The Buddhist approach to doing business is yielding results in Japan again.
Tomoaki Horiguchi runs a small real estate company in Tokyo whose stock has jumped more than 11-fold in the past five years, extending gains in 2016 even as the broader market tumbles. He studies at the management school of Kazuo Inamori, the Buddhist priest and billionaire founder of Kyocera Corp. Around his office hang pictures inscribed with words of wisdom from his 84-year-old mentor, such as the need to make staff happy and for altruism.
When Horiguchi — and Inamori for that matter — talk of doing good, they mean developing a business that contributes to society but also makes a profit. While strolling in Tokyo's upscale Ginza shopping district last year, which was throbbing with Chinese tourists, Horiguchi had an idea that ticked both boxes: he was going to build hotels for them.