This time 55 people from 15 families took part. They included children, parents, siblings and even future family members(?) of the staff.

First, President Ochi gave a speech expressing his gratitude to the families who always support Kyokuyo's employees. Next, several employees took turns giving presentations on topics such as "Introducing the Company" and "How to Build a Ship. The presenters, who should be used to giving professional presentations in their daily work, struggled to give easy-to-understand explanations in front of a different audience than usual. The children looked up to the professionalism of their mothers and fathers, which they had never seen at home.

Now it was time for the factory and ship tour. Divided into five groups, the tour began at the prefabrication shop, continued through the block assembly plant and the outfitting quay, and finally arrived at a newbuilding nearing completion. This time we made a special arrangement for the visitors to board the ship by gondola - the gondola carrying the visitors was lifted by a huge crane and lowered across the sea to the ship's deck. As the gondola was smoothly lifted into the air, the excitement of the visitors reached a climax and they couldn't help but cheer!

Disembarking from the ship after a tour of its labyrinthine interior, they found themselves at the scene of a (mock) naming and delivery ceremony. The ship's owner(?), who was chosen to play the leading role there, was Takeshi (Deputy Manager of the Quality Assurance Dept.) and his family members.

The program of the ceremony is exactly the same as the official ceremony. The flag was hoisted and President Ochi presented Takeshi's wife, Ai, with a bouquet of flowers. Their second daughter, Mei, then declared that she would name the ship "Wakuwaku-go" (=Exciting Ship). Actually, there was an accident when there was no paper to read out the name, but Mei had practiced and memorized it beforehand and fulfilled her role without any fear. Mei, you did a great job! The rope cutter was Suzuna, the eldest daughter. Although she had difficulty cutting the rope in the rehearsal, she did it right with a single stroke! She was praised by those around her for her good swing and showed a smile.

Their father said: "The kids were happy to tell their grandparents about the tour as soon as they got home, and the original family flag that was made especially for the flag exchange was immediately hung in the kids' room. Now that I've had a taste of what it's like to be a shipowner, I'm determined to work even harder in the future to impress real shipowners".

The 4th Kyokuyo Shipbuilding Family Factory Tour was a great success thanks to the hard work of all employees who planned and executed the event. I feel that the unity and bond of "Team Kyokuyo" became even stronger through this event.

[2023/05/08]