Building Cultural Bridges
Shortly after graduating, Waseda University, where he majored in languages, Tokyo-born Toyoshi Yoshihara joined Sumitomo Corporation, a huge and very successful Japanese conglomerate. Sent to Canada, 1970, Yoshi’s purpose was to introduce Japanese heavy equipment to an untapped Canadian market. At the time, Japan was famous for transistor radios, toys, and textiles but Japanese heavy equipment was, as yet, undiscovered in Canada. Originally, Yoshi’s stay was meant to be temporary, probably two or three years. But, he fell in love with Canada and insisted on staying, becoming, 1972, Founder of Komatsu Canada Ltd. Within 10 years, Yoshi created a nation wide marketing network turning Komatsu Canada into the second largest Canadian supplier of bulldozers, excavators, loaders, graders, and mining trucks. Now retired as Chairman, Komatsu, Yoshi spends much of his new-found time translating Canadian plays into Japanese productions. Over the years, as a passionate hobby, he has, to date, translated some 30 Canadian plays into Japanese, one play, in particular, drawing about 200,000 theatre-goers in Japan to a production run exceeding five years. Toyoshi Yoshihara believes he is building cultural bridges between his native land and his adopted homeland. In this view, Yoshi stands on a heavy duty piece of equipment, the type he successfully marketed across Canada over a 30-year period. [Photo, courtesy Toyoshi Yoshihara]