Gifu University Head Office for Glocalization (GHOGL) held the Talking Session with the President of Japanese Company at a meeting room of the University Library on January 30, 2019.

The session was held as part of Aigi Career Development Consortium for International Students of the Career Development Program for International Students commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in order to provide an opportunity for international students to understand what company presidents are really thinking about, and their honest feelings for being a manager of Japanese company. A total of eight international students discussed and exchanged opinions with three company executives (two from Shin-Nihon Kinzoku Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Gifu City), one from Keisei (Aichi Prefecture)).

To begin with, Mr. Masakazu Hara, director of the general affairs section, Shin-Nihon Kinzoku Kogyo, distributed the company leaflets to the students, and started to explain its business operation and strategies through video clips. A panel discussion followed under two facilitators: Mr. Hiroshi Goto, president of Shin-Nihon Kinzoku Kogyo and Ms. Zhang JingQing, president of Keisei. Active back-and-forth discussions continued for some time between the students and the company representatives. The students have now realized that both Shin-Nihon Kinzoku Kogyo and Keisei have mid-and-long term views on hiring and training the youths from abroad who can demonstrate a strong leadership both in Japan and abroad. The company representatives also expressed their high expectations toward the roles of the students to serve as a bridge between Japan and their respective home countries.

After all the discussions were over, the students and the three company representatives kept on talking at the informal dinner meeting.

All students looked very pleased with the opportunity to meet with the senior company employees in person. Here are some messages by the students: "It was really a great moment for me to get acquainted with the company president in Japan." "Their explanations were easy to understand because they were full of real stories and episodes. I now become aware of their business operation, and what they are expecting of international students," "The session was quite educational and informative. I look forward to the next session in the near future." The students were able to deepen their understanding about the Japanese firms by directly listening to the senior members of Japanese enterprises.