Mr. Jun Furuta, Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer, Chief Sustainability Officer, Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd.

Biography:
Graduated from Waseda University in 1981 and joined Meiji Seika in 1981; Executive Officer of Meiji in 2013, Director of Meiji Holdings since 2014, Executive Officer and General Manager of IR & Public Relations Dept. Managing Executive Officer in 2018, in charge of Sustainability Promotion Department from 2019, current position from 2020, in charge of IR & Public Relations Department and concurrently serving as Director of Meiji.

Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of First Wednesday. First Wednesday is a very attractive and high-level meeting, and I find it very useful because the discussions are not only about one company, but also about the nation and the world.
My hope for First Wednesday is that it will create a cycle of increased power for individuals and companies.
Recently, it is said that Japan’s national power is declining. There are many ways to look at this, but I believe that a major factor is the decline in the power of Japanese companies. Whether the metaphor is correct or not, there was the Shoukasonjuku of Yoshida Shouin, which produced many great men during the Meiji era. My expectation is that First Wednesday will become a modern-day Shoukasonjuku. In other words, I hope that the people who give speeches here and the members will engage in mutual efforts to improve themselves, thereby creating a cycle in which each individual becomes more powerful and the company becomes even more powerful.