Top Message
Continually creating “value that resonates with the senses” in defiance of this age of uncertainty to achieve transformation for growth
Looking back at FY2025 and looking toward FY2026 and further into the future, I realize how violent changes in our environment have been. In addition to the increase in geopolitical risks, AI and other technologies are advancing. The number of consumers and the working population are shrinking in Japan, and new issues are emerging regarding the sustainability of the environment, society and other matters. Business conditions are changing dramatically. None of these things are temporary. We need to assume that they will be lasting issues when thinking about management.
In particular, the current geopolitical risks related to the Middle East are unpredictable. Immediately after armed conflict began in Iran at the end of this past February, our management executives gathered to discuss our response actions. At that time, we agreed that decisions would be left to individual sites, assuming that something on the level of an emergency was happening, and we agreed to thoroughly share information. We have shared the information gathered from bases around the world among individual companies and divisions and taken the best possible measures based on decisions made at the individual sites. In March and April, the procurement of raw materials was the greatest issue. Coordination with suppliers and trading companies and emergency imports from overseas bases within the Group were conducted at the discretion of individual sites. This enabled us to supply our products without causing our customers any problems. Since then, we have been working to maintain and improve our performance by changing products and their prices based on the raw materials available while seeking the understanding and cooperation of customers. I feel that we have steadily increased our resilience and ability to act quickly and appropriately through the structural and corporate transformation we have implemented to adapt to past changes in the environment surrounding us, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the situation in Ukraine.
In particular, the current geopolitical risks related to the Middle East are unpredictable. Immediately after armed conflict began in Iran at the end of this past February, our management executives gathered to discuss our response actions. At that time, we agreed that decisions would be left to individual sites, assuming that something on the level of an emergency was happening, and we agreed to thoroughly share information. We have shared the information gathered from bases around the world among individual companies and divisions and taken the best possible measures based on decisions made at the individual sites. In March and April, the procurement of raw materials was the greatest issue. Coordination with suppliers and trading companies and emergency imports from overseas bases within the Group were conducted at the discretion of individual sites. This enabled us to supply our products without causing our customers any problems. Since then, we have been working to maintain and improve our performance by changing products and their prices based on the raw materials available while seeking the understanding and cooperation of customers. I feel that we have steadily increased our resilience and ability to act quickly and appropriately through the structural and corporate transformation we have implemented to adapt to past changes in the environment surrounding us, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the situation in Ukraine.
President and Representative Director, Group CEO
