“In Japan, people from the Kansai region around Osaka are seen as friendly, progressive…and very commercial”, says Toyonori Takahashi. And as the Group Kansai Representative for ORIX Group and an Osaka native himself, he should know.
Founded 60 years ago in Japan’s second city, ORIX is a quintessential Kansai company. It introduced the concept of leasing into the country from the U.S. at a time when Japan was in the middle of an economic miracle and companies were seeking new ways to finance heavy capital investment.
Animated by this entrepreneurial spirit, the ‘Orient Leasing Company’ that started in 1964 with 13 employees did not limit itself to leasing for long. It quickly diversified into banking, insurance and real estate as well as exporting leasing models across Asia.
“We used money as our raw material”, says Mr. Takahashi, who joined the company in 1988 in sales. “We used it to build a big spread of businesses, including in Kansai. And one of our aims was always to boost the status and economy of our home region”, he adds.
Today, ORIX is one of Japan’s largest and most diverse corporate groups with 10 business divisions operating around the world generating Y2.8 trillion ($20 billion) in annual revenues in 2023/24.
The heart of commerce
And Kansai remains at the heart of ORIX. Not only is the region home to branches representing its well-established domestic businesses, from equipment leasing and car hire to real estate, hotels, merchant banking and insurance.
One of the most eye-catching is Kansai Airports, the company for the region’s three airports - Kansai International, Osaka/Itami and Kobe - that serve almost 45m passengers a year. Kansai Airports was the first private company in Japan to fully engage in airport concessions, and ORIX and French infrastructure group VINCI are involved in the management of this operation.
Recently, Kansai International also partnered with ORIX to help reduce its CO2 emissions by signing one of Japan’s largest corporate power purchase agreements, under which ORIX’s Energy & Environmental division will deliver over 20 Megawatts a year of renewable power from solar panels to be built on the airport’s unused land.
Switching from planes to trains, ORIX is a founding member of the real estate consortium redeveloping the Umekita ward in central Osaka right next to the city’s central railway station. The first phase, GRAND FRONT OSAKA, opened a decade ago. The second phase, GRAND GREEN OSAKA, includes a large park, collaborative spaces, hotels and upmarket condominiums - including the most expensive apartment in all of Kansai.
ORIX has also been authorized by the national government as the developer of Japan’s first Integrated Resort, which is a group of facilities integrating international convention and conference facilities, exhibition facilities, accommodations, entertainment venues, and casino facilities. This will be built on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay and is another joint venture - this time with MGM, the US casino operator.
On top of that, ORIX’s Real Estate division manages several hotels across Kansai, including the newly opened Canopy by Hilton Osaka Umeda in Umekita, with a Waldorf Astoria Osaka, Hilton’s luxury brand opening April 3, 2025. And, last but not least, aimed particularly at schoolchildren and students, the group also runs a saltwater aquarium in Kyoto, despite the technical challenge of locating an aquarium in Japan’s historic capital which is far from the sea.
Every day is an Expo
As a leading company in the region and an executive member of the Kansai Economic Federation, ORIX is also cooperating in the hosting of Expo 2025 Osaka, which is taking place next spring on Yumeshima island in Osaka Bay and is working with other partners to run a vertiport at the Expo as part of the Future Society Showcase Project Exhibition.
But while the Expo is a moment in time, ORIX Group’s businesses continue to contribute every day to the growth of the regional economy and, in particular, serve business travelers and tourists across its airports, hotels and leisure facilities - helping Japan meet its target of attracting 60 million international visitors a year.
“We can create jobs and boost the income of Kansai by showcasing Japanese culture and the friendliness of our people. That is one way we can make an impact”, says Mr. Takahashi, referring to ORIX Group’s Purpose & Culture statement of ‘Finding Paths. Making Impact’.
When it comes to finding paths, he points to the way ORIX is working with foreign partners like VINCI and MGM to import relevant expertise - and making sure such joint ventures are successful despite different expectations and ways of working.
“Through our joint ventures with VINCI in airports and MGM for the IR, I have learned a lot about international people and how they do business, which is different from how we work in Japan”, Mr. Takahashi muses. “And that has been a good opportunity”.