Kobayashi Pharmaceutical is very good at marketing and has a strategy that is well suited to Japan's social structure.

As Japan entered the 1980's, a diversification of lifestyle, which influenced individuals' values, taste, and needs, was evolving in Japanese society. The constant, unchanging consumer was becoming a thing of the past, and, along with this change, the life spans of the products themselves have been shortened. Mass production with limited varieties has became untenable -- now production of smaller volumes with more varieties is the rule.

After the 1980's, the creation of best-selling product lines became more difficult. One could not start batting with the intent of hitting a homerun from the beginning. Modern "baseball" (marketing) was all about "making sure you get to base" (insure that you can sell the product) when it is "your turn to bat" (when you develop a new product).

After the mid-1960's, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical used this theory not only to work harder in fields in which we already had experience, but also to challenge ourselves in new fields.

Of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's medical product lines, we are strongest in the household medicine field. The market was waiting for the development of modern, high quality household medical products.

Next is the sanitation and related field, which was not entirely new to us -- historically we had product lines there, such as insecticides, fungicides, and disinfectants. Our long experience in marketing and developing technology in this field is a great advantage.

Health food and related industries is an area where we have great expectations for the future. It is safe to say that consumers' interest in health will continue to grow and their needs are potentially limitless.

Our Manufacturing Division already has experience in this field, with products such as Sweet 'n Low. We continue to use our natural advantage as a medical and pharmaceuticals manufacturer to develop unique new product lines.

Third is the biotechnology field. We have already started a biomedical business division, and are turning the research results that we have accumulated over many years into marketable products. This field shows great promise and is sure to bloom.

In addition to these, there are many other fields where our research and development is bearing fruit.

Finally, I would like to make it clear that we are not focused solely on ourselves. When we see an excellent product on the international market, we try to introduce it to Japan in a way that best fits conditions here.

Entering the mid-1980's, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's trade talks with foreign companies concerning sales of foreign products in Japan and starting business mergers with foreign partners increased dramatically. This would seem to indicate that the Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's reputation overseas has grown. Kobayashi Pharmaceutical closely considers each foreign product, determines which will contribute to the expansion of our business interests, and avidly launches them as new business ventures.

During the process of such international exchanges, we can study other business's management know-how. The experience, results, and goodwill that we have gained from successful business mergers in the past will aid us greatly in these endeavors.

Our company's internationalization strategy has a history of more than 15 years. We can affirm that Japan's internationalization has been of great benefit to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical. In addition to aggressively exporting our best products overseas, we also import excellent products and their technology and ideas from abroad. (From an interview with Hiroaki Miyata)