Shōjirō Ishibashi

was a Japanese businessman who founded the Bridgestone Corporation, the world's largest maker of tires, in 1931 in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. the company was named after its founder: in the Japanese language, ''ishi'' means "stone" and ''hashi'' (here voiced to ''bashi'') means "bridge", whence the origin of the company's name in English.

After the end of the Second World War and the subsequent occupation of Japan, Ishibashi became extensively embroiled in Japanese politics. Ishibashi was close to Ichiro Hatoyama, who was a rival to prime minister Shigeru Yoshida. Ishibashi became an advisor to Hatoyama on Japan's post-war economic development, expressing his views on the economic policy of the parties of Hatoyama's political affiliation.

Ishibashi's daughter, Yasuko Hatoyama, became heir to Ishibashi's considerable fortune and has used the inheritance to fund her family's political causes. She married former Japanese Foreign Minister Iichirō Hatoyama. The couple had two sons, who are Ishibashi's grandchildren – politicians Kunio Hatoyama, who served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, and Yukio Hatoyama, who was Prime Minister from September 16, 2009, to June 8, 2010.

Ishibashi's motto for Bridgestone was to "serve society with products of superior quality". He founded Ishibashi Cultural Center and the Bridgestone Museum of Art (also located at 10 Kyobashi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104) and was a major benefactor of the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, having also constructed the building in which it is housed. Provided by Wikipedia