100 Stories1947 The Company Newsletter - Traditional Asahi Kasei Spirit

Google, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and many other digital services are flourishing in the 2020s. In 2019, 89% of the population of Japan was using online networks.

The Internet has made communication with people in remote areas much more accessible. Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to run a business without having to come to work is a result of digital tools such as Zoom and Teams. Being able to communicate face to face with someone who is not in front of you is important for building relationships with people in remote areas.

However, even in the pre-Internet era, communication with people who were not present was an important element in business. What methods did Asahi Kasei use to enhance employee unity?

Well, one element of this was that Asahi Kasei's company newsletter has played a major role as an employee communication tool since shortly after the war. The effects of the company newsletter were greater than expected, and included sharing ideas with management, which became increasingly difficult as the business expanded, and revitalizing the workplace.

Asahi Kasei's company newsletter has a long and storied history. In January 1947, “Nobeoka Asahi” was published as a newsletter for the employees of Nobeoka Plant. It was the first issue of the company newsletter.

The contents of the newsletter were impressive, beginning with a greeting from the plant manager, followed by congratulatory speeches from Shigeyuki Hamada, the third president of the company, and the governor of Miyazaki Prefecture at the time. After that, it became the Shahou Asahi, publishing news of the whole company. Its publication continued until the late 1990s.

With the announcement of the ISHIN2000 medium-term management plan, which became the foundation of Asahi Kasei today, the Shahou Asahi was renewed as A-Spirit in 1999 and has been continuously disseminating information up to the present day.

The company Shahou Asahi was loved for many years for communicating high-quality management information as much as possible. However, at the turn of the century in the year 2000, when the world was at a major turning point, the company decided to revamp its historic company newsletter.

This is an indication of Asahi Kasei's commitment to the new era. ‘A-Spirit’ refers to the ‘Asahi Kasei Spirit.’ The name is a statement of intent that now is the time to demonstrate the Asahi Kasei spirit.

The renewed A-Spirit incorporates a truly new-age approach, aiming not only to provide information from management, but also for two-way communication. The new magazine brings out the real voice of the management team rather than difficult-to-understand management terminology, and the reader-participation efforts enable approaches from the employees' side. The design was completely redesigned and transformed into an easy-to-read, friendly company newsletter.

In 2022, Asahi Kasei's company newsletter, which has been loved through its various changes, will be reborn once again on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

In order to further strengthen bonds between employees, in addition to a new documentary project focusing on the thoughts and feelings of employees, a new website dealing with immediate, real-time information has been launched.
The company newsletter, which started out as a factory newspaper in Nobeoka, then became a company-wide newsletter for Japan, then later an English-language publication using digital technology, and a social media version in China. Now, it is a bridge between employees working around the world.