Shoichi Kobayashi×Chisako Takashima

A corporate philosophy valuing the venturing spirit and people

Takashima

You are very selective about what goes into your products.

Kobayashi

Yes that is an aspect that we cannot compromise. Our company owns 30,000 square meters of field in Shirakami in Akita Prefecture where we organically grow plants from which we extract the essences we use in our products ourselves. We use a special variety of Job’s tears called Kitanohato, which is grown in Hokkaido, as the main ingredient of the Skin Conditioner.

Takashima

Will you continue your pursuit of developing fascinating products?

Kobayashi

We certainly will. Sri Lanka has a rich source of medicinal plants, which we seek to harness as cosmetics ingredients. We have established the Institute of Traditional Plants in collaboration with Tokyo University of Agriculture to study indigenous plants.

Takashima

In your various endeavors, I am sure that you have experienced both success and failure. And yet, you have fearlessly continued to pursue new possibilities.

Kobayashi

We have experienced many failures, but when a product fails, all we have to do is stop. We are determined to continue to explore new ideas, including experimenting with new ingredients and technologies.

Takashima

Speaking of challenges, I have been told that you also run a daycare center called “Kuukids,” which is a unique undertaking among cosmetic manufacturers.

Kobayashi

Our company employs around 2,000 people in the beauty department who are the source of our corporate strength. We started an in-house daycare center in 2009 for women who wish to continue working after marriage or giving birth. Our services are available not only to our employees but also to neighboring companies and local residents. We are open until 9:00 pm from Monday to Sunday, including holidays, in order to support working mothers. We hope to be of some help to working mothers.

Takashima

You take very good care of people.

Kobayashi

We are seeking to use plant ingredients from Madagascar, which is an extremely poor country where only 45 percent of the children can go to school. In our hope to make a contribution to the local people, instead of just enjoying wealth on our side, we have donated school buildings to the local elementary school and junior high school. Hopefully, these schools can foster new human resources.