Initiation Speeches
’45 years with automatic doors’
February 16th,2005
Mr.Nobuyoshi Hara
Mr.Hisashi Nakayama
Senior Advisor to the Nabco System Co.
Mr.Nobuyoshi Hara
’45 years with automatic doors’
I graduated my university in 1956 dreaming of following in the footsteps of my uncle who ran a coal mine, but after only 4 years had to change jobs as the energy sources changed from coal, and when an uncle who ran a construction firm in Tokyo asked me to join a firm selling automatic doors. I agreed and in 1960 arrived in Tokyo with my wife and child. I was appointed an Assistant manager of the Tokyo Door Engine Co. and was made to assist the President in all of his duties. In 1953 the company had entered into a contract with the National Pneumatic Company of America and had started manufacturing automatic doors which ran on air pressure. The company had been established in 1957, and sold 5 automatic doors the first year, 25 the second and 84 the third year. It was a small company with less than 30 employees.
The imported manufactures such as Rixon, Stanley and Tomax were our competitors but within a few years we were able to out distance them.
Japanese firms also entered the field, and in 1974 we were able to organize the All Japan Auto Door Association which members were sales and construction firms. Two to 3 years later, the door makers (now 12 brands) also joined, and last year we celebrated its 30th Anniversary.
We established quality standards, construction standards, and maintenance standards while publishing a textbook ‘Knowledge about Automatic Doors’. We also were able to start a government licensing system, and have so far been able to grant First Class and Second Class licenses for auto door craftsmen which number more than 3,000 persons.
The worldwide demand for automatic doors is said to be 300,000 per year, and half of that number is being installed in Japan. We have become the world’s largest automatic door country. An important characteristic is that automatic doors were installed by our financial institutions, which made them popular.
90% of them open sideways which is due to the Japanese tradition of sliding doors. Hotels, hospitals, airports and factories use them. Large ones are those for jumbo hangars, opening roofs for shipyards, and special ones such as radiation proof doors for atomic research labs. They are also used at zoos, at waste disposal depots, and for corpse incinerators.
Last year, an accident occurred caused by a revolving door. A guideline has been established and we are preparing a manual to prevent recurrence of such a case.
We are aiming to have the lessons we have learned from this case reflect on our manufacture and installation of automatic doors, and will try to do our best to serve the public with doors which are convenient, pleasant and safe.
Chairman of the Board of the Meiji Dairy Co. Ltd.
Mr.Hisashi Nakayama
I wish to talk on the wonderful things about dairy products as food. Dairy products are the perfect food. They contain all that is necessary to maintain life. The most direct dairy product we have is milk, so it can be considered as the perfect food.
In the 20th Century, many studies have been made on milk’s functions and its potentialities.
I would like to touch on 3 points for your information today.
The first is milk as a source for calcium. We lack calcium in our normal diet, and milk is the best source for it as due to the workings of a protein called CPP, milk allows the body to absorb the calcium in other foods when taken with it.
The second point is that milk is helpful for diets. Calories are counted for each meal, and sugar in take caused by eating rice can be lessened when milk is taken at the same time. A measure for food intake is called nutrition density which counts the nutritional value of food per 100 grams.
Another important factor is the glycerin index which is counted by measuring the rise of sugar in the blood compared with glucose. When the glycerin index is high, sugar levels will also rise, and when it is low it shows that insulin is being produced.
When milk is taken with rice, the GI becomes 30% less than without.
The third point is if you wish for a long life, take yoghurt every day.
Many studies are being made in bio-technology, and the long life theory of Professor Metinikov a century ago is again being recognized. His theory is that there are many trillions of bacteria which thrive in our intestines, and if we can allow a symbiotic situation where pro-biotics and pre-biotics can live together it will clean our intestines and thus guard our health.
Pro-biotics are produced by lactic acid, which also creates yoghurt. Thus consuming yoghurt every day will improve the flora inside you intestines allowing you a longer life.
We are engaged in a 3 A Day movement which promotes consuming a variety of dairy products 3 times a day, and the concept is ‘Healthy, Beauty and Diet’.