TOYOTA, AICHI PREF. ¨C Mitsuru Kawai drops by a bathhouse for factory workers at Toyota Motor¡¯s headquarters in Aichi Prefecture each day before work.
After washing, the 70-year-old executive dons a helmet and heads for its noisy forging plant instead of his corporate office suite. There, he passes on his knowledge of craftsmanship to the younger factory workers, a daily routine that has remained the same since he was promoted to one of the automaker¡¯s vice presidents in April 2017, the first graduate of Toyota Motor Corp.¡¯s own vocational school to do so.
For Kawai, sitting in a cushy executive office chair holds no appeal.
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