While placing the highest value on fairness, I want to bring together individual strengths and open up new fields for tobacco products.

From science research to coordination of product development projects.

When I was a graduate student I specialized in polymer chemistry, and was affiliated with an interdisciplinary research laboratory that handled polymer materials for regenerative medicine. I entered this company in 2010, and was responsible for applied research on filters and rolling paper at the research laboratory here. After that, from 2014 I was temporarily transferred to JT International where I was in charge of product development in Germany for two years, and when I returned to Japan I became involved with science research related to adsorption phenomena in activated charcoal at the research laboratory. Since 2018 I was in charge of product development coordination. In this position, my role was to realize the concepts of new products, so I begin by clarifying those concepts and investigating their requirements and feasibility from various perspectives including development, material procurement, manufacturing, quality assurance, and legal regulations. I then summarize them, incorporate them into projects, and coordinate them. I am currently involved with the formulation of development strategies for RRP* in the R&D Group and work to coordinate execution based on them.

*Reduced-Risk Products: Products with the potential to reduce health-related risks associated with smoking

“Fairness” is essential to connect with others and proceed with work when we have no absolute answers.

When I first became involved in project management related to the development of heated tobacco products (hereafter HTP), it was very difficult. I was an outsider to the area of the device for HTP development and knew almost nothing about it. In addition, project management is work on a completely different level from the research I had previously carried out at the Research Laboratory. Ever since entering the JT Group I had worked mainly with dealing things and data, but in a complete change I was now thrust into real-world work which required coordination with many related people. That gap was huge and I was troubled over it for some time, but I now believe those harsh experiences laid the foundation for who I am today.
When turning product concepts into reality, even if there are many possible technological solutions that can be thought of, it is basically only one that will be sent out into the world. It is therefore necessary to choose the best answer from among them. Meanwhile, the beliefs and viewpoints of those people who suggested various methods for it are highly varied and all of them are right in their own way with no absolute answer, so it is extremely difficult to select one. That is why, based on our shared wishes to create products that can be enjoyed even more by consumers, I have carried out my work so that all related parties in projects could reach an agreement in a way that was fair from the viewpoints of everyone involved, while also balancing this with my own views as an engineer. By gaining acceptance from everyone involved and joining together to head in the same direction, I believe it is possible to produce output that can greatly exceed the limits of any one individual.

I want to coordinate “amazing futures to be opened up by synergy among amazing people.”

The reasons I wanted to join the JT Group were my desire to deliver products created by my own hands to consumers around the world, and my interest in tobacco as a commodity. I had considered entering the medical industry, which was directly connected to my research as a student, but the deciding factors for the JT Group were the yet-unexplained appeal that tobacco products inherently have as “Shikohin”, and its deeply fascinating nature in an academic sense which attracted me as a researcher. In addition, another key point was that through my job searching I was able to meet “amazing people” here who I wanted to work with.
The R&D Group creates products for the future that have never been seen before, so it includes many “amazing,” highly-motivated members from diverse age ranges and nationalities. I am firmly convinced that if we can combine those diverse individualities to bring forth even greater strength to move us forward, we will be able to open up an even more “amazing future.” The development of RRP* is precisely in the midst of demonstrating that power to move forward. Holding repeated discussions with members until we all can be convinced is a long and gradual process, but we are steadily making progress. I want to dedicate all of my efforts to achieve an “amazing future” through my coordination work from here on.

*Reduced-Risk Products: Products with the potential to reduce health-related risks associated with smoking