Corporate & Executive
A day of practice rather than a tour. Small executive groups, one or two experiences done properly, and the meaning drawn out of them.
Why me
Before Elevate, I spent four years at a public affairs consultancy advising business leaders on communication and negotiations with the Japanese government, including prime ministers, ministers and senior politicians. Part of that work was looking after CEOs and senior executives of Fortune Global 500 companies visiting Japan. Afterwards I headhunted for companies across many industries, which is reading people quickly for a living.
I am Japanese, native in Japanese and English, and I work directly with the artisans, chefs and families who host us. Nothing is subcontracted to an agency, and nothing is lost in translation — because there is no translation step.
What a day can be built around
Every programme is designed from scratch around the group and what the visit is for. Tell me what you want the days to do — settle a team that has been running hot, mark something, give a board a subject worth talking about, or simply give people an experience they could not have arranged themselves — and I will build towards that. These are four directions a day can take, not a list to choose from, and what sits inside each one changes with the season, the city and the people in the room.
Presence
A tea ceremony conducted properly, a sitting with a monk, an hour of calligraphy or archery. Different practices, one effect: attention, which is the thing most executive teams have least of.
Imperfection and repair
Kintsugi, where a broken bowl is mended with lacquer and gold and the break becomes the most beautiful part of it. Indigo dyeing and raku firing carry the same idea differently. Teams arrive with their own reading, and it is usually the conversation they remember.
Mastery and the long view
A sake brewery in its fifteenth generation. A lacquer studio where one piece takes months of drying. A forge, a kimono atelier, a family business founded in 1608 and still run by the family. Companies that plan in generations rather than quarters — a conversation most boards want and rarely get.
Stillness and acceptance
A temple morning before it opens. Zazen with a monk, where the only instruction is to sit and let a thought pass without following it. A garden made to be looked at rather than walked through. Zen has spent centuries on attention, acceptance and the limits of control — what leaders wrestle with most — and an hour inside the practice teaches more than a day spent talking about it.
These suit executive offsites, leadership teams, board visits, client entertainment and hosting partners. Days are built for small groups — usually four to ten — because the value is in the practice and the conversation, and both thin out as a group grows. I do not run large-group tours.
How it works
A brief
Dates, group size, the purpose of the visit, and any dietary or mobility needs. A budget range saves us both time.
A proposal
A written programme with options and a single quoted fee, usually within a week.
Arrangement
Every reservation, partner and piece of coordination handled in Japanese, with one point of contact.
On the day
I am with your group throughout, interpreting and running the programme, so your team is free to be present.
Practicalities
Invoiced to your company, with a 領収書 issued for Japanese accounting. Confidentiality agreements signed on request. All coordination with venues and partners happens in Japanese, by me.
From ¥250,000 per guest · minimum ¥1,200,000 per day
Every partner, venue, artisan and meal is included in that figure, as with a private day — one fee rather than a list of parts. Multi-day programmes are quoted per day. Fifty per cent confirms the dates, with the balance due two weeks before you arrive.
Lead time matters more for groups than for individuals — three months is comfortable, and six is wiser for spring and autumn.
Request a proposal
The more you can tell me here, the more useful the first proposal will be. If something is still undecided, say so — most of these begin before the dates are fixed.