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The story
At a press conference on GMO Internet Group’s unauthorized access incident, representative director Masatoshi Kumagai noticed that the jacket button of the executive giving the explanation had come undone — and stopped the proceedings to point it out, saying, “Button up properly. You’re apologizing, and you’ve got your button open — what’s the point of that?” The moment went viral. Having someone’s outfit corrected mid-apology completely changed the mood of the press conference, and on 5ch opinion split over whether this was pre-planned theater or simply Kumagai losing his patience.
At a press conference on GMO Internet Group’s unauthorized access issue, there was a moment where representative director Masatoshi Kumagai directly called out an executive’s disheveled appearance, saying “Button up properly. You’re apologizing, and you’ve got your button open — what’s the point of that?” — as the executive was trying to explain an information-management lapse that had occurred in a separate service run by a group company.
[Video] The moment of the “button up” rebuke (actual footage)
■ “Shouldn’t they be re-examining things from the ground up, starting with basic system design and IT literacy?”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
You'd normally check your appearance before a presser
I wouldn't call it staged exactly, but
it did feel like a performance
aimed at the people watching the press conference
So an open button means the firewall's still wide open
Maybe it's some next-level staging by President Kumagai
The open button is a metaphor for the security hole that sat open for 7 years
Subordinate leaves the button open
↓
He's signaling "it's not my fault"
https://imgur.com/ttRkn9Z.jpeg
https://imgur.com/WHzhnK3.jpeg
Yeah, if you don't undo it when you sit, the jacket loses its shape
Huh? This is the last guy who should be lecturing anyone about that, right?
For starters, the way he said it
He didn't need to shout it into the mic — he could've just had someone quietly pass the word along and get it fixed,
and even if he did say it into the mic, he should've said it politely instead of in that angry tone
And on top of that, his own appearance wasn't much better either
Above all, this wasn't the kind of press conference where you should be stopping things over some minor detail like that
A next-level joke: wearing sunglasses unfit for a press conference while telling a subordinate his button is "unfit for an apology"
Totally plausible
Image management to plant the impression: "See how proper I am!"
Kind of like Muneo Suzuki scolding former minister Yana in front of press cameras during that briefing to LDP lawmakers?
Guess the steam-venting didn't work (ガス抜き — a PR move to let off public pressure)
It's like: "Why's an ex-convict running his mouth, this isn't even working as a media-pleasing pressure valve"
So he's just putting a meter up on screen to look like he's working. Got it.
Yeah, when the president told them to pull up the PowerPoint, they couldn't get it up right away either
Why can't they even manage that much?
Just do it yourself then lol
Because this is a top-tier company boasting the highest track record in IT security in Japan — no, the world!! (*ahem*)
Monex's Matsumoto Oki, Matsui's Matsui Michio, SBI's Kitao, GMO's "Kumapon" (nickname for Kumagai), Rakuten's Mikitani
I'm an SBI Securities user, and
their website is unbelievably hard to read, somebody tell Kitamura already (´･ω･`)
Who's Kitamura?
That unreadability is basically art
Pure "extension built on top of an extension" levels of terrible design
Trying to make himself look righteous, I bet
Really tells you what kind of person he is
Takafumi Horie said in a video
that Kumagai is someone who's built up an image for himself
which is why all these cracks are starting to show
He probably just wants to insist he's right, but
it ends up making the whole organization look like a mess
and since he's the head of that organization,
that means he's the problem
Get it together beforehand
What's the point of leaving your button open
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HWHtEDubsAAUcyt.jpg
> Watching the GMO press conference made me think
> Yamaichi Securities' press conference really was legendary
Background and Key Points of This Topic
GMO held a press conference after an information-management lapse was found at a subsidiary, and in the course of explaining the circumstances of the unauthorized access issue, media coverage singled out a moment where representative director Kumagai called out an executive’s appearance. On the thread, opinion split between those who read the move as pre-planned image management and those who saw it as simple irritation boiling over on the spot — the latter group pointing to things like the delay in pulling up the PowerPoint slides as evidence. Meanwhile, the thread barely touched on what should have been the main subject of an apology press conference — the details of the unauthorized access and measures to prevent it happening again — and the fact that discussion centered instead on the executive’s clothing and Kumagai’s own conduct raises a separate question: whether the press conference itself actually explained enough.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “GMO Representative Kumagai: ‘You’re apologizing and your button’s open — what’s the point of that?’ Calls out executive’s appearance mid-press-conference, tells reporters ‘I’m sorry’.”
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