CHAPTER 1
Optimism, Entrepreneurship, and Raincoats
The Taki family holds a reputation for go-getting. Since I can remember, every Taki who has been president of our family business, Takihyo, has contributed both to the company and to everyday life. My grandfather, Nobushiro Taki, helped transform a once-rural town outside of Nagoya city called Gamagori into a resort town while growing the business. To support his philanthropy, my family and I would go every summer and spring to vacation in Gamagori. My grandfather built hotels and funded shrines and temples; he placed Gamagori on the map as a place for Japanese to rest and relax. Since Takihyo’s inception in its humble beginnings, an empire has grown. In short, I had a lot to live up to. I was also the eldest of four boys in a culture of seniority, so it was understood that I would become Takihyo’s next leader.
My early childhood was blessed with privilege. I won’t hesitate to admit that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth and could count on my family for everything. I grew up in the industrializing city of Nagoya. At that time, Japan was growing and becoming a part of the modern world that only Europe and America were believed to occupy. However, with that growth of power came avarice; the ideologies underpinning colonial imperialism dominated not only in the West but also in the East. Not unlike Great Britain’s colonialization of India and Pakistan, but perhaps most frequently aligned with NSDAP Germany’s Blitzkrieg, ...
