Professor Hiro Murata is the most pioneer of active ageing business in Japan and an internationally recognized thought leader in ageing societies. He has worked with over 550 companies and contributed to develop various innovative products and services such as Curves Japan, the world’s largest fitness chain for women in Japan, Raku-Raku phone, the best-selling senior-friendly mobile phone, and the first college-linked retirement community in Japan.

He also serves as Professor at Smart Ageing International Research Center (SAIRC) at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. Not only created the concept of “Smart Ageing” but also he contributed to establish Smart Ageing College, the intergenerational school on the campus and Smart Ageing Square, the ageing-business-on-campus with various industry partners. Both are the first implementation in Japanese national universities.

Professor Murata is an entrepreneur, business producer, gerontologist, and best-selling author of several books, including The Business of Aging: 10 Successful Strategies for a Diverse Market, and Seven Paradigm Shifts in Thinking about the Business of Aging, Retirement Moratorium: What Will the Not-Retired Boomers Change? They have been described as “must read books” by more than 30 leading publications including Nikkei, Nikkei Business, Yomiuri, and Japan Industry News. His new book “Must read book when your parents become 70” will be published in mid-February.

Professor Murata is a regular contributor on the topic of business of aging to five business journals in Japan. He is also a frequent commentator to many leading media, including Nikkei, Yomiuri, Asahi, Mainichi, Japan Industry News, Newsweek Japan, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Dow Jones, Silver Industry News, TV Tokyo and NHK.

He is also a frequently invited speaker at ageing-related conferences worldwide such as the Reinventing Retirement Conference in London by AARP; the World Aging & Demographic Congress in Switzerland; Silver Industry Conference & Exhibition by the Singapore Government; and The Silver Market Phenomenon: Business Opportunities and Responsibilities in the Ageing Society, United Nations University, sponsored by the German Institute for Japanese Studies.

Professor Murata holds a Master’s degree of Engineering from Tohoku University Graduate School of Engineering, and a MBA from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (French Nationale Grand Ecole) in Paris. He speaks fluent English, French, and Japanese.