Global Spotlight focuses on employees from the Mitsubishi Companies, who are excelling in their respective fields around the world. In each issue we will get to know different employees, who will tell us about their hometowns, businesses, culture, and pastimes.
Düsseldorf is a beautiful green city located on the banks of the Rhine. Although it is the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populated of Germany’s “Bundesländer” or sixteen federal states, Düsseldorf itself has only about 600,000 inhabitants.
     During the week, however, the city is invaded by crowds of commuters who come to work in the capital’s numerous banks and business companies. One of these “intruders” is me.
     It seems astonishing that in spite of Düsseldorf’s beauty and charm with its pretty old town, its lovely riverside, nice architecture and shopping districts, many people do not choose to live here. This is probably due to the city’s strong connection with work and business, but also to its accent on luxury — best represented by the famous shopping street, the “Kö,” standing for “Königsallee” (The King’s Avenue) with its exquisite boutiques.
Located about 35 km south of Düsseldorf is Cologne, my hometown and Düsseldorf’s main “enemy.” The origins of the hostility between the two cities are not very clear. Cologne, with its population of more than 1 million people and its old Roman history, surpasses Düsseldorf whose existence was first documented in the 12th century, in terms of size and cultural past.
However, Düsseldorf was chosen to become the capital in what was probably a hard blow for “Colonians.” Nowadays, the cities’ rivalry is mainly expressed in three holy traditions: beer, carnival and football. The depth of this animosity is best represented by the “beer fight” and I recommend that you never dare to order the other city’s beer in a local pub!
Düsseldorf hosts Europe’s third largest Japanese population, with London first and Paris second. Why? The reason dates back to 1945, when Japan was looking for new steel suppliers after the destruction it suffered in World War Two. Japan found new suppliers in the “Ruhrgebiet,” the heart of the German coal mines, located just north of
Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf itself, already known as the “writing desk of the Ruhrgebiet,”was a perfect site for new business companies. Today more than 100 Japanese companies representing a wide range of industries have branches here. The Japanese employees brought their families with them and, as a result, the necessary living facilities were established.
     Working with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Europe GmbH as a sales assistant for AGELESS®, an oxygen absorber which is used to preserve food, I consider it my duty to test Japanese dishes !(^^)! and regularly frequent the numerous Japanese restaurants in Düsseldorf. I love our “Little Tokyo” and the open-minded atmosphere in my company.
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The beautiful Four Roses Distillery is located in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky (pop. 10,000). Most of the world’s production of bourbon comes from Kentucky and the Four Roses Distillery is featured on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Established in 1884, Four Roses bourbon is sold world wide including major markets in Europe and Asia. Purchased in February, 2002 by the Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd., the Four Roses family of award winning bourbon brands has a smooth, mellow taste enjoyed by consumers for generations. Next year the Four Roses Distillery will celebrate 125 years of proudly producing some of the finest bourbon made; the same way our founder Paul Jones Jr. did dating back to the 1880s.



As the Director of Sales and Marketing for North America, it is my pleasure to lead a group of very passionate and dedicated Four Roses Bourbon professionals. Our job is simply to spread the word about our fine products and to ensure they are available throughout all major markets in the United States and more recently in Canada. I am pleased to be able to offer great
products to our consumers thanks to the hard work of all the employees at Four Roses. It is the great team of people behind the scenes that make the sales & marketing of Four Roses possible and a great deal of fun.
     When I am not working on growing Four Roses, I like to spend time with my family and I like to enjoy other great Kentucky products like our Thoroughbred Horse Racing industry and playing golf at courses in some of Kentucky’s 50 State Parks, the finest in America.
Kirin has many companies in the United States. These companies range from Bio to Pharma and include both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. We recently formed a Synergy Committee to explore ways to focus on the growth of our US beverage companies. Along with bourbon, Kirin has interests in beer, wine, soft drinks and health beverages as well. These great brands are produced by our colleagues at Kirin Brewery of America LLC, Distinguished Vineyards & Wine Partners, Markham Vineyards, Coca Cola of Northern New England and Nawgan Alertness Beverages.
     With representation from all of these branded companies, the Synergy Committee was formed. Our purpose for existing is a simple one, to search for a group synergy or synergies that result in growth for each separate entity. Our fields for exploring synergies currently revolve around “sales,” “cost” and “technical skills.”
     There are a number of reasons to form such a committee. Kirin has a great deal of group resources in the USA. Currently we all stand alone and we all believe in the potential upsides that may be the result of the formation of the synergy committee.
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