Kentaro Horisaka (Executive Officer, General Manager of Corporate Planning Dept., Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.), Class of 2004
For Ken, who has spent nearly 30 years at Tokyo Gas, these are not abstract questions. In the energy business, an LNG contract can run for 20 years. The future cannot be predicted with certainty, yet decisions still have to be made. Their consequences may reach decades ahead.
After attending Hitotsubashi ICS as a company-sponsored student, Ken built a career spanning LNG procurement, energy-efficiency solutions overseas, ENE-FARM, shale gas development, renewable energy, and corporate planning. Across these different roles, he has continued to think about the future of energy and the role business can play in society.
Along the way, ideas he encountered at ICS, particularly knowledge creation and practical wisdom, have continued to shape how he thinks about work, judgment, and leadership.
In this conversation, we spoke with Ken about taking the long view in a business that supports social infrastructure, making decisions amid competing demands, the role of human judgment in the age of AI, and what it means to lead by setting a vision, deciding, and acting.
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Satoko
What kind of career path did you take after graduating from ICS?
Ken
My first role after ICS was in LNG, or liquefied natural gas, procurement. LNG is one of the main sources used to produce city gas. I worked with LNG projects in countries such as Australia and Russia, negotiating contracts to secure supplies for Japan.
I later became involved in expanding Tokyo Gas’s energy-efficiency solutions overseas, including in Malaysia and Brazil. In Japan, I also worked on ENE-FARM, a residential fuel cell system that generates electricity and hot water. More recently, I have worked in corporate planning, shale gas development in the United States, and large-scale solar power projects.
Looking back, much of my career has involved connecting Tokyo Gas with international markets.
Satoko
Did your experience at ICS have an impact on the direction of your career?
Ken
I believe it did.
Before coming to ICS, I had been working in sales. Taking a year away from the company marked a transition in my career, and when I returned, I moved into energy procurement.
When you are working inside a company, it is natural to focus intensely on the mission in front of you. Stepping away for a year gave me the space to learn, meet people outside my usual circle of colleagues and business partners, and see my own work from a broader perspective.
For me, having that time to pause and reflect was one of the great values of the ICS experience.
Satoko
What was distinctive about the learning experience at ICS?
Ken
One thing that stood out was that ICS valued theory, but never treated theory as enough on its own. We were encouraged to connect formal knowledge with what we had learned through experience, including things we understood intuitively but had not yet put into words. That combination really stayed with me.
Satoko
Was there any class that left a particularly strong impression on you?
Ken
Professor Ikujiro Nonaka’s class on knowledge creation. It was one of the courses that made me feel that coming to ICS had truly been worthwhile.
Many theories try to explain a situation by isolating it and analyzing it logically. Knowledge creation theory felt different because it focused on how things evolve and change over time.
What struck me most was the idea that when two forces appear to be in tension, you do not always have to choose one over the other. You can hold both, work through the tension, and create something new from it.
That perspective felt very new to me.
Satoko
In your work, do you often have to make decisions when different priorities are in tension?
Ken
Yes. Energy procurement is a good example.
At some point in a negotiation, you have to decide what terms you can accept, even though there is no single right answer. An LNG contract can last for 20 years, so you cannot base that decision only on the conditions in front of you today. You also have to consider how it may affect the business over a much longer period.
At the same time, different priorities can be in tension. You want to procure energy as economically as possible, but geopolitical uncertainty also makes security of supply critical. You have to consider not only cost, but also whether you can reliably secure the energy you need.
So the challenge is to weigh these different factors together and make a decision with a long-term perspective.
Satoko
When a decision can have consequences for the next 20 years, the weight of making the final call must be considerable.
Ken
It is. And precisely because there is no single right answer, I think it is important to listen carefully to the people around me and bring their perspectives together with my own thinking.
The goal is not simply to find a compromise. I want to work through the different views until I can genuinely say, “This is the best decision we can make.”
Then, in the end, I still have to make the call.
Satoko
When decisions can shape the next 20 years, you also have to consider how society itself may change over time.
Ken
Exactly. The challenge is that the future we are making decisions for will keep changing.
We have to think about how society may change, while also asking what role we want to play in that future and how we want to contribute.
For me, those two questions need to be considered together.
Satoko
Even as things change, are there principles or responsibilities that remain constant?
Ken
I think there is a strong and widely shared commitment at Tokyo Gas to providing energy reliably. I have been with the company for about 30 years, and that sense of responsibility has remained constant.
