Lifandi hefðir: Hvað getum við lært af aldagömlum japönskum fjölskyldufyrirtækjum?

Yuki Tokunaga, fræðimaður við Stofnun iðnaðarvísinda við Tókýó Háskóla, flytur opinn fyrirlestur á vegum námsgreinar í japönskum fræðum við Mála- og menningardeild Háskóla Íslands. Erindið nefnist Living Traditions: What Japan’s Long-Lived Businesses Reveal About Cultural Continuity og verður flutt á ensku.

Fyrirlesturinn verður haldinn á Heimasvæði tungumála (bókasafn á 2. hæð) í Veröld, fimmtudaginn 16. apríl kl. 13:20-14:30. Verið öll velkomin.

Um fyrirlesturinn

The lecture explores how long-established Japanese companies make decisions and sustain continuity over generations. Based on field research with traditional businesses, it highlights a distinctive decision-making model shaped by culture rather than short-term economic rationality. Instead of optimizing for a single metric such as profit, these companies balance multiple perspectives, including customers, employees, community, and even predecessors. A key concept is “visible stakeholders,” where decision-makers refer not to abstract categories but to specific people and relationships grounded in experience. This creates a process in which diverse considerations are not eliminated but integrated into a final decision. While this approach may appear slow, it enables long-term trust and resilience. The lecture also connects this model to contemporary discussions on diversity, suggesting that the challenge is not diversity itself, but how to integrate multiple perspectives into coherent decisions.

Um fyrirlesarann

Yuki Tokunaga (born July 1990) is the founder of Culpedia, an organization dedicated to fostering cultural exchange and preserving traditional arts. A graduate of Waseda University’s School of Political Science and Economics, Tokunaga has worked as both a linguistic and cultural interpreter. After joining Mitsui & Co. in 2015, Tokunaga was engaged in global business development and later seconded to the company’s internal think tank, working across more than 100 countries. Following further studies abroad, Tokunaga left the firm in 2024 to focus on cultural research and initiatives. Currently a collaborative researcher at the University of Tokyo, Tokunaga leads projects on traditional crafts, including research on Kyoto’s cultural heritage. Having visited over 90 countries and lectured internationally, Tokunaga aims to act as an “interpreter of values,” bridging cultures through research, storytelling, and dialogue.