TOTO’s founder, Kazuchika Okura, sent a letter to the Company’s second president, containing the words: “ Kindness must always come first. Your goal should be to provide good products and satisfy the customer. Accomplish that, and profit and prosperity will follow.” This message has been passed down from generation to generation of TOTO presidents as the words of our forebears. As TOTO’s 18th president, I will also position this way of thinking at the core of my management activities as I lead the approximately 35,000 TOTO Group employees working around the world as we seek to increase the number of TOTO fans worldwide.

I believe that the TOTO Group’s greatest strength is its people. I believe that TOTO’s pride and source of corporate value is that all group employees around the world—from research and product development to production, sales, and indirect departments—share the philosophy of “ All for the customer;” and that they think of their colleagues and help each other to improve.

The environment surrounding TOTO is changing rapidly, and it is clear that this situation will only continue to accelerate in the future. To keep up with these changes and pace of change, I would like us to make decisions more quickly than ever before, without fear of failure, and place importance on communication in order to achieve this.

The TOTO Group’s TOTO WILL 2030 strategy for creating shared value, which sets out the Group’s vision for 2030, has now reached its halfway point. Going forward, we will continue to push ahead without fear of change, taking into account the lessons learned in Stage 1, and envisage a grand design for the TOTO Group beyond 2030.