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We hosted a lecture in celebration of the one year anniversary of “Zensho Todai Nanjing Liberal Arts Student Exchange Program.”

On May 23, 2014, the day that marks the one year anniversary of Zensho Todai Nanjing Liberal Arts Student Exchange Program, a lecture by our benefactor Mr. Kentaro Ogawa, Chairman and CEO of Zensho Holdings Co., Ltd., was held at Nanjing University Business School.

Titled “Eradicating Hunger and Poverty from the World through a Corporation: Safe Food for the World” and chaired by a permanent member of the School Administration Committee Zou Yajun, the lecture was attended by roughly 240 people, consisting of 160 graduates from the University's Executive MBA course, 40 entrepreneurs currently enrolled in the course, as well as 40 undergraduates and graduate students of Business School. Representing Zensho Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereafter Zensho), General Manager of Global Business Promotion Division Kazumasa Ogawa, Chairman's Room Manager Tomohisa Machida, and Qingdao Representative Office Manager Ma Wenjun attended the event. Attending from the University of Tokyo were Head of Public Relations Kazutaka Yamaji, Professor Fumitoshi Karima, Senior Director of Public Relations Hiromi Shimoda, as well as Assistant Professor Pei Chou-li.

IMG_0549_2.jpgMr. Ogawa went over the history of Zensho, stressing the point that underlying the trajectory from a small warehouse to the large business of today has been his sense of mission for improving the quality of life for the humanity and providing safe food for many. To realize his mission, he adopted a management method that takes care of the whole process of food production, food processing, quality control, distribution, as well as feed service, thereby achieving greater efficiency and greater product quality. In concluding his lecture, he made his strong point to the audience that the purpose of running a corporation is not seeking profit so much as improving the quality of life for the Chinese citizens, and asked the audience to take advantage of the strengths of corporations and keep making contributions to that end.

After the lecture, the guests from Zensho visited a new Sukiya branch that had just opened this April in a commercial facility in front of the metro station nearby Xianlin Campus, Nanjing University. They had gyudon just like ordinary customers and looked at the shop's interior, environment, and its service. It was impressive to see Mr. Ogawa give words of encouragement to the staff, saying “I hope you all will think together about how to improve the shop. I hope you all will make this branch a place embraced by the local community.”

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This article has also been published on the website of the University of Tokyo Foundation.

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