Date of birth: February 27, 1970
Appointment as an auditor of Meiji Holdings: June 2025

As general manager of Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd.'s Corporate Administration Department, Hayato Shimada has been overseeing the Meiji Group's corporate administrative affairs while guiding its strategic vision.

Hayato joined Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. in 1993, and handled information systems for nine years before his transfer to the company's accounting department in 2002. As a member of the committee in charge of preparing for Meiji Seika Kaisha's merger with Meiji Dairies Corporation in 2008, he made a major contribution to establishing the Meiji Group's accounting and financial organizations.

When Meiji Holdings was established in April 2009, Hayato was assigned to its Financial & Accounting Department, where he played a key role. For many years, he was responsible for guiding the Group's accounting and financial organizations, which involved measures to strengthen corporate administration on a group-wide level. For that purpose, the department was given a more central role, which included renaming it as the Corporate Administration Department in 2021 and integrating Meiji Co., Ltd.'s accounting department in 2024.

Hayato was highly evaluated for his leadership and expertise when Meiji Holdings appointed him as an executive officer in June 2025. He is currently focusing on applying his extensive experience in information systems and accounting to prepare the Group's corporate administrative organizations for global expansion.