Why culture matters for sustainable business

What 1,000-Year-Old Japanese Companies Can Teach Highly Connected Societies About the Future:

What is culture? How can we claim that it is important? These are some of the questions that we’ll tackle using the case of the traditional crafts in Japan.

Over the past several years, Yuki Tokunaga has conducted fieldwork across Japan, visiting long-established companies such as sake breweries, traditional confectionery shops, craft workshops, and family-run inns. Most of these are not large corporations, but locally rooted enterprises.

Despite wars, economic crises, and major societal transformations, they have continued across generations.

Yuki Tokunaga’s research explores a fundamental question: How can an organisation survive for centuries?

What he found is that longevity is not explained only by financial strength or technological advantage. 

Many of these businesses do not see themselves merely as economic actors. Instead, they function as custodians of local identity, maintaining connections between people, place, and tradition.

In this talk, Yuki Tokunaga will introduce stories and examples from his fieldwork by exploring how culture shapes decision-making and how relationships sustain trust across generations.

Meet the speaker:

Yuki Tokunaga

is an Associated Researcher at the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), University of Tokyo and the founder of Culpedia, with experience in business, journalism, and cultural research to translate ideas and values across borders.

After graduating from Waseda University, Yuki built a global career at Mitsui & Co., working with more than 100 countries before departing in 2024. He has travelled to over 80 countries and published over 50 articles for publishers such as Shinchosha, Diamond, Bungeishunju, Kodansha, and The Mainichi (English edition)

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