Let' work smarter!

Last week, three members from ISOWA America—Ron, Kaiser, and Andy—visited Japan to attend the annual meeting.

ISOWA America delivered very strong performance in the previous fiscal year (October 2024 to September 2025).

Repeat orders from existing customers increased, while new customers were acquired as a result of our strong market reputation. Furthermore, delivery records across North and South America expanded, and the parts and service business continued to grow.

Rather than resting on these achievements, we spent four days in intensive and productive discussions focused on driving cultural reform at ISOWA America, overcoming the impact of Trump-era tariffs, and achieving further growth. These discussions were extremely meaningful.

As this was Andy’s first visit to Japan, being able to directly experience ISOWA’s culture and corporate spirit will surely prove valuable in his future career at ISOWA. It is also very encouraging to see the growing number of members who have previously been stationed at ISOWA America, as they are contributing greatly to stronger communication between Japan and the U.S.

On the final evening, we held a dinner to thank everyone for their efforts.

Apparently, Kaiser’s daughter is very curious about what her father eats in Japan, so he took photos of every dish as it was served.

He usually avoids desserts for health reasons, but when he comes to Japan, he can’t resist the temptation. Wanting to keep this a secret from his family, I suggested, “Then why don’t you just take a photo of the last remaining strawberry?”

He happily did just that (laughs).

Kaiser—the George Clooney of ISOWA America—is a favorite with everyone.

 

At the end, we received some souvenirs: two kinds of organic tea.

Ron shared the story behind them.

“If you drink the one on the left, ‘Memory Magic,’ 99% of the time your mind will feel clear. Still worried about the remaining 1%? No problem—just drink the one on the right, ‘Worry Ease,’ and it will blow your anxiety away.”

I see! Just like strategy, a good story matters even for souvenirs. I’ll follow your advice and choose accordingly. Thank you!

 

Let’s work smart!

ISOWA keeps you going - always on the go to make folks happy in the corrugated world.

"Shrine visit” for GOD PARENTS

 

Yoshiko was s classmate of mine at the Affiliated Upper Secondary School of Nagoya University. However, I don’t have any clear memories of her from that time.

At a class reunion after we graduated, I learned that she was working as a translator, and we wondered if I might ask for her help someday.

The first time I did was when I asked her to help revise the ISOWA Diary, which Hitomi and Hikaru had translated.

That was in 2010, when we were working on the phrase:

“ISOWA keeps you going – always on the go.”

My first draft, by the way, was:

“We, ISOWA never stop you. Nor do we stop ourselves.”

I struggled with the wording for some time and eventually asked her for advice. Then John joined the discussion. John was a journalist and a former reporter for The Japan Times.

After exchanging ideas with the two of them, we finally settled on:

“ISOWA keeps you going – always on the go.”

 

More recently, I asked for their help again, this time in naming a new machine.

This kind of collaborative work is truly enjoyable. Not only in this case, but in general, the process of repeatedly exchanging ideas and refining concepts is extremely fun.

That’s how we came up with an absolutely brilliant name. I’ll share the details once the machine is complete.