COO Message

While sharing the joy of the front lines,
we will drive the expansion of
our business fields and steadily advance
toward new heights.
By thoroughly embracing the basic principles of business with all employees working together,
we will steadily execute growth strategies based on the initiative of
“Profit opportunities are shifting downstream,” as outlined in the Management Policy.


Keita Ishii
President & Chief Operating Officer
The Joy of the Front Lines
It has been three years since I assumed the role of President. With the lifting of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was finally able to travel around to various front lines in FYE 2024. While appreciating the simple yet precious experience of face-to-face interactions with colleagues, I met with employees stationed overseas and Group company members in person, enabling them to understand my character, and sharing with them the direction our Group is heading. Although I receive a variety of information every day, I still believe that it is crucial to see and experience firsthand what is happening at the front lines.
During my visits to overseas sites, I was delighted to witness some very encouraging scenes. At ITOCHU, even junior employees who have only been with us for a few years are sent out to various frontline assignments, including secondments to overseas Group companies. At one of our Group companies in the United States, I saw a junior employee working energetically alongside local staff, fully engaged in the role. Given the limited personnel at each site, this junior employee was assigned substantial role within the team and worked with a strong sense of mission, full of energy and determination to meet expectations. The younger generation, often referred to as Generation Z, is sometimes labeled as indifferent or only willing to do what is within their bounds. However, regardless of generation, when people are given responsible roles and feel that they are contributing to their team or organization, they find fulfillment and work hard. This is the joy of the front lines unique to a general trading company, and it reinforced my belief in nurturing Merchants through accumulated frontline experiences. It also reminded me of my own early days, running around on the front lines with the same enthusiasm.
I joined ITOCHU in 1983, and in the Chemicals Division, I devoted myself to sales activities, experiencing the joy of the front lines through both failures and successes. I encountered many failures by misreading customer needs and making procedural mistakes. However, failure is not always a bad thing. The drive to recover from failure forces us to dive back into work with full force and teaches us the importance of having options for when things don’t go as planned. In today’s rapidly changing world, it is normal for things to not go as expected. Therefore, having multiple options is fundamental to doing business. Accordingly, when deliberating projects at Management Committees, I always ensure that we discuss not only based on the assumptions outlined in the presented materials, but also how we can handle unexpected circumstances and how many options have been prepared.
The Era of “Profit Opportunities Are Shifting Downstream”

