This is the last Blog stream in November. December will come after several days, and Shiwasu in old Japanese calendar will come at last. The other day, many young people unfortunately died in Seoul due to a tragic accident. As soon as people dressed up in disguise for Halloween, Christmas will come in turn. Along with that, a special sale is held, and it is not only held in Japan. Recently, a special sale is held throughout the year for variety one after another. In the United States, at the end of November there is “Black Friday” which is the peak of personal consumption throughout the year. Some vendors conduct special sales before that day. In China, November 11 is called “Bachelors’ Day” or Singles’ Day, and Alibaba and so on conduct big sales with mail order as the pillar, and it is said that in normal year there were 5 trillion yen sales in one day. But this year I wonder if there were poor sales under the influence of zero-Covid policy, and total amount was not published. Around here, it seems that despotic intention of Chinese government, which does not announce inconvenient information or does not let it flow, is at work.
By the way, the highest human traffic season in the United States throughout the year is before and after Thanksgiving which is the fourth Thursday in November every year, and November 24 this year. This holiday is not as talked about as Christmas in Japan. In the United States, it is the custom that family and friends get together and eat turkey and pumpkin pie on that day. I had also experienced this day several times while in office in the United States, but a habit of eating turkey is not common in Japan, and I wonder if too sweet sauce with it is the cause, and it seems to me that Japanese don’t like it.

■■I mention unforgettable recent events this time, too.
■Japan beats Germany at FIFA world cup in Qatar:
After all, this is the one. It was good news that has Japan bubbled up for the first time in a long time. I am not familiar with football, but my impression is an elaborate strategy by Manager Moriyasu, the success of players who responded to be played, and the big pressure of “not being defeated” for German players. And I feel that Japanese demonstrate its strength in team competitions rather than individual competitions, so is rugby. Japanese people are originally farming people, and I feel that even if individual human strength and arm strength are not enough, we try to get things done by cooperating and working together as a national character.
Considering such things, about working status in the company, I think that changing all at once from “membership-type which is seniority system and lifetime employment” that we get used to for a long time and is dominant at present to “job-type” which is, if I am forced to say, a type of hunting people is risky. I think that transition is necessary, because of course the times have changed and values are also diversified, but it is better to start from “hybrid-type” keeping two working status coexisting in order to mitigate a sudden change.

■NHK Radio１“Relaxation during the day”, 70 th anniversary of broadcasting:
At noon on November 23 (Wednesday, Labor Thanksgiving Day) at 12:20, 70 th anniversary broadcast of “Relaxation during the day” started together with familiar theme song. This program is broadcasting from Monday to Saturday excluding year-end and new year holidays. There is a “service for failing to hear” lately, but I am listening attentively to this broadcast as much as possible. The theme music was made by Yuji Koseki going down in history.
This program started when I was 10 years old, and I don’t remember when I heard this music for the first time, but it is a longevity program like no other. When I listen to this melody now, I can see old nostalgic countryside landscape and my dead parents. The broadcast started after 7~8 years after becoming a defeated country in the Pacific War. Japan was so poor that I could not even think of it now and there was also a food shortage. Of course, there was no TV or smartphone or coaching school. Boys like me played samurai outside or caught a fish or crayfish in a nearby creek. At that time, a lot of small animals existed together around me.
As it is said to be “well-fed and warmly clothed”, we have become materially rich now. And we have become a long -lived society with “100-year-life”, too. In addition to emergence of high-tech products such as smartphone, personal computer, drone, transportation has made life more convenient. However, how many people are filled with it? The more high-tech using ICT and IOT takes control of our daily life, the more we want to value the feelings of our employees called “we want to live humanly” in the company.

≪P.S.≫ 9 months have passed since Russian army invaded Ukraine. At first, president Putin seemed to aim to conquer Kyiv within a few days, and bring down Zelenskyy administration, and make factual annexation a fait accompli, the same as Crimea. But this speculation is off, and at present they are cornered to the point of how to defend eastern bridgehead protected occupation. The biggest reason why this situation happened is “Logistics”. In other words, the supply of foods, weapons, and ammunition is not enough. No matter how many missiles they shoot, it is nothing more than giving a blow to a “point”. Occupation or possession requires suppression by ground forces. To do that, “Logistics” is essential. But due to supply line disruption, it was not enough.
In Japan, from the age of provincial wars to the Pacific War, “Samurai are the people who act as if they are full even when they are starving”, or reliance on spirit such as “make up for what is lacking with the Yamato soul” or “kamikaze blows” was emphasized in the war. The upper layers may be able to get away with it, but soldiers fighting on the front lines have no foods or ammunition. It led to disastrous result that 70 % of soldiers killed in the last World War died of hunger. In contrast, the American military give utmost importance to Logistics. Right now, the United States is on Thanksgiving vacation, but for instance, I heard that turkey was delivered to soldiers fighting on the front lines during Thanksgiving.
Recently, even in business, from the viewpoint of “those who control logistics control commercial distribution” or BCP, Business Continuity Plan in a crisis, importance of Logistics is re-realized as supply chain management, SCM. In my experience that I have been working in logistics industry for many years, I would like to touch on this point again.