ASUKA ALUMINIUM NEWS NO. 644 FEBRARY 2015
Special contribution
Crucial year to be only one
I wish you a Very Happy New Year. Today, the government’s bold monetary easing
policy brought money rate almost zero level, and at the same time, exchange market a
big yen depreciation. Most papers and economists say this economic policy isappropriate and effective for recovery.
However the beneficial business groups are only stock market and export concerns,and contrarily, the price of imported materials are going up, and it gives ill affects
against inland business, smaller business and household expenses. Today, thiseconomic policy seems to be extending the gap between export business and domestic
business, high income and low income or city and country. I hope these gaps will
dissolve and we will be able to enjoy a legitimate recovery.
On the other hand, we always have to make every effort to seek better quality,
lower cost and exacter delivery. Regarding the quality problem, Japanese major car
producers experienced an extensive quality claim on safety system recently. Thisshows us how the guarantee against quality is important. We must realize theconsequence of quality problems again.
About the cost problem, the effects of yen depreciation bring us the price up ofmajor material, aluminum alloy, and other consumable goods. We have to put inserious effort to save energy. Today, the future of shale gas is our bright dream.
Concerning the delivery, we can’t transfer the increased costs for better delivery
against customers. We have to study and to get over.
After all, we have to seek the lower costs every day to build up our substantial
business qualities. I believe we can produce the highest quality diecast through theseefforts, and we don’t want to be number one but want to be only one. I think that only
one business would be effective to stop hollowing out, moving to overseas. This year
will be crucial to exist in 21 century for us, I believe.
I hope everyone at diecast business will be in good health and enjoy excellent
business results in 2015.
Seisuke Matsuo
Chairman, Middle Japan Diecasters
Cooperative Association
President, Toa Diecast Industry, Ltd.
The 31th New Year praying meeting opens
On January 16, the 80 delegates from scrap dealers were invited at the Kira Kanko
Hotel, and keeping custom, Chairman, Hisashi Amano addressed “New Year rundomtalk” as the above photo on page two shows.
Then, the attendants visited Kannon Temple on the top of Mt. Sangane by bus,where the praying meeting was held solemnly for business prosperity and traffic safety
New Year. In the evening at the hotel, everyone thoroughly enjoyed a New Year grandparty in traditional Japanese fashion as the below photo on page two shows.
Chairman, Hisashi Amano’s address is summarized on the reverse page.

War and myself

Hisashi Am,ano, Chairman

War and a youngster
It has past 70 years since the Pacific War ended. Those who experienced andrealized the war will disappear soon. As one of survivors, I would like to speak a shortstory, my experienced war.
Looking upon my growth period,there were the Manchury Incident (1931) – kindergartner; the Shanghai Incident (1932) – kindergartner; the China Incident(1937)-primary pupil; the Pacific War (1941)- J. high student; Japan surrendered(1945) – college student. Thus I grew up with wars and free from peace. I eyewitnessed
the wars and the citizen life through my youngster’s eye. Though I was one of normalboys, I realized the decline of national power got clearer year by year. The commodities
at shops were decreasing obviously, and at last dis appeared just before the end of war.
War and a lad
In 1945 all high school and college students were forcibly sent to munition factories
to make up the deficit of workers. I worked for Tokyo Aero Gauge Co. as a studentworker. At midnight on May 25, many US bombers attacked Tokyo and at last myboarding house was bombed by fireballs.
At that time, I was at the second floor, and seeing the sheets of flames of the firstfloor, I gave up downstair. I was obliged to jump off from a window onto the garden.
With so many people, I ran and evacuated toward more safety area, and fortunately,
we made it over into the garden of Meiji Shrine without being caught by fire. There,
many evacuated people and I waited dawn. Becoming composed, I noticed that theright half of my face got burnt and ached, but there were no doctor and no medicine.
In the morning, I received only one rice ball and a train ticket, and could returnhome in Nishio without any belongings. In this way, most citizens lost everything by
frequent air-raid fires in Tokyo and major cities. Today, I wonder why so many rice ball
could be arranged at that time under such a hard air-attack, and at that night, theflames crawl and flow so rapidly on the ground surface, I realized.
The darkest days
The five years, from the end of war, 1945, till the outbreak of the Korean War, 1950,
were the darkest days in Japan, I experienced.
I suppose that any historians never want to face up and to write out this worst
period. Though some were kept during wartime, the break-down of law and orderbegan as soon as the war ended. Government’s control of prices and distribution
couldn’t work well, and at the same time, the spiral inflation attacked us instead of theUS air-attack. In 1946 government restricted to pay bank savings against the swelling
cash, but the economic situation went on worse and worse.
Every price freeze policy had no effect, and the price up during post-war five years
reached really 50 times, by which the citizen life was dropped to the worst bottom.
However fortunately, the Korean War occurred and the US post-war policy turned
away. The purged leaders came back, and the big orders for the war enriched all Japaneconomy, which gave the chance to our rehabilitation.
At the battlefield, by the air-attack or under the poorest circumstances, many
promising friends passed away. I can never forget these unhappy memories.