Consecutive holidays known as “golden week” have passed in the blink of an eye, and I am in a mood for entering the second half of the year in some way. It is really “time flies like an arrow” and self-tormenting proverbs such as “youth ages quickly but learning comes slowly”, in my case I am an old person now, and “the devil finds work for idle hands to do” are crossing my mind one after another. I am renewing my feeling towards the second half.
In addition, various restrictions related to corona infection over three years were relaxed on May 8, and it was changed from “class 2 infection disease” until now to “class 5”. Along with this, inbound guests from overseas have increased rapidly, and the bustle has returned to the city. Wearing a mask for a long period of time will be a personal decision from now on, but habits are horrible things, and I am still carrying and wearing a mask when I am out. When looking around, nearly 100% people are wearing masks. However, I think we don’t forget that about 10 thousand new infected people are occurring in Japan every day and some seriously ill persons and the dead are also occurring.
By the way, I have renewed and published my blog every Friday except public holidays since the start of “Tsuji Business Support Office” in July 2021. I think that I will continue to keep up this pace as a principle. But I will stream my blog irregularly for the next 2 weeks or so, because I will visit the United States about 10 days from Thursday, May 11 for the first time in four years.

■Towards the G7 Hiroshima Summit:
Prime Minister Kishida visited 4 countries in Africa and Singapore during consecutive holidays and visited Korea for the first time in 10 years as Prime Minister of Japan after the holidays. This marked the end of visits to G7 countries, India, Ukraine and so on except China, and he finished leveling the ground towards the G7 Hiroshima Summit held on from 19 to 21 next week. I have to say that I thank him for his hard work. There are diplomatic achievements like this, and approval ratings for his administration are rising. According to public opinion survey by NHK, reasons to support it are “because it looks better than other cabinets” (48%), “because it is a cabinet of the political party I support” (21%), and “because his personality is trustworthy” (14%). I have been with Mr. Kishida twice, and I certainly felt his personality was good.
By the way, I think that Sengoku warlords, politicians and business persons, as I look back on my life, are greatly influenced by “luck”. Of course, it goes without saying that “effort” or “do all that is humanly possible” is essential as a premise. For instance, in case of Prime Minister Kishida, “if President of the United States was not Biden and Trump still stays it” or “if  President of the Republic of Korea was not Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in still stays it”, current situation in Japan, the United States and Korea would have been completely different.
I feel Mr. Kishida is on “a good flow” now, aside from whether I support him or not. I hope that he will cherish this “flow” and in particular, I would like to see an emphasis on “dialogue” rather than “confrontation” in relations with China.

■About visiting the United States:
I had visited the United States once or twice every year before the outbreak of corona infection, but my visit had stopped due to various restrictions accompanying the infection spread. Therefore, this is the first time in four years.
◎This time, I will visit New York first for the first time in seven years. New York is a nostalgic place where I worked for five and a half years from 1978 to 1983 from age 35 to 40. When I went there, my two children were 2 years old and 3 years old, and I learned a lot from American parenting. And I also have fond memories of traveling all over the United States by flights and rental cars about 120 times a year. This time, I am going to visit nostalgic places together with my wife.
◎I will visit Omaha, Nebraska after New York. To tell the truth, when frozen and refrigerated warehouse business started in the suburbs of Los Angeles described later was in a severe condition, I thought localization is needed and I finally found out a suitable American who served as president for eight and a half years from June 2005. And he has been living there after retirement. I think that it would have been very difficult to get the business off the ground without him. In this sense, he is my “benefactor”. Staying at his home this time is the most enjoyable thing and the highlight of this visit. In order to succeed not only in the United States but also overseas, “talented local person” who has a good personality is essential. And the key is “how to find and use his talent”, and it is important to cultivate your “eyesight” for that on a regular basis and try to “network locally”.
By the way, the place named Omaha is frequently appearing in the Japanese media now, because the head office of U.S. investment company “Berkshire Hathaway Inc.” Mr. Warren Buffett, 92 years old, called “god of investment” leads is located in Omaha, and he lives there.
At the shareholder’s meeting held in Omaha every year, it is said that tens of thousands of shareholders came to this town with a population just under 500 thousand from around the world and listen to him. Incidentally, this year’s meeting was held on May 6.
◎The last place to visit is Wilmington in the suburbs of Los Angels. In the era of my previous job, it is a place rich in memories for me where I started frozen and refrigerated warehouse business. It is expanding to three locations now and employs about 200 people. I decided to launch the business and buy the land at the end of 1988. There were many twists and turns from then until the warehouse was completed and the business actually started at the end of 1994. After that, I struggled every day until the business got off the ground and visited there twice or three times every year and tried to communicate closely. Next year will be 30 years since I started. It is one of those businesses that will be remembered for a lifetime.
In order to grow sown seeds into thick trunks, it takes a certain amount of time, energy and resolution. What is required of management is solid future vision, unwavering belief and execution for change or innovation.
◎“The division of society” and “ The widening gap” are standing out in the United States now. These are global concerns. There will be a presidential election in November next year. Mr. Trump is also struggling and aiming for reinstatement. It is unthinkable in Japan common sense that a man like that remains as a presidential candidate. I would also like to expand my knowledge of the current situation in the United States.