Yes, it's April again. Cherry flowers have already come into blossom and people have started talking about "hanami" party. It's traditionally a time to welcome newcomers in Japan, where "graduation and entrance ceremonies in the shower of cherry blossom" may invoke sentimentality.

On April 3, total 7 newcomers joined Kyokuyo : 1 to sales division, 1 to design division and 5 to production division. After each of them received his/her letter of appointment from the company's president in entrance ceremony (you know shipyards like ceremonies !) held in the morning, new employees got health check-ups, took (stressful) lunch with board members (photo above left), and proceeded to short training program which generally needed 1 to 2 days.

Starting this year, we sent 3 freshmen (-to-be-technicians) to Oita Regional Shipbuilding Craftsmanship Center, newly founded in March 2006 at Saiki city in our neighbor prefecture, Oita [wikipedia]. They hastened to leave Shimonoseki after (stressful) lunch, to attend professional training in Oita for 3 months.

The center, aimed at transmitting professional know-hows through the generations by offering craftsmanship training for young technicians, is jointly operated by 9 ship builders located in Oita with subsidies from local and national governments. It is the 3rd of its kind, after Innoshima (Hiroshima) and Imabari (Ehime).

Although Kyokuyo is not in the operating team, it has been sending reps to start-up committee meetings since its beginning in December 2004. We are all impressed by passion and sense of responsibility of shipyard people in Oita and local government agents, who certainly share with us the same understanding, hope and concern about the future of shipbuilding industries in the region. Without the firm commitment by each of them, this center could not have been materialized in such a short period time!

We are looking forward to our new boys coming back to Shimonoseki in July. They should look more professional and much more self-confident as qualified fresh technicians!

[2006/04/20]