CARLOS KASUGA: BIOGRAPHY, IDEAS AND CONTRIBUTIONS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

Carlos Kasuga is one of the most important Mexican businessmen in Latin America, the son of Japanese but born in Mexico. He is the founder and owner of the probiotic dairy company Yakult, SA Mexico Division, President of the Institute of Life Sciences and former president of the Pan American Milk Federation.

He is also the founder and owner of Industrias Kay Internacional, a renowned producer of plastic inflatables, and founder of one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the country: the Japanese Mexican School.

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He has also held the presidency of multiple organizations whose purpose is to unite the “Nikkei” (descendants of Japanese migrants) in Latin America: the Japanese Mexican Association, the Committee for the celebrations of Japanese migration to Mexico and the Pan-American Nikkei Confederation (COPANI).

Despite having qualified as a Public Accountant, he has given ample proof of being much more than that. His results as a successful entrepreneur and as an altruistic human being, confirm his condition as an integral leader.

Carlos Kasuga has developed an interesting facet as a speaker, of greater scope and importance for the Mexican and Latin American community. In each of his presentations he claims the pride of being Mexican.

Today, with his 80 years, he aims to share with his Mexican compatriots and with his international audience the formulas that he has applied in his life. They have served him to achieve personal and professional success and to become a quality citizen for the nation that welcomed his parents.

Biography

Carlos Kasuga was born in a small town in central Mexico called Los Cerritos. His father was Tsutomu Kasuga and his mother Mitsuko Osaka. The father arrived in Mexico before his mother, being just a young man of 20 years.

Years before, Japan was going through a complex juncture known as "the Meiji Era", which sought a total renewal of the nation. During this period, the Asian country began a restructuring at all levels and closed its borders to the West.

Its economy went into crisis and unemployment together with the appropriation of land by the State left many Japanese (especially peasants) out of the structure and in a precarious situation.

Japan asked these Japanese that in the name of the common good, they sacrifice themselves by leaving the country and making their lives in other nations. It is there where the migrations of Japanese to other nations of the world begin.

Kasuga (father) was a silkworm cultivator. He arrived in Mexico in 1930 at the initiative of a fellow countryman living in Mexico who had managed to acquire land.

Arrival in Mexico of Kasuga Sr.

Tsutomu Kasuga entered Mexico from Japan as an immigrant “Yibiyose”. This means with an invitation letter. He then began to work as a farmer on a ranch, but after a short time he left it because he saw little possibility of progress.

He then moved to Los cerritos and started working as a clerk in one of the most important grocery stores in the area, owned by another countryman: Teikichi Iwadare.

There he worked a lot and with determination managed to learn the Spanish language and the arts of commerce. That same year he asked his relatives who were in Japan to find him a girl who was willing to marry and travel to Mexico to make a family with him.

Through a letter he communicated with the girl. After seeing his photo and receiving his promise to work hard for the well-being of her future family, the girl agreed to travel and marry him. Since their arrival in Mexico, the couple worked as a team in the store to forge a foundation.

On October 26, 1937, Carlos Tsuyoshi Kasuga Osaka was born. After much effort and savings, his parents managed to open a store in the town of Cárdenas, which they named after their son "Carlos Kasuga."

Second World War

In 1942, when Carlos was just a 4-year-old, he had to leave his hometown with his parents, leaving all his properties. The villagers went out to defend the family so that they would not be taken away but it was useless.

The United States had declared war on Japan, and Mexico, because it had a government subordinate to American dictates, complied with the American order to transfer all Japanese immigrants to the capital and confiscate their assets.

The US intelligence services operated at ease in Mexico and had a detailed record of all Japanese (now declared enemies) living in Mexico.

The Kasuga were located along with other families in Tacubaya, Mexico City. With what little they managed to save and in collaboration with the other Japanese refugees, they created a school which they named Takubaya Gakuen.

The school was designed so that their children would not lose connection with their culture. There they were taught to read and write Japanese, and also the history of Japan.

