Sanpo-yoshi Communication

President's Column] New Year's Greetings

We wish you a Happy New Year!
Thank you very much for your support during the past year. We look forward to your continued support and encouragement in the New Year.

Well, this year is going to be another year of great change.
After all, President Trump will be inaugurated in January. He has announced his nominees for cabinet positions, and he has announced tariffs on other countries and the end of disputes. The impact on our country is also unknown.
Other events are also in the pipeline, including the Kansai Expo to be held from April to October, the House of Councillors election in July, and the World Championships in Athletics (Tokyo) in September. In addition, the lifting of the ban on visa-free travel between Japan and China is expected to increase the number of visitors from China, further boosting inbound demand.

On the other hand, by 2025, all baby boomers will be aged 75 or older. The era of a "super-aging society" will finally arrive, in which one out of every five people in Japan will be elderly in the latter half of their lives.
There is no doubt that the baby boom generation, which has been the driving force of the Japanese economy up to the present, will soon be rapidly diminishing its presence both as a worker and as a major force of consumption. Based on this, I have been predicting that the domestic economy will become even more difficult from around 2025, and have long shared this prediction with my employees. This will lead to a long-term economic slump. In the short term, inflation will continue to rise this year, and wage increases seem inevitable. This is truly a critical time for business managers.

I do not intend to start the New Year with a lot of gloom and doom. Rising interest rates and inflation mean that the value of debt will fall in the future. It is one thing to take the plunge and invest. Also, the number of bankruptcies and closures of businesses has been increasing since last year, and there is a possibility that the competitive environment will loosen as a result of the shakeout.
With change comes the possibility of crisis, but just as much opportunity. I will keep my antennae wide open and look for opportunities to be of further service to our customers in the midst of these changes. I pledge to you that we will be a more useful company to you this year than we were last year.
At the end of this letter, I would like to express my sincere wishes for the happiness of our corporate clients, their employees, and their families.
We look forward to working with you again this year.