Happy New Year to all!
Thank you very much for visiting the Nippon Paint Group Website. I would first like to extend best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008.
Thanks to a lucky arrangement of calendar dates, we at the Nippon Paint Group in Japan had a long, relaxing 9-day holiday from the end of last year to the start of this year. However, it wasn't until New Year's Day that I could really feel at ease. On January 2nd, however, when the world got rolling again, we received unwelcome news from the U.S. that oil prices exceeded US$100 a barrel in the crude oil futures market, along with the depreciation of the dollar and falling stock prices. On the 4th of January, when the Japanese stock market reopened, and at this year's opening session in the Tokyo Stock Exchange market, the Nikkei stock average finished down 616 yen, which was shocking enough for me to immediately get rid of the happy mood of enjoying the New Year.
I spent my boyhood days during the post-World War II restoration period. From my young adulthood to middle age, I was in the midst of the Japanese economic boom. Then came the collapse of Japan's bubble economy. During the course of those days, our nation borrowed a huge amount of money for the establishment and improvement of infrastructure. But when it comes to maintenance, our country had done little or nothing. In fact, tens of thousands of bridges now are said to face the risk of collapse. When I came to know this, I was astonished. People of my generation worked diligently in our own way, but as a result, what can we leave for our children or grandchildren? If what we can leave for the next generation is just a `dirty earth' and `huge debts,' that would be a hopeless situation and terribly depressing.
I always thought paint is most effective for the maintenance of concrete or steel structures such as roads and bridges. But I feel we didn't make enough effort when it comes to letting the public know this both as an individual company and the paint industry as a whole. Though a little too late, I renewed my determination to do our part as a paint manufacturer to contribute to the maintenance of social capital by promoting the development of eco-friendly paints and coatings. It is my hope that by so doing, we will also be able to lessen the burden on upcoming generations even if it's just a little.
