Keinosuke Nishikiori: For the Future of Our Children

2021/04/13

There was once a printing shop called Toyokan Printing in Niitsu, Niigata, and my grandfather was the eldest son of that family. During the height of the war, while he was a Keio student in the Faculty of Economics, he was mobilized as a student soldier. After returning from internment in Siberia, he established Toyokan Publishing in Tokyo.

Our company was founded in 1948. Centering our work with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology since then, we are entering our 73rd year of publishing educational books. Educational books are meant to help teachers standing before children create better lessons and classrooms. In recent years, in addition to educational books, we have launched a separate line focusing on sports books and are also expanding into general interest titles.

I have served as president for eight years. It began with my father's illness. At the time, I was working for Mitsubishi Corporation, and it was a period when my work was becoming more and more enjoyable. It took me four years to decide to resign, so I only worked with my father for one year. I have no memory at all of my first few years after becoming president. I was a 31-year-old struggling desperately, not knowing left from right.

When I was a Keio student, I devoted myself to baseball for six years, with my studies being secondary. When I was at Keio Senior High School, I participated in the Kanto Tournament as a pitcher for the first time in 37 years. On the mound, you are alone. You analyze and adjust with every pitch you throw. There is no way other than thinking and solving things yourself. You cannot allow yourself to be defeated by your emotions. You take on all the responsibility. If the results are bad, you accept them sincerely; if they are good, it is thanks to those around you. As a team, even if everyone has their own challenges, everyone is facing the same direction. Results follow naturally. These precious experiences serve as the foundation for my management of the company.

The environment surrounding high school baseball is changing significantly, but there is no fundamental change. I myself was forced to pitch in consecutive games and had no choice but to give up baseball. Since publishing is one means of bringing change to the world, last October I published a book written by Mr. Takahiko Mori-bayashi, the manager of the Keio Senior High School baseball team and a teacher at Keio Yochisha Elementary School. Mr. Mori-bayashi's teachings are the very values I learned through sports at the Gijuku and that I want children heading out into society to know. I hope many instructors will pick up this book and that the future of as many children as possible will become a little better.

Publishing is nothing other than putting thoughts into words and giving them form. I wonder how far I can push the limits of publishing. Just thinking about it reminds me of the excitement I felt on that mound.