[Fiction] The Story of Kuroda Manufacturing, Episode 7: Racing Through the Sky

Although neither Toraichi nor Kazumi knew it at the time, Mitsui Industry was a mid-sized company in the field of textile and industrial machinery manufacturing, operating not only domestically but also internationally. Mitsui had been demobilized a few years prior, but he had been moving between various branch offices across the country and abroad, and it was only recently that he had returned to Gunma with his family.
"I wanted to show my face at the Imperial Spinning Koriyama Factory, but I didn't feel like going to Koriyama without you there."
He had once told Toraichi something like that. However, it seems that through his business dealings with Kuroda Manufacturing, he was able to reunite with Otaka from the Imperial Spinning Koriyama Factory.

Mitsui was a fun and good-natured man, but the work from Mitsui Industry was not easy. It consisted of a series of small-lot orders, prototype-like requests, and complex part manufacturing orders that were difficult to make profitable. It was as if they were testing Kuroda Manufacturing—or, to put it positively, they were placing experimental orders with high expectations—but the requirements were strict.

When Kazumi handed the purchase order from Mitsui Industry to Toraichi, he called over his top apprentice, Yaginuma, and asked,
"What do you think of this job? What would you do?"
He asked, and Yaginuma replied,
"Well, if you were to let me do it, I'd like to proceed with this procedure, but if I were to have someone else do it, I'd have to devise the process."
While taking in Yaginuma's opinion, Toraichi said,
"How about doing it this way, for example? Don't you think that's interesting?"
The two of them continued to brainstorm materials and work procedures with their eyes shining. And as a matter of course, Kuroda Manufacturing met Mitsui Industry's expectations. No, saying they 'met' them would not be accurate. They always provided products that exceeded expectations as their solution. Although Toraichi and his team did not know it, Kuroda Manufacturing's uncompromising craftsmanship maintained quality that was top-class in the country even back then. Just as water naturally flows from a high place to a low place, the business with Mitsui Industry expanded in both quality and quantity, and the name 'Kuroda of Technology' spread to Mitsui Industry's business partners, leading to inquiries that seemed to be drawn to them.

The ten years as Kuroda Shoten had seen steady growth, and they had achieved remarkable results as a sole proprietorship, but if the growth until then was additive, like stacking things one by one, the growth after incorporation showed a multiplicative increase, partly due to the tailwind of Mitsui Industry. The background of the Showa era's period of high economic growth and the 'high level of technology' centered on Toraichi could be said to be major factors in this growth. And the 'power of the Managing Director' was also significant. Although they had incorporated as Kuroda Manufacturing, at first it was a so-called 'three-person family business' with the father as president, the mother as managing director, and the grandmother as accounting assistant. In such cases, the managing director is sometimes mocked as a 'managing director of nothing,' but Kuroda Manufacturing was different. Kazumi's administrative ability in 'general affairs and accounting' was extremely high, but what was particularly noteworthy was her literacy regarding information. At that time, there was no internet like there is today, and information about the industry largely depended on newspapers, trade journals, and word of mouth. The Managing Director actively subscribed to trade journals not only during working hours but also in her spare time after returning home, continuing to study every day not only at the company but also at home. It seemed she enjoyed that her learning was for the sake of the company, and there was also the circumstance that a certain level of knowledge was necessary to deal with business partners. In recent years, the term 'work-life balance' has become established, but in the Kuroda household at that time, both Toraichi and Kazumi were in a 'work-is-life' situation. Working and living were on the same line. 'Earning, working, enjoying, entertaining. And living.' There was no need to separate any of it. It could be said that living was working, and it was fun. This attitude of Kazumi's led to the skill of drawing information out of others during casual conversations with business partners. No, should it be described as personality rather than a skill? 'When I talk to the Managing Director, I end up wanting to teach her all sorts of things.' It is said that there were multiple business partners who said this. Of course, since the information Kazumi obtained was often useful to the business partners, it likely created a synergistic effect of teaching while being taught.

In the sports world at this time, professional baseball was flourishing, centered on the 'Giants,' but in the baseball world, the maxim 'A great player does not make a great manager' was born. In that sense, it could be said that although Kazumi had no track record as a player (craftsman), she was demonstrating her ability as a 'great coach.' Toraichi, who had become president, was, for better or worse, a bit oblivious to 'profit and loss calculations.' He showed no greed for 'profit,' to the point where one could call him 'selfless.' The apprentices who looked up to Toraichi seemed to have a similar spirit. The desire that Toraichi could not abandon was 'ambition.' He was greedy when it came to 'better work' and 'more interesting, difficult work.' As if to draw out such feelings, Kazumi would suggest things like, 'It seems there is this kind of material,' 'If we have this equipment, we can do this kind of work,' or 'Wouldn't work efficiency improve if we did this?' and she succeeded in increasing corporate value through what we would call diversification, sophistication/specialization, and business expansion today. In the background, the information and advice from Otaka of Imperial Spinning, Tanaka of Seiho Bank, and Mitsui of Mitsui Industry were also significant. Kazumi, who served as their point of contact, learned various things and utilized them for the company.

And Kazumi's coaching ability was effective not only for the president but also for the employees. One of Kazumi's major roles was to receive consultations when the apprentices, led by Yaginuma, had 'difficult things to say' to Toraichi, who was both president and master. 'If you feel something is
wrong,
cherish that intuition. What the president teaches isn't always correct. The sensitivity to feel that something is
wrong
is your weapon. It's okay to fail a little as a result of trying. Things that involve injury or life and death are no good, but using a little material is fine. I'll talk to the president, so try it out. The president won't get angry or fire you just for expressing an opinion.' Many apprentices also gave opinions and suggestions to Toraichi after consulting with Kazumi. Toraichi was happy with the employees' suggestions and valued the proposals from Kazumi, and as a result, Kuroda Manufacturing was able to achieve multiplicative growth, as if it were taking flight. (Episode 7 End)

Episode 1

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