“Interman" named with the idea that people and people are connected to create new added value.

At the age of twenty, I set off one summer with a backpack, boarding a ship bound for Shanghai without even deciding where I was going. I crossed deserts and mountains and eventually made my way as far as the Khyber Pass. On the journey home, I was stuck at Manila Airport, wondering whether I would make it back in time for my exams. Somehow, I did. After returning to Japan, I became completely absorbed in publishing a company information magazine for university students—conducting interviews, writing articles, editing, and even handling sales. Those experiences of turning the desire to create into something tangible became an invaluable connection to the future and eventually led to the birth of “Interman.” “Amazing.” That word still excites me. I once took a prototype communication booth made with sound-absorbing materials to San Francisco. A father carrying his child on his shoulders saw it, and I heard the word “Amazing” in their conversation. That simple reaction gave me tremendous encouragement and pushed me even further toward turning ideas into reality. There is nothing quite like that feeling. Even something that may appear ordinary at first glance can contain someone’s thought, ingenuity, and care. That spirit runs through everything we do. It is what allows us to create new products and services from our existing businesses, while continuing to explore possibilities in fields as diverse as agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure, and energy. Today, an ultra-long-term memory device bearing the words “Interman Co.” is aboard a satellite traveling in an orbit beyond Earth’s path around the Sun. In about twenty years, it is expected to approach Earth again. At its farthest, it will be some five million kilometers away. How might we retrieve that memory when it comes back? Thinking about questions like this, the journey of the ship called “Interman” continues.