“Put in practice the company’s motto to cherish people and always remember to be thankful to the customers” – Hajime Kurotsuchi, Founder Mr. Hajime Kurotsuchi left Oita Commercial High School (now Oita University’s faculty of economics) before graduation when he was conscripted into military service during World War II. After returning from China, where he served in the Imperial Japanese Army, he worked in a wholesale company and other places after the war.