Japan as Only 1

 The wisdom of ancient sages from thousands of years ago still holds true today, doesn't it? Personally, I’ve always had a fondness for the teachings and stories of Chinese sages. As a child, I learned stories like "The Clear Stream and Myself" and "Begin with Myself" in school, and they’ve stuck with me ever since. They still guide me in many ways. Among the many episodes, none of them involve greedy individuals who were solely focused on their own gain achieving lasting success. Sure, there are stories of short-term victories, but in the end, these people always meet unfortunate fates—whether they are defeated by enemies, betrayed by their subordinates, or undone by their own schemes. In English, we might describe this mindset as one of "Give and Take," but the success stories of China's great historical figures almost always involve people who think in the long term, not just the short term. Looking at the present, I wonder—are we too focused on...

 Last week, I was in China, and this week I spent three days at the factory, focusing on training for our new robot tilting kettle. It’s been all about robot tilting kettles recently, and to top it off, we have a live broadcast on YouTube scheduled for this Friday. The sales leaders who gathered from all over the country had a fantastic time on the first day with Baijiu (Chinese liquor), and I believe they could sense the potential of how the robot tilting kettle can support our customers in Japan. Of course, there are risks, and there are still many challenges ahead. But without taking on these challenges, we cannot reap the fruits of success. This product perfectly aligns with the product development strategy we set three years ago, and we cannot afford to miss this wave. If our goal was simply not to raise salaries or hire more people, we could play it safe and avoid risks. But since we’re running this company, I want to increase everyone’s salaries, provide bonuses, and activel...