At today's monthly company-wide morning meeting, once all the scheduled items were completed, there was an announcement:
“There’s a surprise !”
It wasn’t déjà vu—it actually closely resembled a scene I had witnessed quite a while ago.
It was a surprise celebration for my 60th birthday. And that means...
This time was a surprise celebration for turning 70!
The gift I received was also a surprise!
In Japan, everyone knows that red is the color for one’s 60th birthday, but did you know what color represents 70? I learned when my family celebrated the occasion: plum purple is the color for one’s 70th birthday.
So—inspired by that—
They had made a special ISOWA uniform for my 70th, swapping the usual ISOWA blue for purple! They even prepared a bouquet based around purple.
In the first group photo, T‑kun was the only one not photographed—because he was behind the camera as our photographer.
So T‑kun and I took a photo together.
And —
—there was also a purple ISOWA polo shirt for my 70th!
Ms. W from Employee Support, who organized today’s surprise, wore the uniform, and I joined her for a two-shot with the polo shirt.
Wearing the one of a kind uniform felt a bit like being Shohei Ohtani after winning MVP and getting a special gold MLB‑logo uniform—just awesome!
Thanks so much to the entire ISOWA team for the wonderful 70th birthday celebration!
I’m going to proudly show it off to everyone!
