■ Grammy Awards
On February 4, I attended the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, US. This year, Sony Music Group (SMG) artists took home two of the night's four major awards, with Miley Cyrus winning Record of the Year and Victoria Monét winning Best New Artist. At the Pre-Grammy Gala held the day before on February 3, Sony Music Publishing Chairman and CEO Jon Platt received the "Grammy Salute To Industry Icons" award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the music industry. It was two consecutive days of good news for us.

As I stated in my speech at the FY2023 Corporate Strategy Meeting, Sony is a company that has expanded its business with sound as its origin. For the Sony Group of today, the music business continues to be an important driver that enhances our corporate value. I am delighted that the work and achievements of Sony artists have been recognized with these awards, and I look forward to the Sony Group continuing to support the artists and creators who generate such Kando in the future.

Victoria Monét, who received three awards including Best New Artist (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)	Miley Cyrus (right) making her acceptance speech alongside Mariah Carey (left) who presented her award　 (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
At the Pre-Grammy Gala with Jon Platt (second from left) On the left of the photo is Rob Stringer, Chairman of Sony Music Group (Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

■ Washington D.C. Visit
Before attending the Grammy Awards, I stopped in Washington D.C. to visit two of our offices. My first visit was to the office of our information security team located near Washington Dulles International Airport, where I participated in a town hall meeting with approximately 80 members of the team there. During the meeting, I expressed that, "From my experience working in the internet service provider business, I know that information security can be endless, and seemingly thankless work," and "Information security is no longer a back-end operation, but is itself a business that delivers Kando through provision of secure networks."

Taking part in a town hall meeting at the office of our information security team in Reston

Next, I visited Sony's Washington D.C. external relations office, which reopened last summer near the White House. The office houses members of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), Sony Corporation of America (SCA) and Sony Group Corporation (SGC), and is within walking distance of the Recording Industry Association of America office, where external relations representatives from Sony Music Entertainment (SME) are based. As geopolitical risks come under increasing focus around the world, I felt this to be an exceptional environment where experts in external relations from each of our businesses can come together and gain even greater knowledge from each other.

Together with members from SPE, SIE, SCA and SGC at the Washington D.C. office
A work of calligraphy that reads "Diversity" which I gave to commemorate this visit	Inside the office

Following these two office visits, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to tour the White House, as well as meet key individuals such as the Japanese Ambassador to the US and the CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) as part of our external relations activities.

With Charlie Rivkin, CEO of the Motion Picture Association Inc. (MPA)	With Shigeo Yamada, Japanese Ambassador to the US

During my visit, I had the chance to speak with the production crew who work at the Press Briefing Room in the West Wing of the White House and the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building. These interactions brought home to me again the level of trust that professionals in the field place in Sony cameras and video equipment.

With the CNN photojournalist at the Press Briefing Room in the West Wing of the White House
With the White House production crew at the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is used for presidential speeches

This year, national elections will be held in the US and countries around the world. They come at a time when the authenticity of news content is coming under increasing scrutiny. I will talk in more detail about the value of "real time" in creation activities, including Sony's authenticity initiatives, at the Sony Group Quarterly Meeting (GQM) tomorrow, so I hope you can join me then.

As always, I look forward to receiving your thoughts and feedback.