Japanese Companies Welcome New Employees

Tokyo, April 1 (Jiji Press)--Companies across Japan held entrance ceremonies for new employees Wednesday, the first day of the country's new fiscal year, with fresh faces displaying enthusiasm despite global turmoil stemming from Middle East tensions and economic uncertainty at home.

Some 110 new recruits took part in a ceremony held by major trading house Sumitomo Corp. at its headquarters in Tokyo, with President Shingo Ueno saying, "I want you to continue changing yourselves without relying on precedents." At the ceremony, supervisors handed each of the new employees an ID card with a special message.

Japanese speedskating star Miho Takagi, who retired after her last tournament in March, made a surprise appearance at the ceremony. "The way you use your time in difficulties will greatly change your life years later," she told the new employees.

At its ceremony held in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, NEC Corp. used its facial recognition technology to let in roughly 800 new employees, who passed in front of a large display panel equipped with the system.

"I want to contribute to making familiar experiences exciting with the power of technology," Haruto Kimura, 22, who joined the electronics manufacturer as a system engineer, said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]