Mori Trust Co., Ltd. President and CEO Miwako Date

Asking "why" for every event leads to a successful process

President and CEO of Mori Trust Co., Ltd.　伊達 美和子(Miwako Date)

■ Profile

After graduating from Keio University Graduate School in 1996, he worked for a general consulting firm before joining Mori Trust Co., Ltd. in 1998. In 2011, he became Representative Director and President of Mori Trust Hotels & Resorts Co., Ltd. (current position). In June 2016, he became Representative Director and President of Mori Trust Co., Ltd. (current position). In 2011, he joined the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, a public interest incorporated association, and in 2022, he became Vice Representative Director (current position).

Real estate, hotel and resort, and investment. Mori Trust Co., Ltd. is based on these three pillars of business, and is constantly challenging itself in new areas with unconventional thinking. Even though the industry is easily affected by the Japanese economy, how did it overcome the impact of the collapse of the bubble economy and the coronavirus? We spoke to President Date about the process that led him to his current position and his outlook for the future.

I played golf during the first half of my student days. I was originally a member of the sports club, but I found it difficult to find time for myself, so I switched to club activities. In the latter half of my student days, I began to think about employment and my future, and I wanted to get involved in my family's real estate business. However, I didn't know what skills or experience I could utilize when working in the real estate industry, so I first decided to study real estate systems and obtained a license as a real estate agent. Next, I went on to graduate school to gain specialized knowledge in real estate development, and chose a seminar where I could study both urban planning and architecture, which are usually separate fields. My research, based on the idea that combining these two areas of knowledge can achieve better urban development, has become the foundation of who I am today.

■The importance of thinking about the process

While university education is crucial, that knowledge is merely theoretical and not directly applicable in the real world. When considering a way to gain and gain broad, efficient knowledge applicable to real business, I decided that a consulting firm would be the best option, and so I joined the Urban Development Consulting Division of the Long-Term Credit Bank Research Institute. Working on and investigating a wide variety of projects broadened my horizons and led to a multifaceted understanding of the real estate industry. Furthermore, by broadening my perspective on the realities of not only Tokyo but also regional areas, I was able to understand the differences in thinking and goals of government, the third sector, and the private sector. Furthermore, the various analytical techniques I learned during this process were useful later in my development work at Mori Trust. However, I still lacked knowledge of the hotel business, another pillar of Mori Trust's business, so I was seconded to a hotel-related company. By gaining a grasp of the actual operational situation, I was able to deepen my insights from both the perspectives of the customer and the service provider. This was a valuable experience in both designing buildings and considering the hotel management business.

The experience I gained in both the real estate and hotel businesses in the real world was a valuable asset when I later took the helm as president of Mori Trust's core businesses, real estate and hotel & resort businesses.

■ Always look ahead and act

What led me to join Mori Trust was our acquisition of land in Marunouchi. In 1998, three years after I started working at the LTCB Research Institute, the land in Marunouchi was sold to a private company following the privatization of the Japanese National Railways Settlement Corporation, and Mori Trust won the bid for a corner of the land (land area: 12,026.77 m2) for 1,568 billion yen. Since it is extremely difficult to acquire such a large piece of land in Marunouchi, the heart of Japan, the opportunity to develop this land was extremely valuable, and I wanted to be involved in it.

While developing the Marunouchi land, we were also considering the hotel business. The hotel industry was not in a good state in the 1990s after the collapse of the bubble economy, with the number of domestic tourists continuing to decline. As a result, the decision to develop a new hotel was a high hurdle, but in order to realize Tokyo as an international city, we decided to build a high-grade hotel in this location and attracted Shangri-La. This would lead to the next development in Mori Trust's hotel business.

As with the COVID-19 pandemic, it's not uncommon for industries to decline due to some kind of impact. Before the Olympics, the hotel industry was seen as a growth area, but the impact of COVID-19 has dramatically changed inbound tourism. However, people simply "cannot" travel, not "don't want to travel." Therefore, we have always been looking ahead to the post-COVID era and making preparations. According to data from the World Tourism Organization, the number of international travelers worldwide was 14 billion in 2018, but is expected to reach 18 billion by 2030. Furthermore, compared to past years, the number has consistently increased by 2-3% each year. This data shows that while inbound tourism worldwide has temporarily declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is sure to increase in the future. For this reason, we believe the hotel industry will continue to be a growth area.

Furthermore, while the COVID-19 pandemic caused difficulties for the hotel business, the real estate business performed well. As a result, the company as a whole was able to continue growing, achieving its medium- to long-term vision ahead of schedule. After COVID-19, we would like to further develop our three pillars, including the hotel business, and promote business with an eye to the next generation.

■message

It's important to set goals for everything. And it takes mental strength to see those goals through to the end. To do this, I think it's important to thoroughly explore your motivation for wanting to do something. Instead of just leaving the knowledge you gain from learning various things as knowledge, or facts, get into the habit of simultaneously thinking about why something is the way it is, what the success factors are, what the problems are, and how it can be improved. This analysis may not necessarily be useful in the moment. However, it will expand your knowledge base and be a valuable asset for the future.

Also, try to expand your awareness to things outside of your own area of ​​interest. If there is something that interests you, ask yourself, "What is the process for success?" Break down any phenomenon and find the theory. Think about whether that theory can be applied to your own work. Repeating this process will lead to your own growth.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on January 25, 2023 by Chuo University 1st year student, Renpo Maeda