ABOUT
About Directors Inc.
Directors Inc. is a Tokyo-based professional management firm, founded in July 2004 and headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The idea behind the name is simple: we exist to supply real 'directors,' genuine management professionals, to companies and investment funds that need them, and to see the resulting work through to actual results, not just advice on paper.
What We Do
Our work sits across four connected areas:
Executive Search (CxO Placement)
Placing CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CIOs, and CTOs into companies, often on behalf of private equity funds after an investment, where the right leadership team decides whether the investment actually pays off.
IT Project Support
CIO advisory, IT investment assessment, and hands-on PM/PMO support for companies running large, high-stakes technology projects.
AI Solutions
Building and deploying practical AI for real operational problems, from strategy and planning through to a working product people actually use.
M&A Advisory
Deal advisory work, with particular depth in cross-border M&A between Japan and China.
Why Directors
Our philosophy is that strategy alone doesn't finish the job. Neither does staffing alone, or development alone. Change only actually happens when someone can move fluently across all four: Management (hands-on experience as a COO, through an IPO, through M&A), IT (strategy and execution on large-scale projects), Talent (a trained eye for identifying and placing the right management people), and AI (real experience building and shipping AI, not just advising on it). That combination is what lets us stay involved from the first strategy conversation through to the point where results actually show up.
Proof, Not Just Promises
Over the years, we've placed CEOs and presidents into companies spanning construction and industrial waste, regional homebuilding, staffing services, and Japanese subsidiaries of foreign firms, placed a CFO at a ¥20 billion nursing care company, a deputy president at a ¥10 billion software company, and executive officers at companies ranging from a ¥30 billion entertainment business to a ¥500 billion retail chain. On the IT side, we've run PMO for a core-systems overhaul at a listed manufacturer and steered an e-commerce launch for an entertainment company from the project management seat.
Our AI product work has been selected into Hiroshima Prefecture's competitive AI Sandbox programme in two separate rounds. TeienMaster, our AI-powered platform for training the next generation in Japan's traditional landscaping craft, is live today, combining on-site training videos, multilingual support, and qualification exam prep in one place. GakkouMaster, our education-focused AI product, is currently in development and coming soon. Both grew out of the same instinct that drives our client work: figure out the real problem first, then build something people actually use, not just something that gets a demo applause.
Leadership
Directors is led by Daijiro Miura, Co-founder and CEO. He graduated from Keio University's Faculty of Economics in 1995, then spent years in strategy and IT consulting at Tohmatsu Consulting (now Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting) and Dream Incubator before co-founding Directors in 2004. Between 2004 and 2011, he served as Deputy President and COO of WingArc Technologies (now WingArc1st), leading the company through its IPO on JASDAQ. He brings 20 years in consulting and 15 years as a hands-on executive, with particular depth in the IT and software industry and in cross-border M&A between Japan and China. He describes his role with the team simply: not just CEO, but mentor, someone who thinks, proposes, discusses, and builds alongside the people he works with.
Why India
Executive placement is what we've always done, finding the right person for a role that actually matters. Takumi Challenge is that same instinct pointed at a new place: early-career talent in India. Four Indian interns are already working with us, and we're planning for 10 or more hires across 2027 and 2028 as this partnership grows. Takumi Challenge is how we're building that bridge properly, a structured way for students to show what they can actually do, and for us to find people worth a longer relationship with.
What Matters to Us
Skills matter. Mindset matters more. We look for people willing to try something new, speak up across cultural and language lines, and keep learning when something doesn't work the first time. English is enough to work with us. Japanese is welcome, but never required.