This year, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan will finally take place. This will be the first Expo held in Osaka since 1970.*
The theme of the Expo in Osaka 55 years ago was “Progress and Harmony for Mankind.” The technological progress that humanity has made since then is truly remarkable. In those days, neither smartphones nor mobile phones were available, with the penetration rate of landline telephones below 30%. What about the other element, or “harmony”? I personally feel that there have been twists and turns. In this age of diversity, the difficulty of achieving “harmony” may be revealed more clearly than before.
The theme of this year's Expo is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” It is certain that humanity has made progress over the past half century, but as humankind needs to consider “future society for our lives” once again as the event’s theme, it might suggest the difficulty of realizing “harmony.”This year marks the sixth year since we were founded through the merger of two companies. Having overcome the huge wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will head toward 2030 over the next five years demonstrating that one plus one is more than two.
I believe that the Expo is a great project that will provide us an opportunity to discover many things. Guided by the mission “Creating New Cultures, Hand in Hand,” we would like to take the opportunity of the Expo to reconsider how we can commit to achieving “harmony” as a member of the Hankyu Hanshin Group, which has been operating in the Kansai region for more than a century. This will surely lead to “creating new cultures, hand in hand, for our lives.”
* This will be the first registered exposition (formerly known as a general exposition) in 55 years since 1970, although the International Garden and Greenery Exposition was held as a special exhibition in Tsurumi Ward, Osaka in 1990.
Representative Director, President & Chief Executive Officer Hitoshi Ueda
Celebrating the fifth anniversary of its foundation, hhms: is vibrant and thriving today. Throughout our history, we have experienced a wide variety of events, such as the establishment of internal frameworks and systems for the foundation of the company and the response to various hardships and emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. We owe what we are now to our clients, business partners, group companies, and employees. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your patronage, cooperation, support, and other efforts made to date.
hhms: is now undergoing a major transformation to prepare for its next stage of growth. This is like when a 5-year-old child experiences rapid growth both mentally and physically as they approach the age of 10. Developmental psychologist Erikson described this childhood stage as the end of the child’s dependence on others, followed by the expansion of their world.
Last fiscal year, to expand our world, we held workshops involving all employees with the theme “What is a company that co-creates value?” so that the next generation of employees could imagine from their own perspective what we should be in the future, as the driving force for implementing that vision. Guided by the mission “Creating New Cultures, Hand in Hand,” we have set “Making Changes Sufficient to Create a New Culture” as our mindset for the co-creation of value this fiscal year. We will therefore reexamine our attitudes in our work and change our behaviors. As an autonomous organization, we will always be aware of “change” as our guiding principle.
What kind of culture is our work intended to create? How will our work contribute to society? Each of us will review our daily work and make changes. While continuing to improve our skills, we will try to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and fulfill our roles.
This year might again bring many joys and sorrows, but we would like to fully appreciate each moment together with you all. “A wonderful future was opening up before I knew it.” “A breathtaking panorama unfolded before me.” I hope that I will be able to hear such remarks at the end of the year. We look forward to your continued support again in FY2025.
Representative Director, Executive Vice President Akihiro Miyatake