Bargaining ability is crucial for a global person

Alumni Association Chairman Hisano stresses

グローバル人材に求められるのは交渉力

 

―久野修慈・中央大学員会会長に聞く―

  Chuo Alumni Association Chairman Shuji Hisano speaks during an interview with Hakumon Herald at his office.
Chuo Alumni Association Chairman Shuji Hisano speaks during an interview with Hakumon Herald at his office.

It has been a year since Chuo University unveiled its medium- to long-term development plan, Chuo Vision 2025, which primarily calls for promoting its globalization through the development of individuals possessing global vision. Hakumon Herald interviewed Shuji Hisano, chairman of the Chuo Alumni Association, to ask how he sees the future of Chuo in terms of globalization and what abilities he thinks its students need to acquire to play an active role in a globalized society.

 中央大学が中長期事業計画「Chuo Vision 2025」を発表してから1年を迎えようとしている。この計画の中の大きな柱としてグローバル化の推進があるが、グローバリゼーションとは何か、グローバル社会ではどういった人材が求められるのか、中央大学員会会長である久野修慈氏に、話を聞いた。

 

  -Coming right to the point, what do you think are the abilities crucial for people who aspire to work globally?

―ずばり、グローバル人材に求められる能力とは何ですか。

 

Hisano: To put it simply, that is an ability to negotiate. Wherever you go, you will need to assert yourselves although that may actually be not as easy as you will think.

久野 一言で表すならば、「交渉力」です。実際にはとても難しいことですが、どこへ行っても自分の考えを主張できるということがいちばん必要になります。

 

-How did you acquire that ability?

―それはどうやって身につけましたか。

 

Hisano: My generation grew up immediately after the Pacific War had ended. We lived in a situation where Japan had to conduct difficult negotiations with the rest of the world. The General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Allied Powers that occupied Japan imposed an embargo on its deep-sea fishing. It was one of factors that caused a serious food shortage in the country. Japan had no choice but to bargain with other countries to break the situation. The ban was lifted as a result of hard negotiations by Japanese diplomats and businessmen. In 1952, the Fisheries Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry allowed fishermen to restart their operation in northern Pacific. Also, Japan concluded a fisheries convention with the United States and Canada, paving the way for resumption of salmon/trout fishing in the northeast waters of the Pacific Ocean.

 

久野 私たちの頃は、戦後間もなかったため、他国との交渉をしなければならない状況でした。日本を占領した連合国軍総司令部は、日本漁船の遠洋操業を禁止。そのため食料が不足し、他国と掛け合ってこの状況を打破するしか道がなかったのです。結果として、1952年に遠洋操業は解禁され、農林省水産庁は北洋漁業を再開しました。また、日本は米国、カナダとの漁業条約を締結し、太平洋の北東部海域でのサケ・マス漁が復活しました。

Horibe (left) and Yawata(center) of Hakumon Herald interview Chuo Alumni Association Chairman Shuji Hisano at his office.
Horibe (left) and Yawata(center) of Hakumon Herald interview Chuo Alumni Association Chairman Shuji Hisano at his office.

-You are suggesting that your generation spontaneously acquired negotiation power while doing actual hard work, are you?

―つまり、仕事をする中で自然と養われたということですね?

 

Hisano: Yes, that is quite right. By the way, Japan’s whaling was also banned for a while after the war. Japanese people had to rely on protein rich in whale meat. Its resumption was permitted only after Jiro Shirasu, then a famed bureaucrat-turned-businessman, had carried out a hard bargain with General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. I experienced working with Shirasu later on and I respected him a great deal. I think he was one of the best global persons Japan ever had. Even while Japan was in a disadvantageous situation as a defeated country, he was a person who had a sense of globalization and persisted in his opinions in the international community.

 

久野 そういうことですね。また、戦後において重要なタンパク源となったクジラ漁も制限されていました。これは、白洲次郎のマッカーサーとの交渉の末、認められたのです。私は彼と仕事をしたこともあり、彼を尊敬しています。彼は日本人の中でいちばんのグローバル人材だと思います。敗戦国であるという不利な状況の中、グローバリゼーション感覚を持ち、国際社会の中で自分の意見を主張した人でした。

-How do you think Chuo students can acquire such an ability?

―学生がそうした能力を身につけるにはどうしたらよいですか。

 

Hisano: Well, Chuo University needs to innovate itself. In my opinion, it should incorporate the ideas of business persons who work in the real world. I am referring to the ideas conceived by people who are engaged in deals at trading houses and people like bureaucrats who put themselves in the world of politics. Chuo should put greater priority on nurturing students who can say a clear “no” when they cannot comply and who have their own belief about how Japan should be in the changing global community, not those who are easily swayed by others.

久野 これには中央大学の変革が必要です。私の考えとしては、実社会で働くビジネスマンの考えを取り入れることが大事です。商社などの貿易関係の人や、官僚など政界に身を置く人の考えです。他人の意見にすぐ流されるのではなく、反対なら反対と主張できる人材、国際社会のこれからの動きの中で日本がどのようにならなければならないかという信念をもつ人材の育成に力を入れるべきです。

Needless to say, you cannot always assert yourselves in negotiations. You must carefully listen to what others to say and take in some of their proposals. That is an essential process to strike an agreement. Bearing that in mind, you should learn to develop an ability to respect both your own opinions and those of others and lead them up to something better.

 もちろん、交渉においてはただ自分の意見を主張すればいいというわけではありません。相手の意見を傾聴し、取り入れるということも必要不可欠です。そのことを念頭に置き、自分と相手の意見を尊重し、より良いものへと導く力を養うことに意識を向けるとよいと思います。

 

-Thank you for your time.

―ありがとうございました。

 

 

(Interviewed by: Toshihiro Horibe)


Mr. Hisano’s profile

<久野修慈氏略歴>

Born in Fukui Prefecture in 1936, Hisano graduated from Chuo’s Faculty of Law in 1958. Aspiring to become a lawyer, he worked as a live-in student at the office of Chuo Professor Hisashi Yoshida during his school days. He joined Taiyo Fishery Co. (now Maruha Nichiro Corp.) in 1963 and served for a while as one of secretaries to Jiro Shirasu, then an outside director of the company (who later became one of closest aides to then Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida). Hisano was appointed senior managing director of the company in 1987 and later served concurrently as president of professional baseball team Taiyo Whales (now Yokohama DeNA BayStars). He assumed the presidency of Ensuiko Sugar Refining Co. in 1990 and became chairman of the company in 2005. After serving as chairman of Chuo’s Board of Regents from 2008 to 2012, he was appointed chairman of the Chuo Alumni Association in 2013. He was decorated with the Order of the Rising Sun in 2006.

 

1936年福井県出身。58年中央大法学部卒業。法曹界入りを目指し、吉田久中央大学教授の書生をしていたが、転身。63年大洋漁業(現マルハニチロ株式会社)入社。社外取締役を務めていた実業家の白洲次郎(吉田茂元首相の側近として活躍)の特任秘書を務めたことも。87年同社代表取締役専務就任。プロ野球大洋ホエールズの社長も兼務した。90年塩水港製糖代表取締役社長、2005年同社会長。2008年から母校中央大の理事長。12年に退任。13年中央大学員会会長就任。2006年旭日中綬章受章。