Mori Hiroo, President and CEO, Mori Building Co., Ltd.

Redeveloping Tokyo with Mori Building, which supports all human activities

President and CEO, Mori Building Co., Ltd.　Hiroo Mori(Mori Hiroo)

■ Profile

After graduating from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo, he worked at the Industrial Bank of Japan (now Mizuho Bank) before joining Mori Building Co., Ltd. In 2013, he became Executive Vice President and Representative Director of Mori Building Hospitality Corporation. In 2011, he became a director of the Tokyo Building Association, in 2016 he became Vice Chairman of the Association for the Promotion of International Trade, Japan, and in 2021 he became Vice Chairman of Save the Children Japan and Chairman of the Japan Hotel Association.

Mori Building is creating a completely new "town" called Azabudai Hills, based on the concepts of "green" and "wellness," and is working to attract people and companies from all over the world. We spoke to Director and Executive Vice President Hiroo Mori about Mori Building's current initiatives and his own career so far.

I was a student who devoted myself to tennis from junior high school to university. I won the national championship in junior high school, participated in the National Athletic Meet in high school, and served as captain in university. I was so passionate about tennis that when I was job hunting, major companies approached me about coming as a player (laughs). I think it was very good that I had the experience of "devoting myself to accomplishing something" and "being able to build good relationships with my tennis friends" during my student days.

I decided to work for a bank where I could contribute to the Japanese economy as the lifeblood of the company. At that time, banks were aiming to train generalists.
After spending six months working in various departments, I was able to gain a wide range of experience during my nine years there, including oversight, being seconded to a securities company, working as a dealer managing stocks, and working in the industry research department, which conducts macro-level industry research.After that, I left the bank when I got married and joined Mori Building.

■ Mori Building supports all human activities

Mori Building creates all kinds of urban infrastructure, including places to work, live, shop, and parks, and I felt I could contribute to society in a different way than a bank. If I had to point out a difference after changing jobs, I would say it was the difference between generalists and specialists. In banks, you move between many departments and have the opportunity to work overseas, so I get the impression that there are many generalists with relatively broad perspectives. In contrast, Mori Building at the time seemed to have many specialists with strengths in knowledge in various specialized fields. I believe Mori Building supports all aspects of human life, including food, clothing, and shelter, so we are now trying to increase the number of personnel who are aware of broad social trends. I myself have been in a position where I was responsible for a wide range of aspects, including design, sales, management, and operations, and I have always worked with the mindset of actively asking questions about things I don't understand and making decisions by thinking for myself rather than relying on others.

Mori Building's strength lies in its dedication to "doing what needs to be done," especially as a privately held company. One of Mori Building's themes when redeveloping cities is "living close to work." Comparing Tokyo with other cities overseas, we know that while there isn't much difference in daytime population, the nighttime population in central Tokyo drops significantly. Promoting urban development that places people living close to work will lead to reduced rush hour traffic and reduced energy consumption related to travel. Furthermore, when comparing Tokyo and Japan with international cities like the United States and Singapore, there are currently few world-class condominiums offering luxury services. I believe that increasing the number of world-class condominiums will attract the world's top talent to Japan, leading to the development of the Japanese economy.

MORI LIVING's residences, including the Aman Residences currently under construction at Azabudai Hills, will be luxury residences that have never existed before in the Japanese housing market. We thought sales would be tough, as foreigners were unable to come to Japan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but things are going extremely well. We believe that the strong security and safety, as well as the various ancillary facilities and services, meet the needs of global players.

Mori Building also works with local residents to develop urban areas where many people have lived for a long time, such as Roppongi. As a result, it took approximately 17 years to complete the construction of Roppongi Hills, and approximately 30 years to start construction on Azabudai Hills. In order to create better cities, it is important to work together with many people, even if it takes time and effort. I think this also shows that we are a company that "does what needs to be done."

■ I want to work with people who can formulate their own hypotheses

There are two main characteristics of people I want to work with. First, Mori Building has a clear purpose, mission, and vision for urban development. We need people who can empathize with this and work for us. By empathizing, we can understand the social significance of our work and work hard even when faced with difficulties. Second, we need people who can think for themselves and form their own hypotheses in a rapidly changing society. If they can do this, they will be able to determine "what parts of their hypotheses are correct and what parts are wrong." However, if they cannot do this, when there is a mismatch between the product and the market, they will not be able to determine whether "the original premise was wrong" or "whether a minor adjustment will be sufficient."

In this way, I would like to work with people who can find social significance in their work and who can formulate hypotheses.

■Message

In the Japanese education system of our generation, we tackled problems with answers and were evaluated based on how well we could come up with the right answer and how quickly we could answer. I believe this system does not allow for innovative work. Therefore, I would like you to think for yourself about problems that do not have an answer and come up with your own answer. This is not something you can learn by being taught by others. Please be conscious of this in your daily life and take the initiative to tackle it.

Student Newspaper April 1, 2023 Issue Chuo Gakuin University 4th Year Student Hayato Tane