■Nathan Shiga: January 23

It is something unique in Japan and few westerners know about it: a popular cough powder called Ryukakusan – a cough suppressant in powder form you throw into your mouth to control a cough and phlegm.

Now, the point is not so much the identity of Ryuankusan but that of the company’s current CEO Ryuta Fujii who took after his ailing father in 1994. President Fujii is no man of business but of music, a professional flutist, who graduated from Toho Gakuen School of Music.

Business management is often compared to conducting an orchestra. Owners are apt to go dictatorial in running the companies they own.

Asked whether he feels that way or not in managing his company, being a musician himself, President Fujii says:

“What in fact is wrong about being a dictator in running a firm? The manager is there for that purpose; or else who stands accountable for the consequences?

“In conducting an orchestra, the conductor stands distant away from the players because he has a lot more information at his disposal. The players have only the part scores and can hear only the sounds of nearby playmates. They are not in a position to optimize the music they are playing, nor have they the right to dictate the details.

“Every fine conductor is a dictator. It is in his power to dictate how to play the music. No fine conductor ever goes around consulting his players for advice on how to phrase here and retard there. No decent music will come out that way; performance will be a total mess far from offering musical satisfaction to the audience.

“I am not saying to be oppressive. I am accessible to opinions and ready to persuade when necessary. Above all, I always stand in the scene of action on the eve of every decision-making.”

Quite a unique situation of how a musically oriented business manager runs a company, is it not?

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