Perspectives
Answers to things people often ask me, and to what I value in my work, in question-and-answer form. Start with whichever theme interests you.
Above all, I want people to feel they can talk to me without holding back. The sooner I hear about the things that are hard to say, the more options remain open. I find that chemistry shows less in knowledge or experience than in whether a conversation leaves you tired. For my part, an important sign is whether I naturally find myself wanting to help that person.
The first thing I ask about is what the person actually wants. The tax figures and procedures can be worked out afterward in any number of ways. It is not unusual for people to be unclear about their own wishes, so we give them shape together as we talk. Once what they want comes into view, the right path usually narrows down on its own.
Sometimes I preface my advice with, "Speaking purely from the standpoint of money..." That is because what I can offer is only one view — the view from money. Everyone has things that matter more than money. So I hope people take my advice as one input to their decision and, in the end, measure it by their own yardstick. That is what I keep in mind when I speak.
I say clearly what the most reasonable approach is from a tax perspective. Whether to choose it, however, is the client's decision. The path with the lowest tax bill is not always the best path for that person. I lay out the advantages and disadvantages, and we look together for a form that fits what they want.
First and foremost, that the people who come to me are satisfied. I also hold myself to never neglecting my obligations to those who have helped me. Work is not a series of one-off exchanges; it is built from relationships that last. Not acting on short-term gain is, in the end, what has allowed me to keep going for so long.
When clients are satisfied and also genuinely convinced. Satisfaction and conviction may look alike, but I think they are different things. Even with a good result, if people do not understand why it turned out that way, they cannot make the next decision on their own. The moment someone says "I see" after I have explained everything fully — that is when I feel it most.
It is where I was born and raised, so I have a real attachment to it. Our office has been in this neighborhood since my father's time, and I have watched both what changes and what stays the same. When visitors tell me "What a lovely place," it still makes me happy. I am grateful simply to be able to keep working here.
It gave me the habit of deciding on a goal and then thinking through the path to it rationally and thoroughly — questioning assumptions, checking with numbers, and rebuilding when something does not work. That way of working applies directly to tax work. I feel this way of thinking has been far more useful than any specific knowledge I picked up.
I had been studying for the tax accountant exams since my student days. But I also loved computers, and that hobby led me to join Microsoft. So it never felt like switching careers. It is closer to the truth to say I returned to the path I had been aiming for all along. The detour showed me things I would not otherwise have seen.
I learned how much running a restaurant business depends on the accumulation of countless small details. I also saw up close how hard the people working on the front lines have it. A difference that looks tiny on paper can mean a completely different burden on the floor.
That was also when I began forming my own ideas about how a franchise business ought to be run.
When I write a book, I put what I am thinking at that moment into words as fully as I can. You cannot write a single line while things are vague, so the process of writing organizes my thoughts. The parts I only thought I understood become clear. Repeating this has settled my own way of thinking, and these days it rarely wavers.
Being involved in tax and civil litigation made me realize how necessary a legal perspective is. Looking back once a dispute has arisen, it is clear how much the outcome depends on how records and documents were kept day to day. Since then I have been conscious of what to watch for and how to prepare in ordinary times. Preparation before anything happens is what works best.
By nature I am strongly drawn to big changes. When a new technology appears, I cannot help trying it myself to see what changes and how. From personal computers in my student days, to the internet at Microsoft, to AI today, the subject has shifted, but what I am watching is the same. Getting hands-on early in a change makes later decisions faster.
The internet was a change that gave birth to new businesses. Things that had never existed appeared one after another, and existing work remained alongside them. AI, I believe, is different. It does not just create something new; it replaces existing business itself. Whether something sits alongside or takes over — that difference is not small.
I believe the tax accounting business, as it has traditionally worked, will no longer hold up. Being paid according to the volume of work cannot last once that work is automated. What will matter instead is what you checked, how you judged, and how you explained it. This is not limited to tax accountants; I think it is a change coming to all white-collar work.
It does not surprise me. My sense is that what I had long anticipated is finally becoming reality. What surprises me is the speed; the direction itself is within what I expected. That is exactly why, rather than panicking once it arrives, we should reorganize how we work on the assumption that it is coming.
Getting rid of laborious tasks is a good thing in itself. But I have doubts about whether that will translate directly into work that is easier.
Today's jobs involve a great deal of routine work, and there are actually not that many moments that require people to think for themselves. When the routine disappears and thinking becomes the center of the day, I suspect those who have had fewer chances to build that habit may find work harder, not easier. Whether the burden gets lighter depends not on the amount of work but on how its substance changes.
