New Year’s Greetings
Warm Wishes for 2024
2023 is a Multifaceted YearAs the 2023 global situation dawned after the COVID-19 pandemic, this year has been a chaotic
one with price hikes, global inflation, and ongoing division and confrontation due to invasions andwars. As the first year of the “Glocal,” which combined domestic local and overseas global, 2023
was a multifaceted year in all FSX businesses as we strove to build a solid business foundation.
The year also saw the results of our continuous and unflagging preparations during the pandemic.
We achieved record-high sales and profits for the second consecutive fiscal year in August 2023.
We owe our success to the support and cooperation of all our stakeholders. I would like to takethis opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to everyone.
Looking specifically back on 2023, last fall we launched "VB-COSME-," a patented technologythat evolved from FSX's patented antiviral and antibacterial "VB" technology, combined withfunctions that support anti-aging care. This is the first oshibori classified as a cosmetic oshibori inJapan, based on the concept of enabling anti-aging care support. We have reformulated threeseries (10 products in total) of FSX's mainstay oshibori including "AROMA Premium" as VBCOSME- oshibori. And we have started mass production at the Uenohara Plant in Yamanashi
prefecture, which was renovated as a cosmetics manufacturing plant. In addition, we havelaunched a website for Pocket Oshibori ( https://www.pocket-oshibori.jp/ ) at the same time. We
plan to expand VB-COSME- oshibori lineup this spring. We will strive to strengthen our full-scalebusiness activities and promote the perspective of FSX to the world.
Another important topic last year was the challenge of “revitalizing oshibori“ in relation toJapanese hospitality culture. We participated in the Tokyo Biennale2023( https://tokyobiennale.jp/tb2023/linkage/oshibori-linkage/?lang=en ) international art
festival with the goal of revitalizing the Oshibori industry, which has been struggling for years dueto the pandemic, encouraging the growth of young employees, and promoting "OSHIBORI" as
the common word of the world in terms. The Oshibori Linkage
project( https://oshibori.tokyobiennale.jp/en/ ) explores ways to connect the Japanese culture ofoshibori with the art oshibori, using an oshibori as a white canvas. I’m confident that we were able
to share the value of oshibori with many people including foreigners through our customers’
restaurants and through the exhibition at MUJI Ginza. We also engaged in crowdfunding for thefirst time, and it was an unexpected pleasure to receive much more support and endorsement
than we had anticipated. Through both projects, FSX members also had an unforgettable
experience. We would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your cooperation and support.
In our global business, we have been able to build a new structure for FSX Group companies,centering on the two axes: North America and Asia. Last spring, we were honored to win the2023 Intellectual Property Merit Award “Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office Award”. With
this as encouragement, we will further take on the challenge of global businesses based on theJapanese culture of oshibori.

2024 is the Year of Overcoming
The year 2024 will be a year for FSX to put into action our vision for “Reinvent the Oshibori”,
which we set forth during the pandemic in 2021. We will continue to upgrade our production,delivery, products, ICT, human resource management, and so on. FSX will always strive for astrong organizational structure that goes beyond our past.
Building on our roots in Rental Oshibori services, we have been providing a wide variety ofoshibori with high levels of added value, and FSX's flagship products broadened our sales
channels not only domestically but also internationally during the pandemic. At present, we areworking to enhance the production efficiency of these products and have begun to develop
technologies to meet the increasing demand. In this fiscal year, we will try to introduce thesetechnologies on a trial basis. Looking ahead, we will launch environmentally specialized oshibori
and consider further expansion of our production system to other locations.
In the ICT field, we are now working together to develop a cloud-based system for our sales
management system. We are also engaging in a DX revolution to streamline operations with ahigh degree of reliability by linking the production, delivery, and sale of oshibori via the use of
FSX's patented technology "Oshibori AI" app, which predicts the number of oshibori collected bysmartphones using video analysis technology.
In the human resource management field, our original series of human resource development
efforts since 2021 has laid the foundation for an organization in which each employee is
conscious of his or her own role. We are planning to launch a recruiting website this coming
spring to secure human resources with a clear vision of working together at FSX, including theplacement of the right person in the right job. In addition, in order to create a corporate culture
where employees could continue to work for FSX for an extended time regardless of age orgender, we have introduced a corporate DCP (Defined Contribution Pension), raised theretirement age system, and promoted health management for our employees. Furthermore, thisyear we will make effort an environment that allows employees to increase the total number ofholidays per year.
In 2024, a year marking our triumph over COVID-19, we will accelerate multifaceted research of"VB/VB-COSME-" in a more business axis and progress to sustainable growth in the healthcarearea, starting with the FSX Laboratory. With “Rental Oshibori Services,” the core of our business,
as well as "VB/VB-COSME-," "REION, "and "Pocket Oshibori, " our major technology andproduct brands, all members of the FSX Group will strive to “Reinvent the Oshibori”.
We sincerely look forward to your continued support in the new year.
January 1, 2024
Katsuyuki Fujinami
President & CEO
FSX, Inc.