Message

We are celebrating the centennial of Asahi Kasei’s founding on May 25. Even as difficult circumstances continue, we can celebrate this special occasion thanks to the accomplishments of our predecessors and all of your ongoing efforts today. I am sincerely grateful to all of you.

We have achieved growth by constantly transforming our business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age, and proactively taking challenges in new fields leveraging our capability to change and our diversity. Our culture of open communication and challenging spirit are our precious heritage, embodied in our Group Values of Sincerity, Challenge, and Creativity.

The year 2022 is a critical juncture for us as we celebrate our centennial, launch a new medium-term management plan under a new management team, and start fresh with a major reconfiguration of the Material sector. It is a good opportunity for each of us to look back on our time in the company and consider what we should preserve as the heritage of Asahi Kasei. While looking ahead to the next century with gratitude for the achievements of our predecessors, we should inherit their vital corporate culture and bear in mind the importance of our contribution to society with our Group Slogan of “Creating for Tomorrow” as together we take on challenges for further evolution.

April 01, 2022
Hideki Kobori
Chairman, Asahi Kasei Corporation

Introduction

We are living in a turbulent time. The economic environment is increasingly severe, with business competition on a global scale. We are establishing foundations for the Asahi Kasei Group to make a further leap as a global company by branching into new businesses such as the petrochemical business in Mizushima. The next few years will be critical for our great hopes and expectations.
Japanese society is in turmoil, with chaos on college campuses and violent leftist groups trying to overturn democratic society. Now they are looking infiltrate corporations and disrupt production operations. As members of Asahi Kasei, we should not let ourselves be swayed by confusion in society. Now more than ever we need to join together with a unified corporate goal and a firm will.
This booklet will help you understand the Asahi Kasei Group’s role, management policy, and expectations of employees. Let us overcome this difficult era, further grow our company, achieve better living standards, and create a peaceful and prosperous society.

Chapter 1: The role of our company

A company is a place where people work. A company produces things that people need. And a company is an assembly of many people striving toward the same goal together. Now let us consider the case of the Asahi Kasei Group.

1. Work filled with humanity
Our company is a place where individual people gather together to work. People work for their own good. Work enables people to enhance their abilities and discover the joy of creating things by their ingenuity and efforts. The company should be a place where every employee enhances their abilities and feels the happiness of working.

2. Contribution to a better standard of living
People work not only for themselves but also for society. Our company plays an important role in creating wealth, contributing to economic development, and enriching the standard of living for people by providing products for food, shelter, and clothing. The company should continually try to innovate and strive to supply society with an abundance of high-quality goods at low cost.

3. Enabling employees to live fulfilling lives
The mission of management to enhance earnings is not only for meeting the expectations of our shareholders but also for enriching the benefits we provide to employees so they and their family members can enjoy fulfilling lives. Employees’ lives depend on the prosperity of the company. The company needs to constantly strive to develop businesses and improve productivity in order for employees and their family members live with fulfilment.

4. Strong bonds between employees
Our company is a collective body where many people join together for the purpose of manufacturing. It is ideal for employees to build rapport with one another and gain a sense of camaraderie.

Chapter 2: Policy of company management

We want the Asahi Kasei Group to continually take challenges and grow operations through vitality and technological abilities. Based on this idea, I would like to explain the policy of management.

1. Growth of the company
The company needs to grow. Through constant growth, the company can enrich people’s standard of living and enable employees and their families to live fulfilling lives. The management is always looking for ways to grow the company and striving to achieve growth.

2. Nurturing human resources
A company depends on its people. The development of business derives from the vitality of human resources, and employees gain satisfaction from personal growth through their work. The company spares no effort to nurture human resources.

3. Fulfilling workplace environment
Work itself should be rewarding. Employees should take the initiative and show creativity in their work. The company should strive to create a workplace environment where employees can feel pride and satisfaction.

4. Realization of fulfilling lives
The company should help employees enjoy richer lives both materially and intellectually. The company’s development allows the provision of superior employment conditions, which allows employees to enjoy a better standard of living and enables them to play an active part in society as well as their role at work.

5. Guarding against destructive elements
The company must be guarded against destructive elements. We must stand firmly against anti-social elements who would disrupt production activities or beguile employees with destructive ideologies. It is up to all of us to protect the company.

Chapter 3: Expectations of employees

Now I would like to describe what we expect of employees in order for us to fulfill the role of the company and realize management policy described above. I want all of you to consider these matters personally and to apply them faithfully.

1. Be your own manager
You should know your work better than anyone else and take action promptly, thoroughly, and thoughtfully. You know more about your work than anybody else, and you can come up with ideas that nobody else would think of. When something comes up, you are the first one to know about it. Do your work with confidence and responsibility, feeling that nobody could do it better than you can.

