The community service through manufacturing is the DNA of ASICS

ASICS has a Founding Philosophy established by the founder, the late Kihachiro Onitsuka, which says "a sound mind in a sound body". Even sixty years after foundation, it is not possible to discuss the history of ASICS without mentioning the Founding Philosophy.
The history of ASICS has not always been smooth, but had seen many hardships. The philosophy of incorporation was instrumental in making right decisions without a doubt to ride through the rough times.

I come from the marketing side of the company. This means that I can keep talking about any pair of shoes you would find around you for an hour. There is a long history for any pair of shoes that keeps me talking. All ASICS products have been created with a long story attached.
In the long history of ASICS, it experienced huge waves of reforms and changes. In particular, the triangular merger in 1977, when I was still young, made me wonder about the reason behind the merger, but Onitsuka had a belief that the company needed products other than shoes to keep fighting in the market. With the merger, the company became a comprehensive supplier of sporting goods to turn the belief into a reality. However, this achievement also worked to constrain our move over the time.
In a hasty attempt to become a comprehensive supplier, the company left behind the fundamental principle of a manufacturer, which is to do the planning, development, and production with its own hand. At first, I thought that the brand of ASICS was formidable but, after a while, I started to notice that we were not winning the support of users. We were simply pushing a lot of products by attaching the brand. In other words, we chose an easy way to become a comprehensive supplier.
What Onitsuka has valued ever since foundation was the belief to serve the community through manufacturing. This will never change. In the first place, there was the service to sports players. Making products supported by ordinary users through the application of technologies acquired there should be at the root of ASICS and that was what we were taught over and over.
Of course, it is possible to push products using the influential power in the business. However, that will only result in an increase in the number of returned goods, although you may enjoy a temporary rise in the revenues. After repeating such a process several times, ASICS undertook a reform to go back to the origin set by Onitsuka. As a result, ASICS decided to focus on three major items of shoes, wear, and sporting gear, which still carried the original concept of ASICS' manufacturing. This was the first mid-term management plan commonly known as the ASICS Revolution Plan, with which the company tried to regain strength by selecting and concentrating on the products that were actually manufactured in its own factory. Although the selection and concentration strategy worked in yielding profits, the revenue declined. There were times when this decline in the revenue made us feel reserved and fall into negative thinking. The philosophy of incorporation is easy to chant but difficult to put into practice.
That was when we thought the second mid-term plan, the ASICS Challenge Plan, was necessary. We are still working on this plan. The main idea is to being on the offensive side utilizing our strengths. Our foreign subsidiaries are also transforming by focusing on the products that utilize our strengths. The strength of ASICS lies in the shoes business with running shoes and marathon shoes at its core. Concentrating on this business was the reason why we could succeed.

Onitsuka longed for globalization simply because it was his dream. He attended every Olympic Games even when the company was still a toddler. But that did not stop him to spread his ideas. He asked questions directly to top athletes. That direct conversation gave birth to a new stream of manufacturing. What is important in globalization is for us to be trusted by various stakeholders. From the perspective of corporate social responsibility, the desired form is to offer products only after respective partners have fully understood our philosophies and principles. I think that the starting point to have each stakeholder understand the value of ASICS. When a company tries to globalize, the difference between cultures often stands in the way. In case of ASICS, however, the Founding Philosophy is shared by employees of foreign subsidiaries. They were quick to adopt the philosophy once they understood it.
Last year, we made the English version of the Founding Philosophy, "sound mind, sound body", a new corporate slogan.
The slogan was proposed by a project team consisting of marketers from different companies, both domestic and foreign, in the ASICS Group. It was a pleasant surprise to realize that the Founding Philosophy of ASICS was widely appreciated by employees of foreign sales companies.
This incident is significant because it united the head office and foreign subsidiaries in the effort of utilizing our strengths, offering products that put us on the winning end, and attacking the market with the products we can offer with confidence by freeing ourselves from the constraint of being a comprehensive supplier.
The experience tells us that as long as we are cherishing the DNA of serving the community through manufacturing, we cannot make mistakes in its business decisions. It is also interesting to note that making a phrase proposed by a group of employees including those of foreign subsidiaries could be viewed as a unique culture of ASICS. Instead of forcing something decided by the head office, the attitude of working together is the key to a success as a global corporation

It was me who used the phrase "Onitsuka's DNA" for the first time. I used this phrase to express what was commonly referred to as "Onitsuka-ism" in the past, using the word DNA to convey the impression that it must be handed down to future generations.
Onitsuka's DNA contains two very important elements. The first is our attitude vested in manufacturing. Serve the community through manufacturing. It is critical not to forget this original idea. As long as we remain humble and continue manufacturing with a consideration to the community service, we think we would be OK.
Another important element of Onitsuka's DNA is communication. We must teach our successors the importance of communicating with different stakeholders with different backgrounds, including employees, suppliers, agents, people in foreign lands, etc. For three years after I assumed the office of president, I spent time visiting almost all offices and factories, including those in foreign countries. Listening to a variety of opinions and using them in manufacturing. That is what Onitsuka aspired. Pay attention to different ideas. I think that is the root that sustained this company.

During the seven years I served as the president, I persisted to reform the organization and make changes. However, I am struck with the difficulty of reformation, as there still are employees who dwell on the success after the merger and have not changed completely.
That is why I decided to become an evangelist of Onitsuka's DNA to lay the foundation for the future development. I think that is the mission vested upon the chairman of the company.
ASICS is basically a manufacturer that puts its primary importance in craftsmanship. Therefore I hope this CSR report be read by many people so that corporate principles, the thoughts of executives, the flow of business, and the direction it is headed shall be understood. I would be happy if this report helped the readers to know about ASICS, what kind of company it is and what is it trying to.