Repetitive work goes to AI. People check whether the results are correct, and decide what to hand over next. Broadly speaking, I believe these two will remain the human role. The more you delegate, the more the design of how you check and how you delegate becomes the substance of the work itself.
Though not for a long period, I have had the experience of taking part in the management of a listed company. I tasted for myself the circumstances that make decisions hard, and the weight that bears down after deciding, so I developed the habit of thinking from the owner's position. That is also where I learned there are times when giving the correct tax answer is not enough. Whether you have stood on the deciding side, I think, affects how your advice lands.
First I consider whether it can be achieved. If I see difficulties, I will say so even when it is not what people want to hear. Avoiding them only means they come back later. Then, if I believe it can be done, I want to support them not only on the numbers but emotionally as well.
I start by asking why they want to grow. It is surprisingly rare for size itself to be the goal. Do they want to hire more people, earn the trust of business partners, or prepare to hand the business on someday? Once the reason is clear, sometimes a path other than chasing scale appears — and when scale is the right goal, how to pursue it becomes clear.
What I weigh most is the stability of management. Stock compensation is capital policy itself; once shares are given out, they do not easily come back. I have seen quite a few cases where stock compensation for employees did not necessarily raise motivation across the company. Before its appeal as a program, I make sure to check what the shareholder structure will look like a few years out.
The first trigger was clients starting to hold crypto assets. I felt that if I was going to handle them, I had to understand them myself, and my involvement deepened as I researched. Later, an interview with ITmedia was featured on the Yahoo! top page, which broadened the range of consultations I receive.
Today I hold crypto assets myself. As the value of national currencies declines, I believe crypto assets will come to occupy an important position.
I do not believe that growing a business automatically makes life richer. I have seen cases where only the busyness grows. On the other hand, unless growth brings in sufficient profit, the range of lives you can choose does not widen either. So for me, business growth and a rich life cannot be separated.
My wife is Chinese, but when we married I could not speak any Chinese at all. I felt it was wrong to spend my whole life communicating through an interpreter, so I decided to learn. That is why I went to study at Beijing Language and Culture University. I went to learn the language, but what I actually gained was less the language than a feel for everyday life there.
I am drawn to big changes. China has transformed completely over the past thirty-some years. Having known it from my first visits, I am amazed at how much strength it has gained. What will move next, and how? I look forward to continuing to watch.
My impression is that China values uchi — one's inner circle of family and trusted allies — even more than Japan does. Whether you are let in changes how discussions proceed and how much you are entrusted with. Once you are on the inside, people speak to you with remarkable candor. It takes time, but if you try to skip that step and push ahead, it usually does not work.
That the food and the climate suit me. A place that is fun to travel to and a place that is comfortable to live in are not necessarily the same. Of course I look at tax and legal conditions too, but choosing on those alone does not last, I find. I actually stay there and see whether my body feels at ease. In the end, I trust that sense.
The starting point was wanting people in the office and people working remotely to interact without distinction. When people work apart, what cannot be seen easily turns into distrust, yet trying to fill the gap with control makes things stifling. How far can systems support work while trust is maintained? The patent grew out of that question.
You encounter things you could never have imagined within your previous values. You realize that what you took for granted was just one way among many. As those experiences accumulate, you stop rejecting different ideas right away. New perspectives, I think, usually come in through uncomfortable places.
My wife and her parents are former athletes. I had repeated chances to hear about second careers in China, and I became interested in how Japan should think about them. Even though the time after competition is far longer, preparation for it tends to be put off. I believe there are ways I can contribute from the tax and asset side.
For athletes, I think in terms of staying involved with their sport throughout life. The key is whether what they built through competition can be carried into other forms, such as coaching or promoting the sport.
For company employees it is rather the opposite: what matters is not continuing the same job but how to connect the abilities you have to your next work. In both cases, I think it is a matter of carrying over the substance, not the title.
I do not consider titles — especially the name of a former company — to be useful in the next job. What carried weight was the company's name, which is not necessarily the same as your own ability. People who take pride in having worked at a good company seem especially prone to being held back by it. Keeping your pride while setting it aside for a moment — that, I think, is where things are decided.
It is not necessary for everyone. There are situations where it is advantageous for tax, but effort and responsibility increase accordingly. Some people do their best work while employed; others grow in an environment where they make their own decisions. Before weighing the pros and cons of the system, I would like people to think about which way of working suits them.
I want to be of help to clients I get along with and have good chemistry with. If I can help them achieve what they want, that is the best work there is. I am not thinking about increasing numbers. If both my clients and I can keep living lives in which we each do what we want to do — maintaining that is my goal going forward.
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