Genelec Japan Inc.'s Managing Director Kanji Murai

I co-founded Genelec Japan in July 2017, making this my sixth year with Genelec. I distinctly remember the first time I visited the Genelec headquarters, located in the relatively small town of Iisalmi, Finland. The site is located about 500 km north of Finland's capital, Helsinki, and is situated on the shores of a beautiful lake that freezes and turns pure white during the winter. To this day, Genelec continues its development and manufacturing at that site – just a few hundred kilometres from the Arctic Circle. There, they employ local people, treat the environment with the utmost respect, maintain high standards of quality and continually innovate – bringing Genelec's legendary loudspeakers to the world. At the time I first visited, I found it very surprising to encounter such a company with nearly 40 years of history already – and this year, we've celebrated 45 years.

Another thing stood out during my first visit; I learned that since the company's founding in 1978, each Genelec loudspeaker has been tied to a unique serial number for control purposes and that the types of parts used during production and sound adjustment data at the time of shipment have always been recorded and managed. This is one aspect of the company culture that shows it has been committed since the beginning to providing long-lasting solutions for customers. My own job in Japan is to provide the best possible system for our regional customers so that they can enjoy the best, longest-lasting experience with our loudspeakers, with total peace of mind.

The goal of our team in Japan is to help our potential customers become aware of Genelec and the solutions we offer that are ideal for their needs. To help our team achieve this, I focus on ensuring we can provide an effective mix of customer service, sales, marketing and logistics – and I'm proud to say the whole team put a great deal of effort into making that mixture work well. What I have come to like most about working with Genelec is the satisfied reactions of our customers. It's incredible to share the feeling with them as they're left happy and moved by the sound our loudspeakers provide.

Thinking back on my time with the company, there are many memories, however, one truly unforgettable one is when I visited the over-one-hundred-year-old sauna that stands in a log cabin by the lake beside Genelec's Finnish headquarters. That day, I mustered up some courage and, drenched in sweat, I leapt into the cool lake naked – as is traditional in Finland. That was a moment that I was able to enjoy Nordic life to the fullest.

There are five in our family: my wife, three children and myself. All three of our children are now married, and we have three grandchildren, so we've become a big family. On my days off, my wife and I love to visit hot springs, drink sake and eat soba noodles, so we often arrange ourselves trips to hot spring resorts.

Since I started working for Genelec, I've had even more opportunities to learn and think about sustainability than previously, and it must be said that, typically in Japan – where the spirit of “Mottainai = What a waste” is fundamental – we have very high standards for treading lightly. Here, it is in our culture to value a minimalist and simple lifestyle, using things that are good for you and that you like and cherish for as long as possible – eliminating waste and throwing away less. Genelec's service and support is built to enable customers to enjoy our loudspeakers for 20, 30 or even 40 years plus, which is fully in sync with our way of thinking.

Finally, Genelec's values are simple.

Belief, enthusiasm, honesty, respect and justice.

At Genelec Japan, if we get lost, we come back to these and use them to inspire our solution.

Greetings from a colleague

The values of Genelec are also a perfect description of Kanji's daily attitude. In Kanji’s case, I think those values can be summed up simply as a love for what he does, and that “love” that Kanji has for Genelec is the main reason I too wanted to work here. He’s always thinking about how we can do our best to face the demands of sound, solve the problems of customers and send the message of Genelec to the people of Japan.

Another important thing is that he absolutely lives and breathes sound. His passion for sound has helped me to understand and respect the Genelec brand at a very deep level.

Your colleague, Yosuke Asada