Culture and Diversity

Masaharu Shibata Vice Chairmen, Nippon Keidanren Chairman and CEO, NGK Insulators, Ltd.

Many people suffer from jet lag during business trips overseas. For me, there is a sovereign remedy. Having plenty of chilled white Chablis and oysters upon arrival gets me in excellent condition by the following day. On our mission to Europe in March this year, I enjoyed Chablis and oysters the very night we arrived.

One of the conditions for nurturing good oysters is that there are bountiful forests around the headwaters of the river that flows into the sea. The leaf mold produced in the forests propagates plankton, thus increasing the nutritive elements contained in oysters. In addition, in Bourgogne, France, the production area of Chablis, there is a limestone stratum containing calcified seashells, and grape trees grow absorbing minerals from the stratum. I had been wondering why Chablis goes with oysters. Taking the above facts into consideration, it is apparent that they are intimately associated with each other through regional specific climates.

Following this reference to wine leads me to my next point. During the mission, I had the privilege of speaking with President Chirac, and it reminded me of his visit to Nagoya about three years ago. Having been serving as an honorary consulate of France, our company held a reception to welcome the President. We selected wines for the party with the greatest care. Mr. Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, the French Ambassador to Japan at the time, and currently the Presidential Counselor on Foreign Affairs, suggested some delicious brands that were not necessarily expensive. As French people take pride in their own culture, they select goods without question regardless of the price. Even after the year 2004 when the EU expands to include 25 countries and national borders are removed in the economic area, such cultural diversities of European countries will remain as a source of dynamism and progress.

Diversity was one of the keywords in the Position Paper of the Committee on Management and Labor Policy in last December. The discussion seemed to have centered on such issues as "no pay increase" and "reviewing regular pay increases". However, the main issue of Management and Labor is how to materialize the diversification of employment formats. Therefore, I made my recommendation that the negotiation style should shift from the "struggle" of the traditional shunto to more discussion-centered meetings, hoping this year will be a turning point. I aspire for a society full of dynamism in which workers can apply their personal characteristics and diverse individuals take active parts.