TAKENAKA by keywords
Toryo (Master Builder) Spirit
Our company founder, the late Touemon Takenaka said, "A person in the profession of architecture must be an architectural craftsman and not a building merchant who is merely pursuing profits. In order to do a good work to the utmost, we must not be constrained by financial gain or loss, but rather we must transcend such interests."
In today's world, values are diversifying, the economy is globalizing and further initiatives are needed for the global environment. It is because we are in such times that the mindset of an artisan has never been more important.
The toryo spirit, which is our legacy from 400 years of craftsmanship, is alive and well in the minds of each and every Takenaka person and in their work.
Works Principle
We refer to the buildings we have handled as architectural "works," and our Management Philosophy is "Contribute to society by passing on the best works to future generations."
When the imagination of everyone involved with a building becomes reality, we believe that it will be a "work" of architecture that will shine on for future generations.
Along with being vessels to protect the people who live and work in them, we consider buildings to be social assets that pass on the culture of an era to posterity.
Running the gamut of technology and passion, we remain faithful to our "works principle," which embraces that imagination.
Integrated Design-Build
In order to produce an architectural work with the collective talent of everyone involved, it is necessary to build in high quality from the planning and design stages. To that end, we believe it is important for there to be a single point of responsibility for design and construction in an integrated manner. In this way, our experts, who play active roles in their respective fields of design and construction, are able to create the best work as they combine their passion and imagination, which are inspired by our Management Philosophy, "Contribute to society by passing on the best works to future generations."
Total Quality Management
With an obsession for improving quality, we take great pride in architectural craftsmanship, as opposed to being an ordinary business merely selling products or services.
Accordingly, we pioneered quality management activities in the construction industry, and our passion for quality has received high praise over the years, such as being the first company in our industry to be awarded the Deming Prize and later again the first builder to receive the Japan Quality Control Medal. Even with rapid changes of the times, our faith in craftsmanship will not waver as we continue to pursue quality.
Private Ownership
We believe that creating the best architecture will contribute to the formation of social and cultural assets, not only in this era, but also 50 or 100 years from now and that these architectural works should be the best for all of society. In order to stay true to this mindset, we think a long-term perspective is necessary while not just pursuing short-term results, which is the tendency for publicly traded companies. It is for this reason that we have decided maintain private ownership with unlisted stock shares, which is unique among all major general contractors in Japan.
At present, our efforts transcend the field of architecture and have expanded to a variety of activities from the perspective of urban creation, including environmental preservation.