In a busy place on the first floor of the building where my office is located, there is a person holding a banner to call for blood donation during the day. Because there is a “Hankyu Grand Building 24 blood donation room” on the 24th floor of the same building. In Japan, the number of blood donors continues to decline, and with the advancement of the declining birthrate and aging population in the future, there are concerns that it may hinder future stable supply. In order to secure the blood donation volume, it is necessary to gain the cooperation of the younger generation. However, among the total of about 4.99 million blood donors in 2024, the percentage of those in their 30s and younger is 32 %, and it has decreased by 9 points compared to 2015 (41%). It is necessary to promote and enlighten “the spirit of altruism” in schools and other institutions.
By the way, there is an age limit for blood donation, which is from 16 to 69 years old. In such circumstances, our office’s senior assistant, Mr. S, donates blood every year. The other day, just before his 70th birthday, he said that “he would like to make his last blood donation” and went out. Mr. S, who has contributed to blood donation more than 20 times in his lifetime. Well done!

■■Notice:
1)Notice of the lecture:
As separately announced, I will serve as a lecturer at a seminar hosted by Strike Co., Ltd. at Hotel Hankyu Respire Osaka from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, September 29. The title is “Tips for creating ‘business plans’ for small and medium-sized enterprises”. In the first half of the lecture, I will talk about “what I have learned as a human being” through my life experiences and “what I want to convey to executives”. And in the second half of the lecture, I will talk about “corporate reform” that I initiated and “the business plan” that was executed.
2)The next blog stream:
I will visit Los Angeles and Omaha, Nebraska from September 30 (Tuesday) to October 7 (Tuesday). In Omaha, I am looking forward to staying at the home of my American friend for many years and exchanging opinions while sharing drinks. Due to such circumstances, the next blog stream will be from the United States on October 3, my 83rd birthday.

■■What I have recently thought and focused on:
■There are concerns about the division of American society:
On September 10, during the event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Mr. Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative activist aged 31, was assassinated with a gun. The culprit has been arrested, but the investigation into the truth is yet to come. However, immediately after this incident, President Trump quickly assumed “it was the work of extreme left”. Such statements are feared to further intensify the struggle between the extreme left and extreme right, destabilizing society. Incidentally, Mr. Kirk has maintained the position that the possession of guns is a right of the American people and that the government should not excessively restrict it. I feel it is ironic that the person was killed with a gun, but it seems to symbolize the current state of the United States. Even so, it is terrifying that an amateur can hit the target in one shot from a distance of 145 meters.
By the way, in the United States, there have been a series of incidents targeting politicians recently. President Trump was also targeted for assassination twice, in July and September during last year’s election campaign.  And in June this year, Democratic Party members were murdered. If looking back to the past, President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963. In addition, there have been many incidents including attempts. In March 1981, while I was working in New York, President Reagan at that time was shot and severely injured.
For your information, the number of gun deaths in the United States in 2023 is said to be 47,000. It is said that suicides account for 60% of the death toll with 27,000, murders account for 18,000, police shooting accounts for about 600, and accidents or unknown causes account for about 1,500. There seem to be accidental shooting caused by young children. In American society, guns are an extremely serious issue, but the right of the people to hold guns is recognized under the United States Constitution, within certain restrictions. Therefore, even when gun-related incidents occur, in reality, substantial regulatory enhancements have not been realized.
■Yamato Transport has ranked first in the corporate brand power and overall power ranking for three consecutive years:
According to a “brand strategy survey” in 2025 conducted by Nikkei Research to measure and analyze corporate brand power, Yamato Transport has ranked first for three consecutive years in the overall evaluation. The second place is Panasonic. It is remarkable that being elected as the top company for three consecutive years among the top ten positions occupied by foreign companies such as Coca-Cola Japan, Apple Japan and Google and representative Japanese companies such as Ajinomoto and Kewpie. As a background of the high evaluation, it is said that despite the decline in personnel consumption due to rising prices, it has gained a high evaluation as a familiar living infrastructure supporting online shopping and other services. The trucking industry has long been referred to as a “three D” (Demanding, Dirty, and Dangerous) workplace. This remarkable achievement in such circumstances brings me great joy and I express my heartful respect as someone who had made a living in logistics.
By the way, when you think of Yamato Transport, you think of parcel delivery service, but currently, the topic of parcel delivery service is “drop-off delivery”. With the expansion of online shopping, the volume of deliveries in 2023 reached 5 billion packages and continues to increase. The re-delivery rate of major companies associated with this was about 15% in the late 2010s, but this spring, it decreased to 9.5 %. It can be pointed out that the background for this is the establishment of drop-off delivery. The government has set a target to reduce the re-delivery rate to 6%. To do that, further promotion of drop-off delivery is necessary. But it is not easy, because legally, parcel delivery is supposed to involve “face-to-face handover the package”. In addition to the ambiguity of that interpretation, there are various residents’ voices, issues related to theft and security, as well as handling fees, and then the promotion of drop-off delivery seems to be surprisingly complicated, even though it is a familiar concept.
On the other hand, the shortage of drivers in last one mile is also serious, and costs such as labor expenses are also rising. However, in Japan, the sense that services are “free” has been deeply rooted since ancient times, and generally, service fees are kept low. It should be widely communicated to the public that quality services are costly. In spite of this, there are still outdated businesses that use phrases like “free shipping” in their sales promotions to make consumers feel like they are getting a good deal.
This neglects the role of truck drivers, who are referred to as “essential workers” (essential in social life) and work hard day and night, and goes against their feelings. In reality, the fare is paid by the consumer in the form of membership fees and product prices. Therefore, it is not “free”, and strictly speaking, could be considered “false representation”. At least, it should be standardized to expressions like “shipping included” or “shipping at our expense”.