Keeping Active

摘要

Most company employees face a major turning point in their lives when they reach retirement age. Free from the daily obligation of going to work, how they spend their days is entirely up to them-and some energetic retirees find ways to continue theiractive participation in society.Mayekawa Manufacturing Co., Ltd., is an industrial refrigeration equipment manufacturer based in Tokyo. The company has a personnel system that is rather uncommon in Japan. The company's employment guidelines clearly state that the official retirement age is 60. However, as long as an employee possesses specialized skills and expertise that can be used within the company, he or she is permitted to carry on as a full-time employee regardless of age. Currently, the company has 2,500 employees, 134 of whomare 60 years of age or older (including one female). At 92, Wahei Inoue is the most senior of this group. Even now, he plays an active part every day in the company's research and development as a technology advisor. "I started working at Mayekawa in, let's see...I believe it was the year 1948. It's so long ago, I can hardly remember," laughs. Over his 55-year career at Mayekawa working as an engineer, he has managed to obtain over 400 patents related to the development of refrigeration motors and compressors, making him the company record-holder.