[2025] Shining in the Year of the Tsuchinoto-Mi! Challenges for the Businessman Turning 60
This year is the special "Year of the Tsuchinoto-Mi."
According to the cycle of the zodiac, Tsuchinoto-Mi is a rare year that comes only once every 60 years. This year is said to be a "major turning point" and is considered the best time for new challenges and self-innovation. In such a special year, I am also turning 60.
I am very curious about how businessmen who are reaching the milestone of 60—a turning point in life and career—are stepping into new stages, and I will be writing about my own planned activities on note as well. I also hope to feature others who are engaged in fascinating activities.
By the way, what is the Year of the Tsuchinoto-Mi?
The "Tsuchinoto" of the zodiac signifies "knowing oneself and polishing oneself anew," which points to inner growth. "Mi" symbolizes "molting," meaning shedding old shells to be reborn as a new self.
For this reason, the Year of the Tsuchinoto-Mi is a special year considered a symbol of "self-transformation" and "leaps forward."
Cultivating the power to believe in oneself, precisely because it is the Year of the Tsuchinoto-Mi
The common themes of the Year of the Tsuchinoto-Mi are "confidence" and "evolution."
It is important to hold onto the "conviction" gained only after 60 years of career and life experience, and to take a new step forward while believing in one's own potential. I believe that businessmen turning 60 this year can truly serve as models for this.
At 60, a new business challenge begins
1. A "Regeneration Contractor" working on regional revitalization
As the problem of business closures among local small and medium-sized enterprises becomes more serious, I, as a management consultant who has reached the age of 60, am pouring all my efforts into "supporting business succession to the next generation." Thinking that "the time has come to use my experience for the region," I am providing new value to the local community while achieving a "self-regeneration" befitting the Year of the Tsuchinoto-Mi.
2. An "Instigator" also working on business creation
Until now, I have supported startups, business launches, and the transformation of successors into entrepreneurs. Using my experience from creating business plans to reviewing them, I will challenge myself with activities that spark new businesses from the region as an instigator who creates businesses.
3. A "Professional" who incorporates principles into work
No matter how many new technologies or management methods are born, it is necessary to build mechanisms based on "principles" in both management and work activities.
As a professional, I will carry out activities to enlighten and operationalize these principles.
4. An "AI Co-creator" with generative AI as a business partner
I have walked through OA, IT, and DX, and from here on, it is AI.
To take on new challenges with "confidence," "evolution," and the "conviction" gained only after 60 years of career and life experience, I need a partner. That would be
AI. Together with my partner AI, I will co-create the challenges 1-3 that I have set forth. I will act as an AI co-creator, pursuing new ways of working and doing business.
A new challenge in hobbies: "Pickleball"
I wanted to start exercising for my health at 60, and while I was wondering what to do, "pickleball," known as a new sport, suddenly appeared before me. Based on my experience playing tennis and badminton as hobbies, it seems like something I can start right away. Pickleball seems to be popular in regions where many startups and venture companies gather, such as Silicon Valley, and I hope it will become a place for business interaction among entrepreneurs and managers around me as well.