2. Improve your abilities
Never stop deepening your knowledge and enhancing your abilities. If you are good at what you do, it becomes interesting and worthwhile. To improve yourself through work is one of the greatest joys a person can feel.

3. Be creative
Always be aware of issues in your work, remain observant, and think carefully. By thorough observation you will clearly see the facts and come up with good ideas. Constantly apply yourself to achieve ingenuity. Don’t be passive, always have goals and proactively strive toward them. You will find achieving the goals to be rewarding.

4. Good teamwork will enhance your work
Cooperation is necessary, as there is a limit to what an individual can do alone. Everyone in the workplace should be aware of issues, exchange information with one another, discuss things together, set common goals, and perform work together as a united team.

5. Be considerate of your colleagues
Work in concert, help each other, communicate, and have fun together. Share happiness and sadness with your colleagues. Make your working environment one that is filled with consideration for others. A warm workplace where people care for one another helps us get through life and makes work more fulfilling.

6. Be a responsible member of society
Be a responsible member of society as well as a responsible employee. Society means different people living together in harmony. Respect the personalities and preferences of others, and observe social norms.

7. Protect ourselves
Through our production activities, we expand our company, achieve a fulfilling life of our employees, and contribute to the well-being of people in general. For these goals, history has shown that the country needs to be liberal and democratic. However, some violent revolutionary beliefs have emerged, advocating obstruction and destruction of production activities. We must stand firmly against such despicable conduct, remaining vigilant against extremist elements to guard against any incursion to our company. We must protect our company by ourselves.

Conclusion

Our goal is for every employee to feel proud, satisfied, and pleased to work for the Asahi Kasei Group. Nurturing the company and passing it on to the next generation is our responsibility. Let us join together to fulfill our goal and responsibility.

January 1970
Kagayaki Miyazaki
Representative of the Asahi Kasei Group

Industry provides things that are necessary for the general public in daily life. People’s demand for goods never stops increasing. To maintain supply with limited space, we need to improve production and further develop industry. As people’s standard of living rises, it’s not enough to provide goods that satisfy the minimum of food and clothing needed to live. Industry is only meaningful if we supply an abundance of high-quality goods at low cost to enable the general public to enjoy a higher standard of living.

Modern industrial development has contributed greatly to higher living standards, yet people increasingly complain that they don’t have enough. These complaints do not actually come from insufficient food and clothing, but from higher expectations to lead a better life along with modernization. If you compare people’s current lives to those just a few decades ago, the standard of living is far better even in the poorest districts. People no longer need to worry about getting enough food to eat and enough clothes to wear. If people were satisfied with having the minimum necessities, there would be no complaints. But now people expect their standard of living to continue rising further.

It’s natural for people to feel this way, and this is what drives the advance of human development and culture. So it would be a mistake for us to think that we fulfill our mission if we supply goods that are sufficient for people to live without hardship. The ultimate mission of industry is to enhance people’s standard of living with an abundant supply of high-quality goods at the lowest possible prices.

For over a decade, we overcame difficulties and gained valuable experience as we supplied artificial silk for people’s clothing, which was a meaningful purpose. But these days there is research related to improvement in many fields. Our success now depends on low-cost feedstock supply. By merging the three companies, we become self-sufficient in chemicals and power supply, which is expected to reduce costs.

This merger not only makes our artificial silk business self-sufficient in feedstock of chemicals and electric power. Now we can further advance development by combining traditional technology with new research, and even supply higher-grade artificial silk that hasn’t been sold in Japan before, fulfilling our new mission with both high quality and high volume. In this way we can contribute to the industrial development of the country and to people’s greater happiness, thus fulfilling our mission.

July 15, 1933
Shitagau Noguchi
President, Asahi Bemberg Fiber

The Asahi Kasei Group will celebrate the 100th anniversary of our founding in May 2022.
When launching the business to produce synthetic chemicals and artificial fibers, our founder Shitagau Noguchi said, "Our ultimate mission is to improve people's standard of living by providing an abundant supply of the highest quality necessities at the lowest prices."
During the century since then, Asahi Kasei has proactively branched into many fields of business along with changes in society and the environment. We now provide the world with a wide variety of products and services which fulfil Noguchi's vision. This ideal has been consistently preserved for generations, and remains at the heart of our Group Mission to contribute to life and living for people around the world.

As we approach this momentous occasion, I hope all personnel of the Asahi Kasei Group can feel proud to be part of an enterprise that has endured for a century. Now it's time for all of us to continue taking challenges for the future.
Let's all look forward with anticipation to May 2022!

May 25, 2021
Hideki Kobori
President, Asahi Kasei Corporation