[No. 45] Hiroshi Sakuma

Although it has already been about 30 years since I graduated, the more time passes as a working adult, the more I appreciate the virtues of Keio University. It is wonderful to be able to truly feel the importance of "connections," especially in the new era that lies ahead. And Keio University is a place where each of us can build that foundation.

The Hiyoshi area of Yokohama, home to the Hiyoshi and Yagami Campuses, was a very calm and comfortable place for me, someone who came from a rural area. I should have studied seriously there, but during my first and second years of university, I was absorbed in mahjong every day, partly because it was my first time living alone. It may be hard to imagine now, but back then, there were many small one-room apartments, and more than 10 of my mischievous classmates would gather in one for all-night mahjong sessions, accompanied by drinks and music. This was in the 1970s, when the genre known as "New Music" was at its peak, and Yumi Matsutoya, who is still active today, was just starting to become a major artist. Even now, 30 years later, it's a story we always tell whenever my old friends and I get together.

As for my club activities, I was in KCS (Keio Computer Society). I joined with the casual thought, "Since I'm in a science field, I should at least understand computers." However, KCS had several students who, unusually for the time, had been working with computers since elementary and junior high school. Three days after joining, I gave up on research activities and changed my course. I devoted myself to being in charge of parties. Then, to help fund the club's journal and cover expenses, I took on the role of public relations, visiting many companies to get advertisements and work. For example, exhibiting at the autumn Mita Festival required a lot of money, so I visited over 100 companies in two months to collect advertisements. Naturally, I had no time to attend classes and had to rely on classmates attending for me and copying their notes, but I somehow managed to advance to my third year without failing any courses.

The Keio University Faculty of Engineering (at the time) had a system where students did not have a major for the first two years but decided on their department in their third year. It was an excellent system that allowed us not only to rely on the knowledge and dreams we had up to high school but also to take the time to discover ourselves and listen to the opinions of peers with similar dreams. In my case, a senior member of my club told me, "Technology will continue to be necessary. However, something like a comprehensive science that understands not just technology but also has a humanities-like sensibility will become important." Based on this advice, I chose to major in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. In my third year, after joining the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, I attended Professor Nishino's lecture on "Principles of Economics." I developed a great interest in the field and, wanting to learn from and be positively influenced by Professor Nishino, I joined his research lab. The Nishino Lab specialized in operations research and mathematical economics and was an extremely demanding lab that required advanced mathematical knowledge and sense. In my entire life, the three years from my fourth year of university through my master's program were the period when I studied the most.

Mathematical economics is the study of modeling and simplifying complex economies to find optimal solutions under certain constraints, as well as discerning their essence and structure to prepare for the next era. As a result of continuously exploring during my student years the idea that a definite "science" exists even within the "economy"—a living entity driven by human life and behavior—I have acted with the hypothesis that a definite science also exists in management and marketing even after becoming a working professional. For example, constraints can be significantly changed through new ideas or by taking a different perspective, and new solutions exist under those new conditions. Moreover, they change dynamically from moment to moment. As a result of accumulating this kind of training during my student years, I became able to make decisions with less confusion, surprise, and risk by simplifying the complex relationships between constraints and optimal solutions in real-world management and business to find their essence. Furthermore, you even become able to enjoy change.

I joined NEC for my career. I didn't think that my research in mathematics itself could be directly applied to a job at a typical company. However, since NEC at the time was a company with solid technology but was not skilled at making a profit, I chose it thinking there was a possibility I could leverage my comprehensive abilities and logical thinking. After joining the company, I worked for 10 years in planning and consulting-related roles as part of the head office staff. Then, in the 1990s, the commercial internet started in Japan. NEC also decided to enter the internet business, and I participated in its launch. Since then, I have been in charge of this internet business. In July 1996, we launched the comprehensive internet provider "BIGLOBE." Then, in 2006, its 10th year, we spun off the BIGLOBE business from NEC to establish NEC BIGLOBE, Ltd., enabling us to develop the business more rapidly in response to changing times. There, I have been involved in overall management as President and Representative Director since its establishment. Then, over the course of a year since the company's founding, we formulated our corporate philosophy this July with the participation of all employees. This is because, as a manager, I believed that to envision the next new decade, it was necessary to create that vision not just with our generation but together with people of the younger generation like you.

"The joy of connecting, the joy of being connected." Our reason for being is to connect people to people, people to companies, and people to society. It may seem obvious, but we believe it is something to be cherished precisely because of the era we are entering. However, being connected is not the same as "huddling together." It embodies our desire to maintain the true strength that allows each individual to be independent while also paying attention to the harmony of the whole.

Finally, I will conclude with my management creed. "Holonic Management." "Holonic" refers to the essence of living organisms and cells in biology. Expressed in kanji, this concept is "個生共創 個創共生." It is read as, "The individual lives and creates together; the individual creates and lives together." At its foundation may lie the Keio University spirit of "independence and self-respect." A brilliant future lies ahead of you all. As a first step toward that future, Keio University offers truly wonderful "connections." It is up to each and every one of you to seize them and decide how to make use of them.