Reconstruction of the areas affected in the disaster remains far from complete a year and four months after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Even before the earthquake, an aging and declining population, the hollowing-out of industry, and other issues were posing serious challenges for the Japanese economy. The earthquake has greatly increased the urgency of dealing with the changes taking place in the economy. Consequently, I believe that JR East’s role and mission will become still more important as an enterprise that provides social infrastructure in the form of railways.

I became JR East’s president at this time of rapid change in Japan and as JR East marks the start of a new quarter century following the Group’s establishment 25 years ago following the division and privatization of JNR (Japanese National Railways). Although my responsibilities are enormous, becoming JR East’s president is worth the challenge. We need to determine the Annual roles that our group should fulfill and how we should "evolve." This is why I have a strong commitment to doing everything possible to creating a new direction for our group.

Our operating environment has changed as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake and in various other ways unforeseen when the JR East 2020 Vision — idomu — was drawn up in 2008. We are determined to achieve sustaining growth by adapting to changes while meeting society’s great expectations for our services. To accomplish these goals, we announced the "Key Challenges Over the Next Three Years (FY2013 Through FY2015)."

The fundamental missions of JR East will never change. First is achieving "extreme safety levels." I believe that we need to build "railways capable of withstanding natural disasters" in order to be prepared for an earthquake occurring directly beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area, which many people believe will occur in the near future. The next mission is "service quality reform" in our railway and life-style services businesses. In all of the services we provide, we must do more than simply preserve the current level of quality. Everyone at our group must use teamwork to create high-quality services. The third mission is "collaborating with local communities." We are entrusted with operating a major component of regional infrastructures. This is why we must use our business activities to contribute to social and economic progress in all regions where we operate.

Based on the premise of fulfilling these three missions, we will draw on the skills and motivation of our employees to relentlessly pursue the "unlimited potential" of our group. Creating a number of "triggers" will be vital to tapping this potential.

The first trigger is "technological innovation." Railway operations can be viewed as a "technology services industry." Railways will have no future without technological progress. In particular, with Japan now facing an electricity shortage following the earthquake, we must concentrate on technological innovation in the energy field. In addition, we need to tackle challenges involving the "evolution of the railway operations," such as by using information and communication technology (ICT) and increasing the speed of Shinkansen.

"Globalization" is the second trigger. By its very nature, I think that railway operations are an internally oriented business. With overseas railway projects currently attracting much attention, this is a time when we too must look to other countries. I want to use Japan’s railway technologies and knowledge extensively for not only high-speed railway services but also in assisting Asian countries to construct and operate railways in major cities. In Japan as well, we are looking outside our existing business fields. Rather than relying solely on our in-house capabilities and expertise, we need to aggressively seek opportunities to use the advanced technologies and services of other companies. Everyone at JR East must adopt the mindset of looking outside the Group. I want to use this stance to create a powerful group that is open to ideas and opportunities in Japan and overseas.

"Tourism" is the third trigger. For many years, we have been working on establishing a large tourism industry in Japan. But now, we need to leverage the "power of tourism" to help the Tohoku region recover from the earthquake and revitalize regional economies. This is why we will step up our efforts to contribute to "making tourism a flourishing industry."

The change in our operating environment following the earthquake means that we need to once again determine goals for JR East. This is why we started working on a new management vision that we plan to announce sometime in the fall of 2012. The new vision will reinforce our commitment to actions involving our "Key Challenges Over the Next Three Years" as well as to issues we have been focusing on for years.