2010 marked a significant milestone in Hitachi's history as our centennial. At a time when Japan was focused on achieving rapid modernization through the widespread introduction of technology from Europe and the United States, Namihei Odaira founded Hitachi with the goal of promoting technology developed in Japan. We refer to this founding philosophy as "The founding spirit of Hitachi," a heritage that lives on, embodied in the words "Harmony," "Sincerity," and "Pioneering spirit." This Hitachi spirit is very important for us even in this day and age.
The Hitachi Group includes many business divisions, companies, many technologies, products and solutions. Nowhere else in the world is there another business group that has such a broad range of diversity. And despite the current unprecedented economic crisis, Hitachi will continue to expand its businesses through global social innovation by focusing on the "creation of environmental value." At the core, this underscores Hitachi's founding philosophy of promoting business strongly and continuously in order to thrive at a steady pace toward the future. This is what truly differentiates Hitachi from all other competitors. Hitachi truly embodies our corporate statement "Inspire the Next" (breathe new life into the next era) by combining "the collective strengths" of the wide range of businesses, technologies and expertise within the Hitachi Group to generate the optimal value for the diverse issues among customers and society at large.
Hitachi's goal is to achieve further growth by looking back to its origins. It is critically important to engage the heart and mind of each and every employee and remind them of our corporate philosophy of "contributing to society through the development of superior, original technology and products." In today's unprecedented economic crisis, which has dramatically changed and changes daily we must be prepared to take immediate action and be ready to respond quickly to our changing society.
