To all KIMOTO fans
On July 2, 2022, we successfully celebrated our 70th anniversary.
We are truly grateful to everyone who has supported us over the years. I am also deeply appreciative of the predecessors who laid the foundation for KIMOTO, allowing us to come this far.
When I was appointed President in June 2009, I felt it was 'the beginning of my own end,' and I repeatedly asked myself what we must do to become a sustainable company. As a result, I have focused on developing human resources with the goal of becoming a '100-year company.' Thanks to these efforts, more than ten next-generation staff members have grown robustly and are now participating in management.
With the theme of learning from history and looking to the future, we have visualized our past, clarified which aspects of our history should be continued, which should be revised, and what new things should be created. As a result, the accuracy of our medium-term management plans has improved dramatically, something we had not achieved before.
At the very core of our founding philosophy,
a. Technical thinking
b. Mutual prosperity with the local community
c. familialism
d. Environmentally friendly
a, b, and c have developed, but unfortunately, there has been no progress with d.
For the future of our planet and with careful consideration for the children who will lead our local communities, we have launched a project to boldly reduce fossil fuel usage, even though it may not contribute to short-term profits. We are currently working hard to stay ahead of global trends.
On January 17, 2023, our founder, Mr. Ujito Kimoto, will celebrate his 102nd birthday.
The armed conflicts occurring not only in Ukraine but around the world are deeply distressing to us. Our founder, who experienced the tragedies of World War II, established a corporate philosophy rooted in peace. We believe that what KIMOTO can do is to further promote interaction among our employees, business partners, customers, and communities around the world, and to join hands together.
Finally, what we consider to be KIMOTO's good points are:
- We have made every effort to avoid layoffs
- There is no need for a labor union
- Employees support the management (with an employee stock ownership rate of over 50%)
Since 2000, we have experienced events said to occur only once in a century.
2008: The Lehman Shock
2011 Great East Japan Earthquake
2019: COVID-19 pandemic
2022: Russia's invasion of Ukraine
In both personnel and organizational matters, we always keep the unexpected in mind and have fostered a 'decentralized and autonomous' organizational culture, much like a soccer team, that excels at adapting to change. Under a free and flexible working style, we strive to create an environment where employees are not bound by traditional departmental boundaries, can possess multiple skills and titles, and can thrive as 'two-way players' in various roles.
Although we have been partially affected by major global events, we have managed to overcome these challenges. Thanks to our efforts to improve our organizational structure and reform our workflows over the past 12 years, I believe we have been able to continue our operations without significant impact.
We believe that the world will continue to bring unexpected events, but we will strive to become a sustainable company beyond our centennial, walking together with everyone who supports us.
We sincerely ask for your continued support of KIMOTO.
September 28, 2022
KIMOTO Co., Ltd.
President and Chairman Kazunobu Kimoto