The way of doing business in my early years was entirely different from today. Back then, as a general trading company acting as a sales agent for manufacturers, our role was to vigorously sell whatever products the manufacturer wanted to sell. It was truly the era of “product-out.” I found great satisfaction in traveling worldwide to secure products from manufacturers, swiftly delivering market information and developing new sales channels.
But how about now? Today, we can access the same quality of information simultaneously from anywhere through the internet. If manufacturers connect directly with their buyers, they can negotiate deals without the need for a general trading company. The significance of general trading companies is diminishing, and we now need to take on greater risks to stay involved in business. Without offering new functions, networks, or solutions that address customer challenges, we cannot create or sustain business. ITOCHU’s response to these changes is “Profit opportunities are shifting downstream” and the “market-oriented perspective.” The driving force behind business has shifted downstream, which is closer to customers and end consumers. By leveraging our downstream business foundation that is among the most robust of any general trading company, ITOCHU will continue creating business opportunities through the market-oriented perspective, accurately capturing the needs of customers and end consumers.
There is another meaning behind “Profit opportunities are shifting downstream.” It refers to our initiative of capturing business insights from a downstream perspective, and significantly expanding that domain with a downstream-driven approach. ITOCHU was founded as a textile business, but has diversified its business portfolio in all directions, centering on customer touchpoints and the closely related consumer sector, including food, finance, and retail. The prime example is FamilyMart. While FamilyMart itself strives to increase customer visits and daily sales for further growth, we leverage direct daily interaction with around 15 million customers through FamilyMart to nurture related businesses such as food distribution, packaging development, private brand (PB) development, and even the establishment of an advertisement and media business, thereby expanding profits across the entire Group. Additionally, CTC, which was privatized in 2023, is expanding the entire digital value chain from upstream to downstream, including consulting and data analysis to meet the rising digitalization needs of customers. By integrating the ITOCHU Group and our customers in various industries with the digital value chain centered on CTC, we aim to further expand these business fields.(→ Special Feature: Creating Businesses by Leveraging Our Strengths)
On the other hand, I also have a sense of crisis. For example, in the environment surrounding EVs, which are expected to become widely adopted going forward. Having grown up in the Chemicals Division, I realize that if someone is, for example, a sales representative for plastic raw materials and exclusively focuses on the current business of today, their business field is unlikely to expand going forward and the business itself could even disappear entirely. The needs of society and our customers are constantly changing day by day. For example, with the shift from gasoline cars to EVs, the structure of the vehicle bodies changes. In addition, because vehicle batteries are heavy, there is a need and challenge for weight reduction. Is a stronger yet lighter structural material a metal other than steel? Or is it a synthetic resin? What about adhesives and coatings used on these materials? What functions are required for EV tires? What about the lifespan and recyclability of onboard batteries? What are the application areas of EV communication functions? Identifying these questions and gathering knowledge through conversations with customers is the starting point of business. From there, by interacting and engaging in dialogue with related industries internally, such as the automotive team of the Machinery Company and the battery team of the Energy & Chemicals Company, and the Metals & Minerals Company, we may expand into a broad range of business opportunities. In today’s market, such multifaceted agility has come to be highly valued, and if we fail to meet this expectation, we will not survive. Conversely, by leveraging our networks and connections as a general trading company and providing broad solutions to the various needs and challenges faced by customers, we can sustain and expand our business. This approach to business is precisely what is required in an era where “Profit opportunities are shifting downstream.” This is why the subtitle of our Management Policy is “Profit opportunities are shifting downstream.”(→ Management Policy)
Decarbonization throughout the Entire Value Chain
At the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held from November 2023, the call was reiterated for an energy transition away from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of soaring global energy prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, countries are confronting the challenging issue of balancing decarbonization with energy security. ITOCHU is also promoting the reduction of GHG emissions in its fossil fuel projects and interests. Since FYE 2019, we have already divested three out of four thermal coal interests. For the remaining interest, we are paying close attention to the situation to ensure a flexible and agile exit, carefully considering our supply responsibilities to the relevant industry, as well as the potential sale price.
With the expansion of data utilization, including generative AI, and the explosive increase in power demand, it will be challenging in the near term to meet the demand solely by decarbonized and low-carbon energy sources, including renewable energy. These decarbonization and low-carbon projects will not be sustainable without economic viability. In particular, renewable energy initiatives will require collaboration between value chain participants, unlike resource interests businesses where only rights holders profit. In hydrogen and ammonia initiatives, it is necessary to take a comprehensive approach by securing green hydrogen, ensuring high-efficiency production and operation, developing transportation methods such as vessels, and establishing storage and distribution centers in consumption areas. For instance, involving the maritime industry, particularly operators of ammonia-fueled vessels, is also crucial. Furthermore, energy storage systems (ESS), which serve as hubs connecting unstable renewable energy sources, are areas I have long emphasized for their importance, and I am pleased to see growing interest in this field. If we can store electric power like we store water in dams, it can become an even more effective power source. The potential for business is limitless with the further deployment of household ESS, the installation of industrial ESS to meet the decarbonization needs of operators, and the construction of network for grid-scale energy storage plant connecting renewable energy with customers.
Our new Management Policy continues the basic policy of “Enhancing our contribution to and engagement with the SDGs through business activities” set forth in the previous medium-term management plan. By leveraging our networks and connections as a general trading company and involving partners from various industries, we will continue to steadily promote new SDGs-aligned businesses while pursuing economic value as well as environmental and social value.(→ Clean-Tech Business with Swift and Steady Execution)
Reaching New Heights Together as a Group
ITOCHU’s roots trace back to the Merchants of Ohmi, who traveled far and wide across Japan, understanding customer needs through dialogue and observation. They scoured the country for the best products to meet those needs, earning trust and expanding their business. This embodies the concept of a market-oriented perspective and represents ITOCHU’s fundamental business principle of responding accurately to needs, as a Merchant flexible as water. There was another important principle the Merchants of Ohmi valued. Chubei Itoh I held a casual gathering called “Sukiyaki parties” six times a month, for all employees. I feel that this family-like management approach has evolved into a culture of valuing everyone involved with ITOCHU, including Group companies. For example, while many companies hold orientation ceremonies welcoming new recruits, we also host retirement ceremonies. At these semi-annual events, I, as President, hand out letters of appreciation to each employee who has loyally served the Company for many years. We seek to make these events memorable, with warm, handmade touches like reviewing photos and videos from their early and mid-career years. Another distinctive initiative is our Group Companies Management Awards Program, where we celebrate and reward Group companies that have achieved outstanding business results, sharing the joy with employees. The ratio of Group companies reporting profits is at a very high 92%, and many Group companies achieved record-high profits in FYE 2024, steadily improving their performance. I think this success is built on our unified management with Group companies, which we believe are the treasures that support the steady growth of the Group.
As for consolidated net profit in FYE 2025, which is the first year of the new Management Policy, we plan to achieve a 10% increase year on year to ¥880.0 billion. ITOCHU aims to steadily achieve the plan while striving to reach an even higher stage, and we have no time to waste. As we head for new heights, everyone, from business and administrative divisions to both young and veteran employees, as well as the Group companies, will come together to fully commit to a market-oriented perspective and generate new downstream-driven businesses. I would like to thank all our stakeholders for the support thus far and humbly request your continued support in our future endeavors.
For details on Management Policy announced on
April 3, 2024, please click here.