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Shinjiro Torii was born in 1879 as the second male child of a money-exchanger in Osaka. Although his family was affluent, at age 13 Shinjiro was sent to a certain mercantile house for apprenticeship. This was because of his parents' belief that "a shopkeeper needs no schooling", deciding that the child should be taught the business from a young age. At his apprenticeship, he handled mostly pharmaceuticals but also imported Western alcohol. And while working very hard Shinjiro learned the tricks of business and knowledge about Western alcohol, before opening "Torii Shoten" at the age of 20 in 1899.

In 1886 in Atlanta Georgia, pharmacist John S Pemberton created a unique sweet-smelling syrup which he mixed with carbonated water and sold at his pharmacy. Along with the prototype for this charming drink the logo was also born. Dr. Pemberton's partner who was an accountant thought of a nice sounding name with alliteration, and the 2 Cs on the logo looking appealing in terms of advertising, and thus gave it the name "Coca Cola".

Before, I used to work for a major trading company as a single player who keeps track of figures all the time. Rather than showing leadership with respect to team play and the organization were in, I wanted to sell more and become at a higher position than anyone. After working there, I joined UNIQLO, which showed a tremendous momentum in the apparel industry at that time. My way of thinking about almost anything has changed when I transferred and met Tadashi Yanai, the owner of Fast Retailing, the company that owns UNIQLO. To be able to contribute as a part of the company, I have realized once again that it is important to value my workplace and our clients’ perspective. Also, I have learned to look at the entire company as a leader, not as a single player.

In order to even further promote women flourishing in the future, I believe we must prepare proper programs to fit with this and conduct appropriate training for it. It is important to properly grasp data on the company side such as individual employee data regarding who is placed in what environment, and what career they have built up for themselves, in order to cultivate human resources making the best use of people.

I spent most of my childhood in Senegal, Africa because of my father's work. Then, from 10 to 18 years old, we have transferred and stayed in the US. Throughout my life abroad, I have felt that Japanese culture was not properly recognized. I noticed that gap particularly in food, where I was laughed at for eating raw fish. As a child, I had a lot of unpleasant experiences. My father's work was related to fishing, so I felt that I was made fun of because of that and because of our culture. Because of these experiences, I had a strong desire to introduce sushi and other Japanese food to the world and to let the world know the wonderful side of Japan when I started working. On the other hand, I am also aware that there are other wonderful cultures abroad, so I thought that I wanted to become a bridge between two different cultures.

In the recent years, AI (artificial intelligence) and other cutting-edge technologies have been introduced in the financial world, limiting the things that can only be done by humans. Even jobs that require experience and know-how that our pioneers have acquired for about 10 years, can now be achieved by young people nowadays in tremendous speed.In order for me, who has become part of the so-called veteran generation of the finance world, to survive, I would like to provide an environment for the young to be able to accelerate further rather than slowing them down, and for me to be to continue mastering my craft with a humble attitude. In order to move forward, I must remain humble. Otherwise, they may no longer need me tomorrow. I put that sense of danger in consideration as I do my job. And in order for one to remain in demand in the society, it is important to continue trying new things. It is because a person can grow regardless of his age.

Beauty business is the essence of our company, and we believe that it is our mission to pursue beauty. For this reason, we constantly take into consideration the needs of the times, subjectively and objectively. And we would like to embrace diversity by accelerating it further in the near future. Various people work for us regardless of gender, age, nationality, and culture. I firmly believe that such diversity creates unique, creative ideas that will push innovation.In order to accelerate such diversity, a flexible working style has to be promoted. It is also the company's duty to provide a lot of options to employees, such as implementing a flexible clock-in time and promoting work from home. If the company wants employee output, it must first settle the input. That is why we think that it's best to create a working style that suits the style of each of our employees.

When I was in college, my father suggested that I go and study in China. Although we have experienced a boom in friendliness brought by the recent recovery of relations between Japan and China, I personally did not have interest in China back then. Honestly, I wanted to study in the US or UK that time. Actually, when I arrived in China, I was shocked and I felt as if I was in another era. They did not have any amazing infrastructure back then, and students could not afford paper and writing materials, and some of them were studying under the street lights.Seeing it made me realize how blessed Japan is. At that time, most Japanese like to look at how rich the US and UK is rather than looking at their own country. If you are living an abundant life like in Japan like me, it is difficult to realize what really matters. Fortunately, living in China made me realize these things. All the values I have learned in my entire life have been shaken.