Message from the Representative Director

Why I do this work

Some people find the range of lives open to them narrowed by where they were born and how they grew up. I have lived close to that reality myself. There are lines that effort alone cannot cross. I refuse to look away from that. So I create opportunities — so that as many people as possible can hold a future they chose for themselves. That is why I do this work.

Three parties, one direction

People who decide to learn skills and work in Japan carry thoughts of their families and hopes for their own futures. The companies that welcome them carry a vision for the future and a responsibility to protect their workplaces. We give both voices the same weight. That is where we stand.

In Wind, Sand and Stars, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry — author of The Little Prince — wrote that to love is not to gaze at one another, but to look together in the same direction. The company, the worker, and us. When all three look in the same direction, a workplace becomes a place that lasts. I believe that.

Why we call people treasure

Some business owners do not see their people as assets. I understand that view. Hiring people costs money. People need time to grow — time for teaching, and time for growing together. The unexpected happens, too. That is the reality of running a business. The leaders I admire would not hire on sentiment alone either. Still, I want to ask: is that good enough for us? My answer is no.

AI is reshaping work at astonishing speed. Watching it happen, I have come to see a company as part of society’s infrastructure — the ground people stand on to live their lives. In an age when machines take on more of the work, the places where people work must mean something. Socrates’ words come back to me now with new weight: “The most important thing is not just to live, but to live well.” The place where people spend most of their day should help them live better.

Developing people is corporate culture itself. The environment people work in, and what they learn, decide the quality of their work. People are treasure. That is why we write jinzai with the character for treasure (人財), not the one for material (人材). Our study sessions and one-on-one meetings exist to keep thinking and learning together with our member companies.

A workplace worth coming back to

A workplace that lasts is not only a matter of years. Some people finish their training and choose to keep working at the same company. Others go home and later cross the sea again because they want to work for that company once more. Every time I see someone off at the airport, something wells up in me. And still I think: going home is not an ending. It is a turning point that leads to the next chapter. The term ends. The relationship goes on.

“The peach and the plum do not speak, yet a path forms beneath them.” These words come from the Records of the Grand Historian, an ancient Chinese history. The trees say nothing. Still, people come for their blossoms and fruit, and a path wears into the ground below. Not a workplace that holds people back, but one they want to come back to. To the company, each person becomes an irreplaceable colleague; to each person, the company becomes a source of pride. That is the workplace we want to build — one where the feeling is mutual.

Toward 2027: Employment for Skill Development

In 2027, Employment for Skill Development begins, taking over from Technical Intern Training. Systems change. Some things do not: seeing people as treasure. That is why we do not fear change. As partners supporting the same workplaces, we will keep walking alongside you.

Representative Director, C&C CooperativeYurika Tanaka