On October 8, the 50th "Kyokuyo Open" golf tournament was held at the Shimonoseki Golf Club. Yes, It's surely FIFTIETH, not fifth or fifteenth!

For those who are not familiar with this event, "Kyokuyo Open" is an annual golf tournament hosted by Kyokuyo Shipyard Corporation. It is now considered as most prestigious and important golf event in Japan's marine industries ^{[citation needed]}. The company invites more than 100 guests - customers, suppliers, subcontractors, etc. - to enjoy a day of sport under the clear autumn sky, err, in most of the cases, as we may have rain, though rarely, like this year.

Despite the tough conditions created by the scattered rain showers, our 122 guests in 31 groups bravely challenged the difficult coastal courses. And their results were great. Mr. Yorimoto of TOA Corporation took the best gross prize with an amazing score of 77, the Kyokuyo Open's best result ever recorded at Shimonoseki Golf Club ! The 2010 winner was Mr. Kosaka of Softex, who also got many other minor prizes to himself. Congratulations!

At the end of the event, Katsuhiko Ochi made a speech. Kyokuyo's president first stressed that mutual win-win relationship would be more important to cope together with the depressed shipping market and yen appreciation which were expected to continue for a while, and asked for stakeholders' cooperation. Ochi then explained Kyokuyo's own cost-cutting efforts, including the brand-new production process control system that the shipbuilder introduced this October in order to further optimize its human and equipment resources management.

On the sales and development sides, the president reconfirmed the company's determination to differentiate itself from competitors by offering unique products that would meet the needs of the time, as exemplified by the first "SSS bow"ed eco-friendly car carrier which was expected to be delivered two months later. Finally, Ochi ended his speech with an encouraging news that interest in certain kinds of dry cargo ships came back since this spring, and Kyokuyo was about to conclude a deal soon.

Upon leaving, the guests were presented with Kyokuyo's original mouse pad and poster, both featuring the futuristic SSS bow ecoship. In 2011, the 51st Kyokuyo Open will be held on Friday October 7, at the same Shimonoseki Golf Club.

[2010/11/01]