Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. President and CEO Takahashi Yoshinori

The driving force behind society is people. That's why I want to create a company that invigorates people.

President and CEO of Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.　Yoshinori Takahashi(Yasunori Takahashi)

■ Profile

Born in Tokyo in 1973. After joining Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. (CCC) as a new graduate in 1997, he served as a human resources leader in the franchise business division before becoming the representative director and president of CCC Casting Co., Ltd., which he started within the company in 2006. He has previously served as an executive officer at CCC and managing director of TSUTAYA Co., Ltd. He left CCC at the end of March 2018. After three years as a househusband, he returned to CCC in April 2021. He will become the representative director, president and CEO of CCC in April 2024.

The CCC Group is renowned for its diverse business models, from V-Point marketing and bookstore operations such as TSUTAYA, to regional revitalization and healthcare businesses. Through its many services, the group proposes new lifestyles. We spoke with CCC President and CEO Yoshinori Takahashi, who continues to propose new values ​​and opportunities, about his career and the values ​​he holds.

■ My student days were spent working part-time jobs

During my university days, I hardly went to school and instead worked part-time as a crowd control officer at Jingu Stadium. I spent 350 days of the year working part-time. Since the company had a small number of employees, we had to make the most of our part-time employees. I was put in charge of the on-site leadership, which meant a lot of responsibility. I even thought, "If I'm not there, the baseball stadium won't open." Looking back, I think that being expected to do well and being given the right amount and size of responsibility can motivate people. Through this part-time job, I was exposed to the fundamentals of leadership and management. It almost felt like a club, so I was able to kill three birds with one stone: I could work happily with my colleagues, learn a lot, and get paid.

■The free corporate culture at CCC that I felt during the employment interview

I only applied to about three companies during my job hunt. Among them, I was particularly impressed by CCC's entrance exam, which had no set format. When I was given a blank piece of paper with the theme "Please express yourself," I wrote about working at a baseball stadium and submitted it. Through the entrance exam, I got a feel for CCC's free corporate culture and felt that we were on the same wavelength.
Since joining the company, I have spent about a third of my career working in human resources and one-third in corporate management. I wanted to work in human resources from the beginning, because through my work at CCC, I had come to believe that people are the driving force behind social change. I want to inspire people through our work, and I want that to be the core of CCC. That's why I wanted to work in human resources, where I would have the most opportunities to interact with people.

■To be with his daughter, he became a househusband and put his career on hold

There were many people with excellent individual abilities, but I always tried to think about "what I should do." I always tried to think about "what I should do when this situation arises."
For example, while building my career, I once left my company to become a househusband. The reason was that I found out my daughter had Down syndrome and wanted to spend time with her. Disabilities require a variety of supports. From the moment my daughter was born, I decided to share responsibilities with my spouse to raise her, considering the environment in which she would be looked after, the working environment, and even how we could survive financially without relying on the government. I could restart my career, but if I hadn't been there for my daughter, I wouldn't have been able to get that time back.
After that, I returned to CCC after three years as a househusband. I could have chosen to go to another company, but after analyzing myself before returning, I realized that I really liked CCC, so I really wanted to work here again.

■ I want to work with people who have their own unique "core."

I believe that people are the engine of a company, so how you can build relationships of trust with others is extremely important. While each person is different, I would like to work with people who have their own values ​​and core values. When meeting various people in society, if you don't have your own core values, you will be influenced too much. Without a solid foundation, you cannot build a house with two or three floors on top of it. In order to build up your own new added value, I want people to have a strong backbone as a foundation.
We also look for people who can verbalize what they have learned from past experiences. I believe that being able to deconstruct abstract concepts and make them reproducible is extremely important in the workplace. I also believe that it is important to not rely too much on the environment, not to blame others, and to confront oneself and society.

■Message to university students

When you enter society, you will encounter many different people and people with diverse values. You may feel anxious because there will be fewer people to protect you than when you were a student. However, you will also meet many friends, including people you can respect and who have high aspirations. Even if you feel lonely, I want to tell you that you are not alone.
As for what you can do now, I would like you to develop the habit of output. It's difficult to convey your thoughts unless you put them into words. Therefore, it's a kindness to others to communicate them in an easy-to-understand way. Try to be conscious of structuring, visualizing, and writing down your thoughts and what you've learned, and then organizing and communicating them. Everyone has equal time. If you keep updating your output with an awareness of the quality from a young age, you'll be far ahead of someone who hasn't done anything in 10 years.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on April 11, 2024 by Sari Tsuka, a third-year student at Keio University

Rikkyo University, 4th year student, Narina Ogata / Nihon University, 1st year student, Amane Omori / Keio University, 3rd year student, Sari Tsuka / Chuo University, 3rd year student, Yoshikazu Kamei / Sophia University, 3rd year student, Himawari Shirasaka /
Yusaki Matsuzaka, 3rd year student at Keio University

Filming assistance: Kosuke Shimoda