Each joined the JT Group with their own motive

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  My interest in tobacco products started from product packages. While specializing in architecture as part of the Faculty of Engineering in my graduate school, I conducted research while also entering contests for package design. Although I explored a wide range of options in my job searches including architecture, I felt that even in design fields that considered people’s lifestyles and behavior, I was more suited to work on a smaller scale. With tobacco products I could actually see and touch them myself, and also simulate how they are used, so I felt that this scale was just right for me. Even the things that people use every day have all been designed by someone, and have become liked by the people who use them. I thought that was another interesting point about tobacco products.

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  In my case, the JT Group was coincidentally the first company I came across when searching for a job. When I was a graduate school student, I belonged to a research laboratory in the Materials Engineering Department of the Faculty of Engineering, which was involved with water treatment plants. At a company information session I was invited to by a friend, I listened to a presentation by a JT Group employee which made me aware that tobacco industry includes many elements and technical expertise of different fields at a position between agriculture and industry, and my interest in it grew. After submitting an application I was called in for an interview, and was accepted without any problems.Therefore, I did not have a clearly-defined reason for choosing the JT Group. But thinking back to my time as a student when I had a part-time job at a coffee shop, even at that time I enjoyed speaking to consumers who were coffee connoisseurs. Those experiences linked together with tobacco to help draw me in and make my decision to enter the company.

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  I was recruited as a worker with prior experience. In my previous job at the Research & Development Division of a lifestyle goods manufacturer, I spent roughly five years working on the development of packages for daily goods. In graduate school I had performed research related to organic synthesis including synthesis systems for intermediate bodies of medical molecules, so I started working at that company with the image of creating the content of daily goods, but I ended up being assigned to a division for developing packaging containers. Even though it was a step away from my plan,
  research itself was enjoyable to me so I decided to build up my career along those lines. However, I also thought that I wanted to try working with other commercial goods that were related to packages, so I started activities to make a job change. After attending a JT company informational session, I found out that packages for tobacco products were more finely-detailed than I had expected and were created with elaborate work, so I became interested in the JT Group and decided to enter.

What is the appeal of tobacco products and developments

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  I think that in the JT R&D Group there are many cases like Mr. Nishigai’s, of people who became involved with fields and job types that were not closely related to their specialties from their time as students, but which prompted them to gain a liking for that work so they decided to continue with it.

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  Really?

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  There are of course people who want to do work that is close to their specialties as students or want to utilize their specialized knowledge, but on the other hand, there are also members who find interest and enjoyment in the work they encounter after entering the company, and begin to think that they want to pursue it more deeply.

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  In graduate school I had shut myself in my laboratory with the impression that I was only doing research on upstream processes, so I had no idea of how the things I was doing were related to society. Even regarding careers, there were many students in the research laboratory I was affiliated with in graduate school who obtained employment at BtoB companies. However, from the beginning I had wanted to work at a BtoC company and was determined to be involved in product development at a field closest to consumers, which has not changed even after entering the JT Group. Hearing about Ms. Imaiida’s motivation for entering reminded me of this.

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  Ms. Chiku’s viewpoint of tobacco as “between agriculture and industry” is very interesting. I had thought that tobacco products has the elements of “time and space” which are close to architectural concepts, so these also matched with my desire to join the JT Group.

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  What do you mean by “time and space”?

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  For example, when creating areas that allow colleagues to gather and speak with each other, in architecture we think of spatial matters like placing benches, installing coffee machines, or arranging locations with good views, as well as time-related matters like “How long will people stay there?” Regarding smoking areas, designers imagine and incorporate the situation of people gathering around ashtrays and speaking at a casual distance with others who they normally do not have a chance to talk to. As Ms. Chiku says, tobacco is a product whose tastes are determined through investigations that combine elements of both agriculture and industry. Also, architectural viewpoints of “time” and “space” are important to create environments which can allow consumers to enjoy those products even more. Tobacco product is a fascinating product that combines various elements and is located on the borders between them, so I find it extremely interesting.

Almost all work has no relation to whether or not members smoke.

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  For me, I do not believe there is any specific work that can only be done by people who do not smoke tobacco. In fact, I would say that for almost all of the work in our company , there is no relation between whether or not people smoke, and the results and evaluation of their work. Even just in the R&D Group, almost all of the work content can be done both by smokers and non-smokers.

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  Almost 100% of the package development work for heated tobacco products (hereafter HTP) that I am responsible for is also work that has no relation to whether or not people have smoking experience. Packages are the “faces” of products and are the first things a consumer sees. For tobacco in particular they are kept close at hand by a consumer until they are finished smoking, so we are as particular about the quality of packages as their contents, to allow consumers to fully enjoy our products.

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  I only know this because I have been involved with package development for roughly two years since entering, the printing machines and assembly machines used for tobacco packages operate at extremely high speed, so exacting technology is required in the development of materials for printing boxes and film. Defects such as ink rubbing off due to friction between printed materials and machines are not allowed at all, and since the production volume is so large, even small differences in the quantity of ink used will greatly affect the manufacturing cost. Package development involves important work which requires a level of skill as high as for the development of tobacco itself.

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  Of course, since we are a company that develops, manufactures, and sells tobacco products, there is some work that cannot be done without smoking them. For example, work to create tobacco tastes, such as developing flavors and blending tobacco leaves which directly affect tastes and flavors, cannot be done without smoking tobacco. However, there are only a few “taste professionals” within the company who actually smoke our tobacco products and evaluate their tastes and flavors.

Discoveries can be made through hints found from the differences between smokers and non-smokers.

