The Birdman Of Osaka

"To protect birds is to defend humanity" seems a strange slogan for a whisky distiller. But then, Keizo Saji, 54, chairman and president of Japan's Suntory Ltd., and coiner of the slogan, is a rather strange bird himself. Every year, in addition to contributing one-third of the profits of his privately owned, Osaka-based company (annual sales: $966 million) to an employee benefits program, he contributes an other third to charitable and cultural causes, nota bly the preservation of the 490 species of birds found in Japan.

Saji inherited his love for birds, along with his company, from his father, Shinjiro Torii, who at the age of 20 founded Suntory (the very name means "three birds"). In 75 years the company has expanded its output from one dessert wine to 118 products; it now holds more than 70% of the whisky market in Japan, which is second in size only to the U.S. market. With his own nest well feathered, Saji is able to turn to nonbusiness efforts. He sponsors two existing bird sanctuaries, plus another being established around one of his distilleries outside Kyoto. His company has flooded Japan with bird-bedecked shopping bags, posters and postcards; even the cans in which the company's beer is packaged bear large color reproductions of birds and only a small Suntory logo.

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