On Wednesday, November 11, some 22 students and five staff members, including President Seike, visited Nishijima Co. (Toyohashi, Aichi), a manufacturer of machine tools. The tour was part of their off-campus activities for the SDM class on "Fundamentals of Accounting, Marketing and Economics." They were able to see a model company that has eliminated its retirement system and devoted itself to creating an environment where veteran engineers can work as long as they wish. Its motto is "active for life." Getting out of the classroom and into the real world made this a very fruitful day of study for all of the students.
Their visit was written up by three newspapers, the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Tonichi News and Higashiaichi Shimbun.
The following is excerpted from an article courtesy the Tonichi News (November 12 edition)
"Keio graduate students and president visit Nishijima: Observe workplace with no mandatory retirement"
Graduate students impressed by 76 year old woman on the kitchen staff
Graduate students from Keio University visited machine tools manufacturer Nishijima (Ishimaki Nishgawa-Cho, Toyohashi; President: Tokushi Nishijima) on the 11th to observe the company's manufacturing techniques and a workplace that has no mandatory retirement. There were accompanied by Keio President Atsushi Seike.
President Seike took the opportunity of the graduate student tour to participate personally, and commented, "The Japanese population is aging more rapidly than anywhere in the world, and we have many people who want to continue to work in spite of their age. I have long wanted to see for myself how Nishijima makes use of the ambitions and abilities of these veteran workers.” He listened attentively to the explanations provided by President Nishijima.
President Seike's specialty is labor economics and investigating employment and labor issues. The 23 graduate students are enrolled in the Graduate School of System Design and Management. They were impressed by the opportunities provided to senior citizens to continue to work, visiting with employees who have been employed for more than 50 years. This was the first small-business factory visit to be included in their class on "Fundamentals of Accounting, Marketing and Economics."
The class is taught by Associate Professor Tetsuya Toma and Mr. Atsuo Yoshida, a special guest lecturer runs his own accounting firm. During their tour, they heard from President Nishijima on the manufacturing principles and philosophy that have inspired the company since its founding 86 years ago. They also viewed the fields where vegetables are grown for use in the factory and the employee cafeteria.
The tour was made possible because of a referral and introduction by Mr. Yoshida, who serves as the company's accounting consultant. He recommended it as "this unique, solid manufacturing firm in Toyohashi.”
Upon arrival, the graduate students had a meal of curry rice, which was what was on the Wednesday menu in the employee cafeteria. President Nishijima introduced one of the women in the kitchen, saying, "To make this curry, this 76 year old cook peeled 25 kilos of potatoes.”
During the factory tour, they met with employees who had worked for more than 50 years and viewed the company vegetable garden. Their harvest was large indeed. In the question-and-answer session, the students talked about how impressed they were, that they had finally begun to understand what the phrase "small group of professionals" truly meant, and that they were excited to see for themselves how the ambitions and abilities of veteran workers support society.