What has changed is how we fulfill that mission. For many years, natural gas demand continued to grow. Today, the energy landscape is shifting toward decarbonization and carbon neutrality, and Tokyo Gas is expanding into areas such as electricity and digital solutions.
So our role is becoming broader. It is no longer only about delivering energy. It is also about understanding the challenges our customers and society face and finding ways to help solve them. Energy and the infrastructure we have built are part of the tools we can use to do that.
Satoko
Is that also part of what keeps people connected to the company?
Ken
I think so. For some people, work is not only about economic rewards. Having new challenges to take on can make the work itself more meaningful.
That may be one reason why people develop a stronger sense of loyalty to the company.
Satoko
As AI and digital technologies take on more analysis and prediction, what do you think will remain uniquely important for people?
Ken
I think this is where Professor Nonaka’s idea of practical wisdom becomes even more important.
AI can analyze information and generate predictions. But people still have to interpret what those results mean in a specific situation, drawing on their own experience and judgment.
And when there is no routine answer, someone still has to make the final decision.
In some ways, it would be easier if a machine could simply tell us what to do. But having to face uncertainty, make a judgment, and decide for ourselves is part of what remains fundamentally human.
Satoko
What kinds of capabilities do you think future business leaders need to develop?
Ken
Understanding theories and systems is important, but they are only part of what we need. Practical wisdom comes from facing difficult situations in practice, making judgments, and finding a way forward.
There are moments when the stakes are high and the answer is not obvious. Working through those situations is how experience turns into judgment.
Practical wisdom also becomes more powerful when it is combined with other knowledge and experience. That is how we can move beyond the immediate problem, apply what we have learned to larger business challenges, and create broader value for society.
Satoko
What does leadership mean to you?
Ken
I hesitate to define leadership too confidently, but I think there are three important elements.
The first is setting a vision. A leader needs to show where the organization is going and what kind of future it is trying to create.
The second is making decisions. In business, you often have to choose among different priorities, such as the short term and the long term, or Japanese and Western ways of thinking. Both sides may have merit, but in the end, someone has to decide.
The third is taking action. For me, this is where practical wisdom comes into play. It is not enough to set a direction or make a decision. You also have to act on it.
So for me, leadership means setting the vision, making the decision, and then taking action.
Satoko
What do you see as the value of a full-time MBA program?
Ken
For me, one of the greatest benefits is the chance to step away from work and look at your own experience from a broader perspective.
I think that is especially valuable once you have some professional experience. You bring real situations from work into the classroom, and the learning becomes much more meaningful.
Online learning has value too, but it tends to focus more on formal knowledge. A full-time MBA offers a different kind of learning experience.
Satoko
What did that full-time learning experience look like in practice at ICS?
Ken
It was intense. With cases and assignments every day, you could not give everything equal attention. You had to decide what mattered most and where to spend your time.
That taught me how to set priorities, which later became very useful in business.
Teamwork was another important part of the experience. You had to think about the role you could play and how each person could contribute to the best possible result for the group.
Satoko
Finally, what would you say to current students and those considering ICS?
Ken
If you are thinking about ICS, I would encourage you to take a serious look at it.
It will be demanding, but I hope you enjoy the experience. There is real value in having a period when you can focus fully on learning.
You will have to make choices, set priorities, and work with others. Those experiences stay with you and continue to shape how you work long after graduation.
Satoko
Thank you very much for your time today. I was especially struck by how consistently you have approached the future of energy and society with a long-term perspective.
I also greatly appreciated hearing how the idea of practical wisdom that ICS has long emphasized continues to resonate with you in the age of AI. I look forward to seeing how you continue to help shape the future of energy.
LNG procurement, overseas business, ENE-FARM, shale gas, renewable energy, and corporate planning. Across Ken’s career, one perspective stands out. He looks beyond the immediate task and considers the society that lies ahead.
In a business that supports social infrastructure, the future can never be predicted with certainty. Yet decisions still have to be made. Their long-term consequences must be considered, different priorities weighed, and different perspectives brought together until the best possible judgment can be reached.
At ICS, Ken encountered the idea that opposing forces do not always require choosing one over the other. Holding both can lead to something new. That way of thinking continues to shape how he leads, through practical wisdom, vision, judgment, and action.
ICS seeks to develop leaders who can face an uncertain future, hold competing demands in view, take the long view, and ultimately decide and act.