Read the full article with photos at:
https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en/company/globalnews/detail.php?id=144&date=2013-04-26
Researchers, manufacturing engineers, personnel trainers, public relations staff … are members of the Awa Dance group, Otsuka Ren. And they were invited to perform Awa Dance, a 400-year-old traditional Japanese dance, at the Copenhagen Sakura Festival.
Why were we in Denmark?
Back in 2011, Otsuka entered into a long-term partnership with Danish pharmaceutical company, Lundbeck, in the world’s largest Central Nervous System alliance.
At that time, Japanese Ambassador to Denmark Toshio Sano was seated next to Otsuka Pharmaceutical President and Representative Director, Dr. Taro Iwamoto at the inauguratory event and shared a lively conversation that inspired the ambassador to invite Otsuka’s Awa Dance group to perform at the Copenhagen Sakura Festival.
That’s how after over a year of planning and preparations Otsuka Ren ended up in Denmark. The Awa Dance performers participated in various activities including a dance performance at Lundbeck’s headquarters, in which many Lundbeck employees enthusiastically joined in.
Apart from the dancing, Dr. Iwamoto and Mr. Wiinberg hosted a highly successful afternoon of discussions with leading media in Europe. The Copenhagen media event complimented the one held on March 7th in Tokushima, at which the two leaders met with members of the Japanese media.
Before the events at Lundbeck, families with strollers, older people and teens all gathered over the weekend for the 6th Copenhagen Sakura Festival in Langelinie Park, where Otsuka Ren performed.
Over 17,000 people attended the 2-day event and about 50 Otsuka Ren performers, an auditioned group of dancers and musicians formed in 1988, traveled all the way from Japan to Denmark to participate in the festival. The appreciation and enthusiasm of the audience was visible on every face present, perhaps most so when the Awa dancers performed amidst the crowd shown in the photo above.
The three days of lively and informative events well illustrated Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s presence on the global stage, both literally and figuratively.
Read the full article with photos at:
https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en/company/globalnews/2013/0404_01.html
The new version of POCARI SWEAT, “POCARI SWEAT ION WATER”, was launched on April 8th! This new health drink was aimed to smoothly replenish water and electrolytes lost during everyday work that offers a light sweetness, a refreshing taste with reduced calories.
The new beverage was designed to incorporate the benefits of the original POCARI SWEAT – based on the concept of a rehydration drink that smoothly replenishes water and electrolytes in the body.
The launch ceremony was held at the ANA Intercontinental Hotel in Tokyo which was packed with Japanese media to view the new television commercial for POCARI SWEAT ION WATER starring Japanese actress Kyoko Fukada.
Masayuki Umeno, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Vice President and Representative Director said, “By continuing innovation, diversity and globalization approach, Otsuka can achieve its goal to create and provide new products that contribute to people’s health”.
Taste inventor, Akihisa Takaichi, was recognized by Otsuka Pharmaceutical for his important role in working on the POCARI SWEAT ION WATER’s new refreshing taste for the past 6 years.
POCARI SWEAT is a very popular health drink from Japan that is known widely around the world. A choice of three sizes (250 ml, 500 ml and 900 ml) POCARI SWEAT ION WATER will initially be sold in supermarkets, convenience stores, drugstores and other channels throughout Japan.
Read the full article with photos at:
https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en/company/globalnews/2013/0401_01.html
Each year, hundreds of new staff are hired in Japan by the Otsuka Group and within Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. this year, 164 college graduates were selected to be part of the path blazing corporation.
The best and the brightest are recruited in Japan and globally every year to join the Otsuka family. And for the new hires in Japan, the passage from student life to professional life starts in Tokushima, Japan, where Otsuka was founded and where the New Staff Welcome Ceremony is held every year. The beginning of the fiscal year in Japan is April 1st, and that is the day most Japanese companies hold new hire welcome ceremonies across the country. And if parents had a chance to attend, they would be brimming with pride and even tears in the corners of their eyes, just like the day their children graduated from universities.
The event started with congratulatory and welcome speeches from nine of the company heads under the Otsuka Group. On behalf of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. President Taro Iwamoto, Ph.D. welcomed the new employees by first sharing with them what leadership meant to him: energy, the capacity to energize others, edginess for achievement, execution and passion.
And then Dr. Iwamoto asked students if they possessed what it took for them to become leaders of tomorrow. With positive replies, he said he was confident that the company will do well under them.
The ceremony is only the beginning of a one to six-month training period in Tokushima. These young men and women will learn about the history of Otsuka, the various Otsuka businesses and how to establish themselves within the company, as they bond with other new employees who may well become their teammates for many years to come.