Jun

Maeda

[Recording: 5.14.2025]

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Real Estate Developer ● Business Leader ● Community Builder

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Doing Good, Does Good.

There is a sea of difference between recognizing the opportunity to do good, and actually doing something about it. Jun Maeda sits firmly in the latter camp. His mission is to help those whose own forward progress is hampered by cultural and infrastructure boundaries in Japan; his work continues. Below, a mere trio of those inspiring actions.

Months Stuck in a Hotel

1974. As a freshly-minted Keiō law graduate, you catch wind of a story: an American family in the self-described international city of Kobe cannot find a home. You help them correct the problem, and don't stop there. You arrange for meetings with the international consulates in Japan so you can help even more people with housing concerns. The phone rings off the hook.

Goodness Multiplies

"I was determined in my thinking that if someone was in trouble I had to help." In the ensuing decades, that "someone" became tens of thousands from all around the world—each calling the Kansai region home, each relying on Jun Maeda and the multiple firms he built and led under the banner of Planner's International. If real estate was the beginning, it certainly was not the end.

A Leap to Medical

Decades spent helping non-Japanese navigate complex infrastructures meant the arrival of medical tourism to Japan proved fruitful for Planners International. Currently booked solid, its "Japan Retreat" business provides a unique 360-degree service that brings together patients and institutions wishing to reach one another in the competitive global medical market.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN WITH JUN MAEDA

How to get things moving fast when working with partners who prefer to move slow.
How a belief in the impossible can result in impossibly great things.
How getting through life's past difficulties can be our greatest future strength.
What it takes to secure meetings with people who prefer to stay off the radar.
What it feels like to build a product people clamor to support.
Keys to maintaining success once you've latched onto it.
Key steps in course-correcting an impending crisis situation.
His strategy for building rest and fun into the ongoing drive to follow through on your mission.
His view on what it takes to run and sustain multiple businesses in the finicky world of real estate.
What it was like to play a significant role in the massive effort to blow up mountains, cart dirt and rock to the ocean for miles, and build skyscrapers on man-made Rokko Island.
Why, despite the busy moments in life, beating your age in golf, attending as many Brahms symphonies as possible, and sailing your 28.5F Beneteau around the capes of Japan, remain worthy goals..., and ones worth pursuing with as much vigor as life will allow.

"If it doesn't exist... BUILD IT."

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics and 1970 Osaka World's Fair shone a bright light on Japan, and foreign-affiliated companies and embassies soon sought to establish more of a presence. But despite the enthusiastic rush to come to Japan, urban housing development was so slow one would be considered lucky to win a lottery for a 2DK public housing unit in the suburbs. There was just no where to put everyone; "Field of Dreams," but in reverse. Japan needed a solution. And, fast.

OUR WELCOMED GUEST

Jun Maeda

Jun Maeda is a near lifetime resident of Kobe, Japan, having resided until the age of ten in Nagasaki's Isahaya. He is a legendary real-estate developer, Hyogo International Association council committee member, fervent supporter of culture and people, and a gosh darn good golfer.

Maeda-san's influence in the Kansai region can be felt AND seen, and the admiration of those who have been touched by his generosity cannot be understated. He's an avid sailor and full-on fan of the symphony. He looks forward to doing more of both in the years to come.

A JAPANESE LANGUAGE PROGRAM LIKE NO OTHER.

Maplopo helps intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese internalize language through the power of story—all in a single learning platform. Maplopo is rigorous, structured, and handcrafted for serious learners of Japanese.