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  Since my work involves research and analysis of the purchasing behavior and preferences of consumers, I am careful to observe people who smoke as extensively and deeply as I can. However, since I do not smoke, from the standpoint of user experience I do not have the biases related to tobacco that people who normally smoke have, and that may allow me to intently observe tobacco products and the activity of smoking from a fresh perspective.

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  In the past, I participated in group work as a team combined with members from other departments, to come up with ideas that could be linked to new businesses while not being limited to the work we normally do. At that time, my opinions as a non-smoker were viewed as new and fresh by my colleagues who smoked normally.

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  People who do not normally smoke may in some cases be more sensitive to the smell of tobacco. Around one year ago, there was a young colleague who was involved in research and development to remove the odor of tobacco. After a prototype was developed, I was called in and asked “Does this smell?” When I honestly answered “Yes, it does,” that employee was shocked by my response. There are times when we are asked for opinions or explain our thoughts that allow us to realize that there are differences between people who smoke and those who do not. I think that the assumptions of both sides and the biases as described by Ms. Imaiida are very influential factors.

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  People like myself who do not smoke and whose knowledge of tobacco taste is only at an amateur level can boldly suggest ideas that people who do smoke would be too embarrassed to bring up. This might be a strength of non-smokers. Actually, that’s all we can do anyway!

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  Listening to conversations between tobacco users, I have at times thought that since they share the non-verbal experience of smoking tobacco, there is a tendency for them to speak with vague impressions that have a sense of “You know what this is like, right?” when talking about tobacco tastes.

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  When people who normally smoke speak to each other about the tastes and flavors of tobacco, it seems that there is a lot of content “between the lines.”

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  Since I am the type to openly ask “What does that mean?” without hesitating, that is where I can begin conversations with smokers. Through repeated conversations, I can examine each point more deeply and put them into verbal form in expressions using language, and make the “between the lines” content clearer at the same time. I believe that processes like this can also connect to the development of tobacco products that appeal to the preferences of consumers.

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  I think that there are definite gaps between the feelings and viewpoints of smokers and non-smokers. However, the custom at our company is not to perceive conflicts in these gaps, but to look at them in a positive way and accept that since there are many different opinions, many different ideas can be created.

Aiming for various contributions in response to the changes of the times.

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  This is just a recent goal of mine, but I want to develop innovative packages that are not bound by existing ideas. The starter kit package for devices for HTP which I am currently responsible for is a product intended to be first purchased by consumers who have not smoked HTP before, at a price of several thousand yen. This means it is viewed in a slightly different way from conventional cigarette packages. This is also a field in which there has not yet been much development. Therefore, I want to create a package by my own work that can surpass competitor products already on the market.

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  I am very interested in the emotions people have when engaging in activities related to tobacco products, and in what situations those activities are carried out. The tobacco market has been changing dramatically in recent years, expanding the options consumers have on what to smoke with the addition of HTP as well as conventional cigarettes. It is not only tobacco products, but the environment around smoking itself that is also changing. For example, consideration for surrounding people and situations is being emphasized even more than in the past. Under such circumstances, there will be many points that cannot be clarified just by applying past research. What do consumers want, and what kinds of questions should be asked in order to respond to them? By thinking thoroughly about these points, I want to work toward the development of products that will earn the support of consumers.

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  I would like to optimize our work processes so that colleagues around me can work with more enjoyment and comfort. If our members do not have a feeling of freedom and enjoyment, good ideas cannot be born and good products in turn cannot be created. I believe that the work environment at our company is outstanding, and I am very fond of it, but there are still many points that could be improved. There are limits to the things I can do myself, but I believe that if the time and power achieved by optimizing business processes and improving work efficiency are used for more creative activities, it could increase the level of consumer satisfaction and ultimately lead to valuable contributions for our company.

Members can do good work precisely because they can work without constraints and stress.

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  Hearing Ms. Chiku’s statement that “If employees do not have a feeling of freedom and enjoyment, good ideas cannot be born and good products in turn cannot be created,” made me think that the environment at our company allows members to put all of their efforts into their work, while also placing high value on their personal lives. It carefully manages working hours and ensures that we are able to take vacations properly. As for myself, I have no impression that I am sacrificing my personal life for work.

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  I feel the same way. I am especially grateful for the flextime system and am putting it to good use. I come to work early in the morning and go home at an early evening time period, but I am never made to feel badly about this by my superiors or colleagues. If discussions are held at a late time, team members help me by attending in my place and everyone around me actively gives their support. It is an excellent environment where I can focus on my work without stress.

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  Since I am currently raising children, I am tremendously thankful for that we can work with the flextime system and working from home. My children are in 2nd grade and 5th grade of elementary school, and my PTA activities include things like disinfection of the school because of the COVID-19 crisis. Many school events like this are for around one hour between 10:00 and 16:00 on weekdays, so in the past I often felt sorry to my children because I could not participate in them, but by using the flextime system and working from home I can participate in PTA activities from 11:00, and then return home in the afternoon and resume work. Thanks to these systems, I can participate in activities once or twice a month. Since the start of the flextime system’s operation, I have been able to live a more fulfilling life in both work and my personal matters.

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  Even in the previous company I worked at, it was not particularly troublesome to take vacations but there was an atmosphere of needing a suitable reason, so I honestly felt some hesitation at taking time off. There is no such atmosphere at the JT Group.

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  If the company can continue its diligent management, employees such as ourselves can continue working in comfortable environments like our current ones. In order to do so, we must keep on creating good products, and work hard to have our company continue being supported by consumers .