Interviewed by Kaye Cloutman

Born in Taipei, Taiwan Province in 1977, Fumitada Naoe is the CEO of Sanctuary Corporation. He spent his early childhood in poverty, living in a shanty. Going on to move to Japan, he grew up feeling self-concious about hisChinese-immigrant identity. Subsequently, the company run by his stepfather went bankrupt, and his family dispersed. Though uncertain times ensued, he firmly resolved to become the world’s No. 1 entrepreneur. When a childhood friend passed away in 2003, he began to harbor doubts about the existing state of the funeral business and went on to establish Sanctuary Corporation to pursue what a truly happy ceremony could be for the departed and the bereaved. By the age of just 27, he had managed to help the company grow into a business with an annual turnover of more than 3 billion yen..

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