CEO Blog | Kanesa Fujiwaraya

On the “Heretic” Within

Rather late to the party, I have been watching the anime “Orb: On the Movements of the Earth.” It is a contrary streak of mine, but I don’t much like jumping on whatever is popular.One of my quiet pleasures is to enjoy yesterday’s trends in private, once the world has cooled on them. Of course I knew about “Orb.”With Sakanaction’s theme song adding to the buzz, I imagine a great many people were watching it in real time when it aired. It seems the wave that came late has finally reached me (laughs). I started a few days ago and am only around episode five, but it is already very good.There was a rumor that watching it makes you smarter, and I can see why. The story is set in fifteenth-century Europe. Heliocentrism — the idea, now known to everyone, that the Earth turns — was rejected on religious grounds in favor of a geocentric universe.Anyone who advocated or tried to study heliocentrism was branded a “heretic” and, for defying God, put to death. It is the story of people who risked their lives to prove that the Earth moves. I won’t say more for fear of spoilers, but the

2026.08.25

CEO Blog

Leader's Bookshelf

A Single Rose Blooming at the Winery

This fiscal year, we entered into an equity partnership with Bulichella, a winery in Suvereto, Tuscany. The connection goes back to the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and Korea, when my father helped bring the Italian national football team to Sendai for its training camp. That led to my younger brother studying in Italy, and the relationship we kept up with a company in Turin ever since is what made this partnership possible. I hope to tell you more about it another time, but there is something I noticed while visiting many wineries since last year. At the entrance to the vineyards, there are beautiful roses in bloom. At first I assumed it was just an Italian touch of style. It was nothing of the sort.Roses, it turns out, wither quickly unless the soil around them is kept in clean, healthy condition. So a winery with roses in full bloom is sending a hidden message:“the soil in our vineyards is clean.” Isn’t there something quietly profound about that? This partnership is not simply a matter of our company buying wine from overseas and selling it. Rather than one-way imports, we want in time to bring products rooted in Tohoku’s

2026.07.17

CEO Blog

Producer Visits

Keep Stepping Up to the Plate

Standing still is falling behind. This is something I tell our employees often. If we settle for the present and stop sincerely working to be useful to our customers, our company has no bright future. This year too, taking these words as our motto, we will work hard together as a group. Thanks to all of you, in April 2026 we were able to mark our 110th year since founding. This milestone is entirely thanks to everyone who has always supported us, and I am sincerely grateful. We humbly ask for your continued support of the Kanesa Group going forward. At our company, we set a slogan each year as a milestone toward realizing our management philosophy. This year’s slogan is, “UPDATE — Hotter than anywhere, expanding the possibilities.” is what we have decided. As a company that supports our region, it goes without saying that we will keep taking on challenges — keep stepping up to the plate. To do that, the most important thing is first to know ourselves and to update who we were yesterday. Or — the attitude of constant improvement — that is what feels essential to me. What are we good at?

2026.04.14

CEO Blog

There Are No Shortcuts to Building Culture

It’s been quite a while since I last updated this blog. With a refreshed mindset, I’ll make sure to post more regularly from now on! At our company, we hold a monthly all-hands morning assembly. It’s my chance to give a speech and share HR-related updates and other announcements. This month’s assembly was held today, September 10. To be honest, preparing a new speech every month for employees can be quite a challenge. Our employees are of many different ages. Naturally, their values and experiences also differ, so I put a lot of thought into the content and wording to make sure my message reaches as many people as possible. I know I still need to keep improving… but I’ll keep trying my best. Today, I spoke about great organizations and great teams. A great organization refers to systems and structures. In today’s information society, with so much knowledge available, organizational differences between companies are said to have become commoditized. So then, what is the difference between companies that grow and those that don’t? It is said to be the difference in the many teams within the company. Why do we even need teams? If each individual

2025.09.10

CEO Blog

About Management

Lookback

I encountered a work that made me want to check its meaning repeatedly. It’s “Lookback” by Tatsuki Fujimoto, the author of Chainsaw Man. It has also been adapted into an animation, with music by Haruka Nakamura, whom I adore. The anime can be watched on Amazon Prime. It was the first time I had encountered a work that made me want to understand the creator’s intention so strongly right after finishing it. That’s how much I believe this work allows for various interpretations. The story begins with an elementary school girl named “Fujino” who is good at drawing, and another girl named “Kyomoto” who is also good at drawing but doesn’t attend school. They each serialize their work in the elementary school class newspaper. Without ever meeting each other, they reach graduation, and Fujino is asked by the teacher to deliver Kyomoto’s diploma to her house as fellow contributors to the same serialization. This is where they meet face-to-face for the first time. From there, their lives change dramatically, and eventually Fujino becomes a successful manga artist, while Kyomoto goes on to art college. Then an incident occurs. I’ll omit details of this incident as it would completely spoil the

2025.01.22

CEO Blog

Leader's Bookshelf

What We Want To Protect

For the memorable first content of my blog, I’d like to introduce a book. I struggled quite a bit deciding which book to introduce, haha. After all, it’s the very first post. I love books. Reading allows you to travel while staying in place. It also lets you converse with the author. It gives you perspectives you don’t have. I take books with me wherever I go. I can’t possibly feel at ease without one, and if I forget to bring one, I love books so much that I want to stop by a bookstore and buy a new one. That’s enough about my love for books; let’s get to the main topic. For this memorable first book, I’ll introduce a picture book. It’s called “The Bookbinder.” I bought it for my child, but I ended up becoming completely fascinated with it, and I’ve taken the liberty of placing it at the very front of my child’s bookshelf where it’s visible. In France, there is a profession called “relieur.” “Relieur” means “bookbinding” in French. Craftsmen called “artisans” repair broken books by hand. Not only do they repair them, but they also value the memories of those who used the books,

2024.12.03

CEO Blog

About Management

News/Blog

On the “Heretic” Within

A Single Rose Blooming at the Winery

Keep Stepping Up to the Plate

There Are No Shortcuts to Building Culture

Lookback

What We Want To Protect

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