ASUKA ALUMINIUM NEWS NO. 620 FEBRUARY 2013

Special contribution
Aim to be only one
I wish you a Very Happy New Year. Today, the circumstances surrounded ourdiecast business are filled with various difficulties. South European governments’debt problems still operate powerfully upon the EU economy by which the export fromemerging countries has been depressed. Above all, China has depended mainly on EU
for the export, and the China’s economy is slacking in growth.
Moreover, intricately unhappy relations between China and Japan happened by theterritorial tensions are dealing a heavy blow to both countries’ economy. Besides since2008 Lehman Brother shock, the yen’s appreciation brought the large promotion foroverseas production, and the many plants have removed abroad. We call it “hollowedJapan”.
These so many factors undermined Japan’s manufacturing power, however we,
diecasters, have stored a great valuable technics for manufacturing for past manyyears.
Today, I believe that it is important to produce higher quality products which havevalue-added and specialty made in Japan, We don’t aim to be number one business
but we have to aim to be only one businessI think this is the way to stop “hollowed Japan”. Whatever we do, we must keeptightly our foundation of business ourselves, and would like to build up the only onebusiness
Lastly, I hope everyone at diecast business will be in good health and will enjoy
excellent business results in 2013.
Seisuke Matsuo
Chairman, Middle Japan Diecasters
Cooperative Association
President, Toa Diecast Industry, Ltd.
New Year praying meeting opens
In the afternoon of January 18, the 80 delegates of scrap suppliers were invited at
the Kira Kanko Hotel in Mikawa Bay National Park. Keeping custom, Chairman,Hisashi Amano addressed “New Year random talk” for one hour as the above photo on
page two shows.
Then, the attendants visited Kannon Temple on the top of Mt. Sangane by bus, andthe praying meeting was held solemnly for business prosperity and traffic safety New
Year. The priest lighted a big sacred fire invocation and chanted a sutra in a loudvoice.
He read up each attendants’ address and name with praying to get rid of sevenmisfortunes and to invite seven fortunes this year. Everyone had a great belief that
New Year will be undoubtedly prosperous.
The bird’s eye view from the top of Mt. Sangane was really wonderful and impressive reflected by the golden sunset at whole Mikawa Bay.
At the hotel in the evening, everyone thoroughly enjoyed a New Year grand party in
traditional Japanese fashion. The below photo on page two is President Takashi
Amano’s opening address at the grand party.
In the middle of the party, the three key men of Nishio City joined us as the photoon page four, from right President Takashi Amano, Mr. Yasumasa Sakakibara, Mayorof Nishio City, Chairman Hisashi Amano, Mr. Masatoshi Inagaki, Member of Aichi
Prefectural Assembly and Mr. Katsuhisa Tsuzuki, Chairman of Nishio Chamber ofCommerce and Industry.
Mayor Sakakibara extended an impassioned welcome, and they sang “Jinsei Gekijo”
with karaoke on the stage, which drew a great applause from all guests.
For golf devotees, a competition was held at Kira Country Club next morning, at
which Mr. Jotaro Tohmei, Toei Company, won the championship. Chairman Hisashi
Amano’s address is summarized as follows.
Inflation

Hisashi Amano, ChairmanRealities of inflation
The conservative Liberal Democratic Party got back and Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe’s top slogan “a 2 per cent inflation target” surprised me. I feel that the word
“inflation” is not understood very well by most Japanese. If the consumer prices
should rise 2 per cent, naturally we have to cut down 2 per cent of our living standard.
Inflation originates from the imbalance of supply-demand, the depreciation ofcurrency and the higher interest rate, and it advances continuously. At last it causes ahyper-inflation, which plunges into national bankrupt and valueless currency.
In Japan, the prices soared 200 times from 1935 till 1950. Unhappily at that time,
the people experienced the worst civil life that anyone can not imagine today. In1940s, I was twenty-some years old, and actually underwent a great hardships myself
during wartime and post wartime.
Furthermore some years ago, I owned some amount of Argentine government bond,which was forced into reschedule and almost valuelessness brought by the hyperinflation in Argentina. Anyhow, I don’t want to remind any inflations. Today in Japan,our supply-capacity is too much than our consumption, and I think any inflation
would not out break without downward yen.
How do you answer?
Youngsters insist as follows.
(A) Hyper-inflation reduces greatly the deposit value. Most youngsters have little
deposit, and the worried people are rich seniors.
(B) The economic confusion happened by inflation may bring cut down wage, but suchpeople are highly paid seniors enjoying wage system based on seniority.
(C) Seniors have heaped up a huge debt themselves, and it is natural that youngsters
never take its responsibility.
(D) If hyper-inflation should be able to mend a cleavage in society between rich andpoor, it is better the reset of society is sooner.
I was very much surprised to hear above remarks. How do you think and answer?
If the government should press a string of poor policies, LDP will blow up at the nextelection. The opposition disappeared and there are no takers at that time. I am verymuch afraid Hitler would come into being.