Tomohiro Yamashita, President and CEO of Renovel Co., Ltd.

Build your future by connecting the dots in your life.

Tomohiro Yamashita, President and CEO of Renoveru Co., Ltd.

 ■ Profile
After graduating from Kinki University, he played rugby for the corporate league before joining a general contractor. In 2010, he founded Renoberu Co., Ltd. With the mission of "Making Japanese living the smartest and most beautiful in the world," he built a renovation platform that promotes the distribution and utilization of existing stock. He has rapidly grown the company into the number one one-stop renovation business in Japan. He is also actively involved in urban creation projects that support the use of CRE and energy-saving performance improvements.

From his passionate love of rugby as a student to his encounter with an elderly woman while working for a general contractor, President Yamashita has now taken on the world of renovation projects. What are his challenges and vision? His journey of turning setbacks into reality offers clues for building the future.

My university years were almost entirely immersed in rugby. I discovered rugby in high school and became obsessed with it, to the point that I even decided which university to attend based on whether I could play rugby or not. However, my family wasn't wealthy, so I also had a part-time job working overnight at a newspaper company. I worked as an editorial assistant for the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, and spent about 300 days there over four years. I did it to earn money for tuition and living expenses, but my university life flew by in the blink of an eye between rugby and part-time work.

■ The "Grandma Incident" and My Encounter with Renovation

After graduating, I joined a company where I could continue playing rugby. I was hired by a corporate team, so it was a unique environment where half of the time was rugby and half was work. However, during a training camp in the summer of my first year, I realized that my body had reached its limit. I felt that wall and was at the brink of despair. I had no choice but to quit both rugby and the company. From that point on, I decided to repay the kindness that had shown me, and quit. I worked frantically, setting as a condition for my retirement "to achieve overwhelming sales results out of 110 of my classmates," and once I achieved that number one ranking, I decided to leave the company as well.
My next move was to the construction industry, a general contractor. I started working on a construction site through an introduction from a senior colleague. I found manufacturing to be surprisingly fun and rewarding. It was a big experience for me to realize that there were other things I could do besides rugby. After that, I became a full-time employee and became involved in housing complex redevelopment projects and the like.
There's one unforgettable incident from my time as a general contractor. It was the "grandmother incident" during a housing complex redevelopment project. The complex had over 100 units, and while almost everyone had moved out, one grandmother refused to move out. I was put in charge of persuading her. First, I tried to become friendly with her by taking her to and from the chiropractor's office every morning and going shopping with her. After living like this for over a month, I was finally allowed into the grandmother's house. There, I found a photo of her grandchild. The grandmother told me, "I want to see my grandchildren, who I've become estranged from, and I want to keep this house for them." I suggested that they build a room for their grandchildren in the new house, and perhaps they would return to the new home, and to my surprise, she agreed to move out.
The new apartment was completed, and on the day of the move, I went to meet her to see if she would be happy, but she grabbed me and cried, "Give me back my life!" Everyone around her was excited about the new apartment, but to her it was just a place where her past had been stolen. I was shocked. I don't even remember how I responded or how I got back to work.
Once the housing complex redevelopment project settled down, I was granted a three-month sabbatical, and decided to travel overseas. I visited rugby friends in New Zealand and Europe, and what I noticed there was that overseas, the culture is such that old buildings are not demolished. It was a shock. In contrast, in Japan, new construction is paramount. This was my first encounter with "renovation."

■ Renoberu aims for "smart and wonderful living"

After returning to Japan, I started a company to spread the concept of renovation. That was the beginning of Renoberu. Renoberu provides a renovation platform that "gives new life to old buildings." For individual customers, we start by drawing out the true, innermost desires of the customer - the kind of life they want to live, even if they themselves are not aware of them - and then match them with real estate agents, financial institutions, design and construction partners, etc. For corporations, we support the utilization of old buildings, aiming to contribute to society as a whole by turning the challenges of individuals, corporations, and industries into value.
All of our employees possess three qualities: "lovable, dependable, and stylish (quick and resourceful)." We value our relationships with our customers and craftsmen, and are conscious of creating trust and excitement rather than just doing business. We provide lifestyles with the mission of "Making Japanese lifestyles the smartest and most beautiful in the world."

■ A message from Japan to the world and to university students

Over the next 10 years, I would like to take the renovations that began in Europe and spread them around the world, incorporating Japanese quality. The precision of construction and beautiful fit of Japanese architecture are something we can be proud of around the world. I want to spread this "Japanese quality" overseas. This is my next challenge. If there are any students who enjoy growth and innovation and would like to take on this challenge with me, please apply.
Finally, I would like to say to all university students, "I want you to realize the value of the time you have now." When you're a student, you have time and space in your head. Use that space to collect lots of "dots." Then, connect those dots into a "thread" and weave your own story. This can be a part-time job, traveling, or anything else. Have the courage to take on new challenges and broaden yourself.
If I could go back to my university days, I would have liked to have tried more things. I hope you all absorb more things and put out as much as you can.

Student Newspaper Online November 21, 2024 Takafumi Yoshida, 4th year student at the University of Tokyo