' installed. Imported cars will also require it from September 1, 2029. An acceleration pedal misapplication prevention system is a safety feature in cars that will dull a vehicle's ability to suddenly accelerate unless the driver performs certain actions that suggest they know what they're doing, like recently pressing the brake pedal, going uphill, or using a turn signal. Toyota already has it as a feature that can be turned on in their cars. ▼ An explanation video of Toyota's Acceleration Suppression System While that may help matters when implemented, issues with elderly drivers are not limited to mistaking the brake and accelerator. On June 11, a 99-year-old driver got into a collision when driving at 20 kilometers per hour the wrong way through the tunnel of a major highway and injured the leg of another motorist in his 40s. ▼ A news report on the crash Despite the age of the driver at fault, he was said to have passed his renewal examinations, including the cognitive test. Prominent writer, psychiatrist, and clinical psychologist Hideki Wada recently said that he believes the problem isn't the age of the drivers but the side effects of the medication they take that's been affecting their mental faculties, adding that this isn't mentioned in news reports because pharmaceutical companies often sponsor television news programs. Perhaps, taking a closer look at the medications, and especially combinations of medications, that elderly drivers are taking could also help judge their ability better than cognitive tests, but the fundamental problems remain. And while it continues to threaten everyone on the roads we'll need to tackle it from all available angles, including technology. Sources: Car Watch, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, President Online, Toyota, UNECE Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- Elderly motorists in Japan given option to 'graduate from driving' to prevent accidents -- City in Nagano offers super cheap taxi fares to seniors who give up licenses and disabled people -- Aichi Police: Surrender your driver's license and get up to $1 off at McDonald's! External Link © SoraNews24