Carlos Tsuyoshi had to make extra effort because he also attended a Mexican public school. He was a student in two schools at the same time.

Academic improvement

As he grew older, Carlos supported the family finances in a candy store that his parents managed to open, saving little by little as vegetable peddlers on the street.

It was thus that with great dedication, effort and perseverance, he managed to enter and complete his higher studies graduating as a Public Accountant. His family values ​​would accompany him from that moment and forever: honesty, respect, gratitude and inexhaustible industry.

In 1956 Carlos traveled to Japan under a special figure called “Dekasegui” (a person who leaves his land to make his fortune elsewhere). There he paid his studies to perfect his command of Japanese at the University of Sofia, located in Tokyo.

There he attended the First Japanese Machinery Fair and was struck by one to make balls and inflatable products.

Carlos belonged to the swimming team of his school and recalled that in their starting practices they used rubber guts in the absence of life jackets. He decided to purchase one of these machines and took it to Mexico.

At age 21 and with the support of his family, he was founding his first company. This, even today, leads the market for inflatable products: Kay Industries, which manufactured the immense inflatable rings emblem of the Mexico 68 Olympics.

Consolidation of a brand

In 1981, and after an agreement between the Yakult Japan industry, it obtained the permits to install the Yakult Mexico Plant. It begins operations with its fully automated factory located in the Ixtapaluca municipality.

It currently has a second plant located in Guadalajara, Jalisco and is one of the most consolidated brands in the Mexican market.

Carlos Kasuga has been a tireless promoter of education and values. He has been concerned with strengthening ties between those like him who are "nikkai" (son of Japanese immigrants). He has founded schools and belongs to groups aimed at the rescue of Japanese culture.

He is also recognized for spreading the formula for his success through lectures, books and videos. His ideas point to citizen empowerment through education in values.

Ideas and contributions

The fundamental philosophy of Carlos Kasuga is based on four Fundamental Axes to achieve success:

1-THE WELL-BEING. To achieve personal and professional success, the following virtues must be cultivated: Punctuality, Discipline, Austerity, Love of study, Honesty and Industriousness.

2-THE WELL DOING. Everything that is done must be done right from the start.

3-THE WELL-BEING. Feeling good for having done your best while doing things.

4-THE WELL-HAVING. The 3 steps above lead to honest financial prosperity, the product of clean and honest work.

In addition to these postulates, Kasuga advocates a radical transformation of education. It should not only limit itself to imparting traditional academic knowledge, but it should also emphasize the teaching of values.

In the same way, he emphasizes that the cleaning of spaces, of people, should be a habit in the life of every person. That also contributes to health and success.

He affirms that when a company, a government institution, an entity does not function as it should be, those responsible are the managers because, in his words: The fish start to rot from the head, not from the tail.

Regarding his managerial ways, Kasuga broke traditional paradigms stating that the worker, in addition to his salary, must be offered a “moral salary”. This is nothing more than letting you know how useful, necessary, loved, respected, and recognized you are.

In addition, he invites himself to the houses of his workers and dines with them to strengthen ties and visualize the conditions in which they live to support them in a personalized way.

Another of his curious business habits is not to establish differentiated toilets for managers and workers.

References

1. Hernandez, S. (2017). Carlos Kasuga Osaka: A collective history of struggle and work. Discover the Nikkei. Recovered from: discovernikkei.org
2. Melgar, D. (2012). The Japanese in Mexico and their descendants: The disputes for identity. Pacarina del Sur, year 3, no. 10, January-March. Recovered in: pacarinadelsur.com
3. Terui, Megumi. (2005) Japanese migrants in Mexico: the research trajectory of Ota Mishima. Recovered at: scielo.org.mx
4. Canacintra (2015) Who is Carlos Kasuga ?. Recovered in: canacintraens.or
5. Valls, L (2013) Carlos Kasuga, The Leader behind the Yakult. Forbes Mexico. Recovered at: forbes.com.mx