Interview with the CEO

Q1. Why did you join ORIX?

I studied biology at university. Surprisingly, at the time of job hunting, the financial industry welcomed science students. It was around the time when mathematics and natural science ideas and thoughts began to be reviewed.

A senior at a university with whom I had a close relationship had a job at another leasing company and was in charge of aircraft leasing. When I heard the story, I was very admired when I was young and was moving tens of billions of yen overseas against the world. When I became interested in a leasing company and investigated it, I felt that ORIX is a diversified business and has a lot of momentum. Even when I actually visited OBs and met with personnel, I decided to join the company because I felt that the employees were working vigorously and felt vitality, and that the company was likely to grow in the future.

Q2. What kind of department have you experienced since joining ORIX?

I was assigned to the Tokyo Sales Department and was in charge of leasing projects via banks and trading companies and business alliances with companies. At first, there were no companies to visit, and based on a list of about 200 companies, we were doing so-called diving business. I met a gentle person even though there were many prepaid payments, and my first contract was a copy machine lease of 800,000 yen. On the other hand, is it okay to do such an inefficient job? I thought while being young (laughs). I moved to the Mito branch, the structured finance department, the securitization product office, and the special investment group, and experienced various investment and loan projects.

After that, the Business Investment Headquarters was involved in the acquisition and merger with Hartford Life and the deal to enter the concession business at Kansai International Airport. Negotiations with foreigners were very hard, such as being forced to negotiate terms again in the middle of the night the day before the contract. There were many situations where it wouldn't be strange to have a deal break, but I think we were able to overcome this by having excellent project members play an active role in their respective fields of expertise and working together as a team.

I was transferred to ORIX Corporation UK Limited (OUK) in 2019, and it was not until I was 50 years old that I experienced the overseas assignment I had been hoping for. From this year, I am also in charge of ORIX Corporation Europe NV (OCE).

Looking back in this way, I feel that I have now realized what I envisioned when I was a student, starting with the leasing business of my original business and gaining various experiences centered on the investment business.

Q3. What is the most memorable experience you have had so far?

Many things left an impression on the project basis, but from the perspective of spending time in the investment field, the experience of the Lehman shock is still very impressive.

At that time, I belonged to the Securitization Commodity Office and was executing projects with various investment methods such as debt, mezzanine and equity. Until then, I felt the fear that the "value" of all assets and collateral would decrease day by day at a certain time, and I felt uncomfortable with myself. The image is that a home purchased for tens of millions of yen is said to be worth only one million yen the following year.

I was struck by regrets such as "Why did you decide to invest and lend in the future?" And "I should have analyzed more and thought about various things."

Looking back calmly, various factors other than economic conditions, such as the achievement of individual sales goals and the vanity of not wanting to lose to the next department, distorted the judgment axis in executing the project. regretting.

Since then, I have tried to get rid of subjectivity and emotions as much as possible, think seriously about the project from various angles, and do the work that I am satisfied with.
As projects become larger and more complex, the power of individuals is limited, and it is essential to achieve projects with teams that transcend departments. Then, the quality of the work that each individual is in charge of becomes more and more important. I would like all of you to think through until you are satisfied and do the work that you will not regret.

Q4. Please tell us your current mission and aspirations as an officer.

At OCE, which oversees the European business, we believe that putting group companies and investment destinations on a growth track is our greatest mission. We need to grow each business and simultaneously increase the value of the company to our customers, employees and shareholders. Since each group company is supported by excellent management team, OCE is a company in any form such as realizing growth by utilizing existing management resources and aiming for growth through alliances and acquisitions with other companies. The key is to be able to support the growth of. We believe that group companies and investees must have an alliance rather than a parent-child relationship. The backgrounds and strategies of each operating company are also different. In order to grow together, it is important for ORIX itself, OCE, and investees to build better mutual understanding and relationships of trust. Even if a project fails, it may not be a failure if a relationship of trust is created from it and leads to the next.

OUK, which operates an investment business in Europe, is positioned as a platform for the ORIX Group to grow further. OUK's strength is that it is based in the UK, where human resources and information are gathered. Currently, there are many deals with ORIX's environmental energy department and asset management department, but we will also increase joint deals with other departments. At present, when society is undergoing major changes such as ESG and technology-induced disruption, I feel that the growth opportunities that ORIX can take in are enormous.

Q5. How do you spend your time off? What are your hobbies?

Currently, I am assigned to work alone. It's lonely that I can't see my family because of the corona, but I spend my holidays watching paintings. Since the museum is free of charge, I go out to the museum if I have a little time to take a walk. I like Titian, Manet, Klimt, Picasso, etc. and experience the aura of painting that the real thing has.

I also like reading. If I read business books, I read various genres of novels and literature, but basically I read English books, but when I'm tired, it's hard to get into my head. At such times, I sometimes read manga on my smartphone to refresh myself.