Simple words from the heart

Mr. N, who has worked for ISOWA for 50 years, retired today.
We had him over at the Nagoya office to give us a retirement speech.

It was about his memories from childhood to when he first came to ISOWA and now.

Each and every one of the stories touched our hearts.

The one that moved me the most was about when he left his mother for ISOWA at the age of 15 in 1965.

She runs after him as the train starts. He said that was when he burst into tears.


And good old days with the matron and seniors at the dormitory.
Transfer to Tokyo. Acting Tokyo office manager after working in a few different sections.
Led the reform as an Osaka office manager.

I felt his love for ISOWA in every word he said.

Some of us got tears in their eyes. I was one of them.

He had prepared a note for the speech but after all it seemed like he simply spoke what came to his mind without looking at anything.

Only words from one’s heart can truly move other people.

We record every morning assembly so those who missed it can check it out later.
That means now we have a video of the speech.

I want everyone who will be working with us to listen to what he told us.

Here’s another story that he shared with us.

Soon after he started a career at ISOWA, on the way to fix a machine with Mr. M, they fell off their bike and they injured but they still fulfilled their duty.

Mr. M, who is 10 years elder than Mr. N, is still working.

Mr. M told us about when he let Mr. N stay at his place.
“I remember how neat the bed was after he slept. That shows his polite personality.”


Mr. M is 65 and he is still tougher than I am.
All the customers that he has met loves him.

That’s why I want him to be working with us for a little while longer.

But he has a 93-year-old mother in his home, and he wants to put his energy that he has devoted for ISOWA into taking care of his mother.

If he keeps working, he will be working too hard to look after his mother. 
Never slack off. That’s who he is. 

There is no way I can hold him back anymore.

It’s been 30 years since I started working for ISOWA.
The first half was 15 years of confrontation with him.
And the second half was 15 years of gradual mutual trust. Now he has become the one that I can really rely on.

Especially after what we went through in the first 15 years, I cherish the last 15 years spent with him.

I believe his son-in-law Mr. Y will take over his spirit.

I hope you will have a great time with your mother without having to care about the work.

Thank you very much for your 50 years at ISOWA.