『The time cherry blossoms bloom』

I will never forget this statement from an employee: "We will make a different story in the next term!"

It was in an e-mail from a sales manager after I had explained and announced to all employees that, due to a deficit, we had no choice but to keep the base salary unchanged for the coming fiscal year.

This was a few months after the president of the local subsidiary in the U.K. had fallen ill and I had taken over as his successor. I found it very moving to encounter this never-say-die spirit, which I associated with Japan, in Western countries.

A year and a half later, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom in the U.K., we made it!
All the local employees turned the company.