Rice-in-Suitcase Executive Visits

“Kobayashi, who has experience as an escort, carries two huge suitcases and travels alone. One of the suitcases is a care package for local employees. Inside are large amounts of rice, yokan, and a handwritten message from Okafuji. A subordinate once said, trying to sound knowledgeable, “Vice President Kobayashi, it would be more efficient to send those.” Kobayashi scolded him. “There is meaning in me personally carrying heavy things.” Even now, Kobayashi boards planes carrying over 20 kg of rice, then transfers to cars, trains, boats, and hires rundown taxis to reach the remote offices. Just because he is a vice president of a general trading company doesn’t mean he can simply socialize at fancy golf clubs.”

“Since Itochu is a trading company, it has employees working overseas. Locations like New York, London, and Shanghai serve as hubs, so many people work there. On the other hand, in cases of personnel in charge of resources, food, lumber, etc., sometimes they work completely alone — in so-called “one-man offices” in remote areas. These are cases where they leave their families in Japan and go on foreign assignments alone. They live at natural gas or metal mining sites more than 10 hours away from major cities, with no opportunity to meet other Japanese people. Even if the president or an executive visits from Japan, they won’t travel all the way into the jungle for a meeting. There are quite a few people who are always working remotely. That, too, is the nature of work at a trading company.”