Kobayashi Pharm Chm. Vows Corporate Culture Reform

By Barrier Free Japan, Jiji

August 3 2025

OSAKA – Japan’s Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. will accelerate efforts to reform its corporate culture marked by workers’ reliance on top management, Chairman Yoshihito Ota has said.

A major problem the drug and supplement maker must address is the “strong tendency to depend on top management,” seen among its employees, Ota said in a recent interview.

In March 2024 it was discovered that Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Cos supplement containing ‘beni koji’ – red fermented rice – had led to several deaths from kidney failure.