list_text=          Matsuo Yokoyama brought great honor to The Walt Disney Company in Japan. As Chairman of Disney Consumer Products Bo Boyd said, "Matsuo's a marketing marvel.  He developed relationships with many faithful licensees and made Mickey Mouse not just an American hero in the country, but a beloved member of the Japanese people and their rich culture."
          Born in Tokyo on March 31, 1927, Matsuo was the son of a chef and restaurateur. At 17, he entered a boy's military school until August 1945 when Japan surrendered to the Allies. After the war, he worked in an iron factory by day and studied English at a local YMCA by night.
          In 1951, he enrolled in the University of Keio in Tokyo where he studied business management. Upon graduation, in 1955, Matsuo joined Morinaga Confectionery Company in Tokyo as its marketing manager.
          Six years later, in 1961, Matsuo answered a newspaper employment ad and was selected from more than 100 applicants to join Disney as a merchandise representative. At that time, fraudulent uses of Disney character merchandise and advertising ran rampant throughout the country and Matsuo's first and most challenging job was to assert and establish Disney's copyrights in Japan. As part of this effort, he also created the Disney Licensing Association, the first organization of its kind to encourage cooperation among legitimate licensees. By 1964, copyright protection of Disney intellectual properties had passed a major hurdle and Matsuo was subsequently promoted to officer and director.
          An instinctive business professional, during the American Bicentennial in 1976, Matsuo sensed the Japanese market was becoming over-saturated with U.S. character merchandise and so that autumn, he limited the amount of Disney merchandise manufactured. Disney licensees argued they were losing valuable sales because American merchandise was a hot commodity. But in the spring of 1977, it suddenly plummeted in value because of retail overstock, and subsequent dumping through sales. Only Disney merchandise maintained its value because of Matsuo's prudent foresight.
          In October 1989, he was promoted to president of Walt Disney Enterprises of Japan.  Two years later at a special gathering in Matsuo's honor, former Walt Disney Company president Frank Wells named him chairman of the board and referred to his recent business success - increasing income and revenue by 20-percent over five successive years, 1986 to 1991 as "Matsuo's Missile."
          Matsuo retired in September 1994 after dedicating 33 years to developing Disney's presence in Japan and subsequently, growing its royalty income from an estimated six-million yen in 1961 to 12-billion yen in 1991. He then served as consultant to Walt Disney Consumer Products Asia-Pacific Ltd. followed by chairman emeritus of Walt Disney Enterprises of Japan from 1996 through 1998.&