Thank you for reading this article.
I am Takaki from the General Affairs Department.
This article is about our company Okudaya Giken’s event, the “Mt. Katsuragi Azalea Viewing Party,” held on Saturday, May 16, 2026.
While our company holds various events, this “Mt. Katsuragi Azalea Viewing Party” is an annual tradition taking place in mid-May, when the wild azaleas at the summit of Mt. Katsuragi, which stretches across Osaka and Nara prefectures, reach their peak bloom.

Although we call it an azalea viewing party, the main event is actually a luncheon centered around a famous local dish, duck hot pot, at the “Katsuragi Kogen Lodge” located at the summit. The event was temporarily suspended for a while, but it was resumed three years ago, making this the 20th occurrence overall.

The invitees include employees and their families.
And above all, it serves as a welcoming occasion for the new employees who joined us in April.
Given the time of year, we sometimes get rain depending on the year, but this time we were blessed with fine weather!
I took the ropeway up from the trailhead.

It takes about 6 minutes by ropeway from the trailhead to reach Sanjo Station. From there, it is about a 10-minute walk to the summit. With news reports stating that the azaleas would remain in peak bloom until this weekend, the area around the summit was already this crowded at around 9 AM.

…Since we were there, we also took a commemorative photo.

The azaleas were in full bloom.
The magnificent sight of them growing in clusters at the summit is often described as “a million plants at a glance.”

It seems everyone spent their time as they pleased until the gathering time, admiring the azaleas or watching the monkey performance that was being held.

Then, everyone gathered at the scheduled time to take a commemorative photo.

In the background is Mt. Kongo, which towers next to Mt. Katsuragi. It is the mountain containing the highest point in Osaka Prefecture. After finishing the photoshoot, we headed to the lunch venue, “Katsuragi Kogen Lodge”.

And then! The luncheon kicked off with a toast led by Department Manager Izumi.

And the moment we have been waiting for! The famous duck hot pot!

Scenes of pleasant conversation…

In the midst of this, Okada-san from the Accounting Section, who joined the company in April, came around with Department Manager Fujita carrying bottled beer to pour drinks.

Time flies when you are having fun, and before we knew it, it was time to wrap up the gathering.

And as planned, we packed up and left around 2 PM.

In this way, we were able to spend another wonderful time together. As shown here, company events are held regularly at our company, Okudaya Giken.

This is just my personal opinion…
Lately, I often see reports on the news and online that company events outside of working hours are on the decline.
Reasons cited include budget constraints, or discussions about whether it counts as binding employees outside of work hours, and so on…
Furthermore, days off are precious.
They should be used freely for oneself, so having to go out of one’s way to spend them with colleagues…
I am sure there are some who might not feel up to it.
Since I also love spending time alone, I completely understand that feeling.
To be honest, it would be a lie to say that there is no extra work involved for the general affairs department because of this.

…That being said, I still believe that these kinds of events are meaningful.
The sharing of emotions and the building of relationships with those present, which develop through events held outside of work hours, can surely be put to good use in day-to-day workplace interactions.
There must also be certain experiences and sensibilities that can only be gained through opportunities like this.
Since these things are difficult to quantify or put into words, they tend to be easily overlooked, but this experience has made me feel once again that I want to continue to cherish them going forward.

And that brings us to the end of our report on the 2026 Azalea Viewing Party!
Thank you very much for reading this far.

Written by
Okudaya Giken Co., Ltd.
General Affairs Department
Masahiro Takaki