ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has brought on film and television director Hirokazu Koreeda to deliver a new television program titled Kyo-no-Akinai (“Today’s Business”) and start a new series of corporate commercials under the theme Hajimete-no-Shimei (“My First Mission”).

In July 2014, ITOCHU announced its corporate message, “I am One with Infinite Missions.” With the aim of disseminating the message both inside and outside the company, ITOCHU has taken out newspaper advertisements, acted as the sole sponsor of television programs and run corporate commercials.

While painting a picture of the work ITOCHU does all over the world as epitomizing “I am One with Infinite Missions,” being a part of people’s lifestyles and helping in their daily lives, these efforts have also conveyed the distinctive and individual qualities of ITOCHU.

A big feature of ITOCHU’s latest campaign is that Koreeda will direct both the program and the corporate commercial. Entitled Kyo-no-Akinai (“Today’s Business”), the program will express the way buyers and sellers go about “business” through video and language arranged with a unique perspective based on Koreeda’s interpretation of “business” as “exchanging one thing for another.”

Embracing the theme of Hajimete-no-Shimei (“My First Mission,”) the corporate commercial will introduce the work ITOCHU does as a general trading company through the eyes of new employees. The most distinctive aspect of the commercial will be its documentary-style format　that features employees who just joined ITOCHU this spring. The commercial will use a fresh set of eyes to carefully communicate the often confusing work performed by a general trading company. With Koreeda directing both the program and corporate commercial, through the realistic feel unique to a documentary, the people-centered youthfulness and in individuality that makes ITOCHU special will resonate with viewers.

Through a series of activities, ITOCHU will aim as a global company to reinforce the value of the ITOCHU brand while fulfilling its corporate philosophy of “Commitment to the Global Good.”

New Program: Kyo-no-Akinai (“Today’s Business”)

Airing Dates: Every Saturday from 21:54 on TBS
First Airing: Saturday, April 11
*The ITOCHU Corporation corporate commercial will air after the program ends.

ITOCHU Corporation Corporate Commercial: Hajimete-no-Shimei (“My First Mission”)

First Airing: Saturday, April 11, after end of the TBS program Kyo-no-Akinai (“Today’s Business”)
Narrator: Tsurube Shofukutei

Hirokazu Koreeda

Film and Television Director
Born 1962 in Tokyo. After graduating from the First Department of Literature, Waseda University in 1987, Koreeda joined TV Man Union. He produced mainly documentary programs.
Koreeda went independent in 2014 and launched Bunbuku.
His notable directorial works include Nobody Knows (2004), for which starring cast member Yuya Yagira was the youngest ever to win Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, Still Walking (2008), his first drama series Going My Home (2012), and Like Father, Like Son (2013), which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Koreeda’s latest film, Umimachi Diary (“Seaside Town Diary”) premieres on June 13, 2015.

• I am One with Infinite Missions” – ITOCHU’s Corporate Message
  In Jun 2014, ITOCHU formulated this corporate message to express the intention behind its corporate philosophy of “Committed to the Global Good,” and to share those values inside and outside the company in the form of a “promise” from the company to society.
  The Corporate Message, “I am One with Infinite Missions” expresses the free-spirit; the spirit of continually taking on challenges like a mercenary band; the organizational strength supported by the unrivaled strengths of individuals; the fundamental strength of our front-line approach that allows for adaptation to any type of environment and overcoming of crises; and our professionalism in remaining clearly aware of our missions and following through with numerous different projects to satisfy customers’ needs, all of which are unique features of ITOCHU, one of the three major trading companies (sogo shosha).