For me, at the ripe old age of 70 years, the singer-songwriter Yosui Inoue brings back fond memories of my younger days. He occupies a special presence deep in my heart and is someone I will never ever forget. Moreover, he is not the kind of person who talks much about himself to the media.
Issue no. 53 of our magazine analog, which went on sale on September 15, includes a very popular article written on the basis of an interview with Mr. Inoue that lasted for nearly two hours. It was indeed a miracle.
Our vice-president, Mr. Hiromasa Kashiide, is very active as my successor, especially in the audio division. It was Mr. Kashiide himself who brought about the interview with Mr. Inoue. The family motto of the Yagyu clan of feudal lords was “Small people have encounters but don’t notice them. Average people have encounters but don’t make the most of them. Great people have encounters and make the most of them.” The encounter between Mr. Kashiide and Mr. Yosui Inoue definitely belongs to the final category.
At the beginning of the article Mr. Kashiide writes as follows: “On February 24, 2016, I went to see a performance by Diana Krall, who I like very much, at the Showa Women's University Hitomi Memorial Hall. On my way back, it was cold, so I dropped into a bar. The person sitting next to me at the counter seemed to have enjoyed performance too, and we started chatting. I hadn’t noticed at all, but as we spoke, it turned out that he was no other than Yosui Inoue. He told me his name when I asked, rather impertinently, whether he was involved in music. I was speechless with surprise. But it was that encounter that led to Mr. Inoue’s appearance in this issue of our magazine.”
When I heard from Mr. Kashiide about his meeting with Mr. Inoue, I immediately instructed Mr. Kashiide to try and get an interview. I fully believed that it was possible. And we didn’t have to wait long. Mr. Inoue promptly replied that he would let us interview him. He is, after all, a talented person who makes the most of his encounters. I was very excited by the miraculous turn of events.
Mr. Kashiide is a first-class editor, so I was sure that he would conduct a marvelous interview. When it was over, he reported back to me that the interview had gone on for nearly two hours. In that case, now it was my turn to display my skills in presenting the article on the pages of our magazine.
What I decided was to devote a full page of our modified A4-size analog magazine to a photo of Mr. Inoue taken during the interview, followed by several other photos of him. The layout was designed to enable readers to feel as if they were talking face-to-face with their idol. Covering more than 12 pages in all, the article, the opening one in the magazine, was to be given a lot of space. After I told Mr. Kashiide of the layout plan, he went ahead and produced a wonderful article. Together with the gifted photographer and designer, he deserves plaudits for a marvelous, indeed miraculous, article.
A long time ago I was also surprised when the actor Naoto Takenaka attended a party after Mr. Kashiide’s wedding and gave a long congratulatory speech. In his speech, Mr. Takenaka said that Mr. Kashiide was a really fine person. It was this affability that brought about his encounter with Mr. Inoue. Again it makes me aware of Mr. Kashiide’s friendly personality. I can’t help think that with such talent around, our company has a bright future ahead.