While in Japan, I’ve been spending time with a term that keeps surfacing in conversations about long-lasting businesses: shokunin waza.
It’s usually translated as “craftsmanship,” but the meaning runs deeper than that. It’s not just about technical skill — it’s about a way of being. A deep, almost spiritual commitment to doing your work well, with care, over and over again.
And here’s the interesting part: Japan has more century-old companies than anywhere else in the world. Inns, paper mills, breweries, makers of everything from soy sauce to swords. At first glance, it’s hard to understand how they’ve lasted so long.
But the more I ask questions, the more I hear a familiar theme. It’s not about chasing trends. It’s not about expanding fast or making bold strategic moves. It’s about rhythm and repetition.
In the West, we often think of longevity as the reward for big ideas or massive innovation. But shokunin waza offers a different theory. Maybe one of the secrets of endurance isn’t about doing more — but about doing one thing really well, for a really long time. It’s not flashy. And it’s not a growth strategy. It’s more of a philosophy — and it works.
