39) The Queen attended the Opening Ceremony
Ouchi of NEC, welcoming Queen Elizabeth II to the UK NEC factory
In 1983, NEC, which was working on overseas deployment of production bases,
opened "NEC Semiconductors (UK)" in Scotland, UK, with the aim of
expanding LSI production. Because Queen Elizabeth II attended the opening
ceremony, it livened up newspapers and televisions.
I heard later from Atsuyoshi Ouchi, who was then vice president of NEC and
greeted the Queen at the time, about the story as follows….
After the ceremony, the Queen was taken on a factory tour. She donned the
same dustproof clothing as the factory workers without any hesitation. The
Queen’s chest was marked with "NEC", but she did not seem to mind
it.
When the factory tour was over, a reception was held, and the Queen kindly
spoke to not just the management but also a number of employees.
"Did you come from Japan?"
"Does your family live near here?"
For those who were asked these questions, all they could reply with was, "Yes,
Your Majesty." Ouchi remembered that point clearly.
Ouchi had an impression that "The Queen is, indeed as a symbol of the
UK, truly an elegant and graceful person. And in addition to that, she was
also friendly and attentive and she seemed to kindly celebrate our factory's
launch with all her heart."
The photo above is Ouchi welcoming Queen Elizabeth II to the factory. (Provided
by Atsuyoshi Ouchi)
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