The Benesse Holdings Inc director and chairman, and Fukutake Foundation president recently spoke at a National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies open lecture about how he has used his corporate wealth to regenerate several islands in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan - all with the aim of creating ''paradise on earth''.
He could not have picked a more difficult area to regenerate.
The islands and surrounding water were ''poisoned'' by copper refineries and illegal waste dumping sites in the 1960s during Japan's rapid economic growth, to the point where trees struggled to grow and marine life shrivelled.
''People talk about Utopia, the afterlife, paradise. I thought, why not create Utopia in reality,'' he said through an interpreter.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
Inspiration for the project came following the sudden death of his father in 1986, and a sailing trip around some of the 700 islands in the Seto Inland Sea.
''These islands represent a negative legacy of modernisation and westernisation.
''The islands used to be beautiful.
''This reality is what drove me to become a rebel and do something about this.''
He became unhappy with changes in his living environment in Tokyo, describing life there as lacking humanity with little evidence of anything historical or natural.
''Life there is a crazy way of living''.
So he created a camping ground as part of his father's wishes, and in the process he became a ''rebel'' against urbanisation and modernisation.
Since then, the island town of Naoshima has become a haven for outdoor artworks, art museums, refurbished historic houses and the Setouchi International Arts Festival.
''I couldn't use violence to make change, so I decided to use art instead.''
His desire to create a paradise where life is a joy for the people living there, is coming to fruition, he said.
Naoshima now has a population of about 3000, and more than 400,000 tourists visit each year as a result of his work.
He now plans to expand his initiatives to more of the 700 islands in the inland sea.
