<figure id="attachment_468686" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468686" style="width: 4608px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f289ff4d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/62e375f95452faf35adf781677e80ac3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468686" class="wp-caption-text">I can&#8217;t keep things straight,&#8221; he said. At the age of 74, Nitori was diagnosed with a developmental disorder. What was the driving force behind building a company with sales of 900 billion yen from a fierce bullying experience?</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> At the age of 74, Akio Nitori, the founder and chairman of Nitori Holdings, visited a medical institution after watching a TV special and was diagnosed with a developmental disorder. How did he manage to build one of Japan&#8217;s leading furniture and interior design companies for half a century with such &#8220;disabilities&#8221; as inability to keep things in order, inability to listen to a class for three minutes, and inability to read people&#8217;s feelings? We interviewed him on the occasion of the publication of his book, &#8220;I am Successful Because I Have a Developmental Disability.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> My &#8220;characteristics&#8221; that I learned at the age of 74.</span><span class="strongInContent"> I am a developmentally disabled person.</span></h3>
<p> &#8211;You say that you &#8220;felt right at home&#8221; and &#8220;were able to find answers to your difficulties&#8221; after being diagnosed with a developmental disability at the age of 74.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Akio Pittori (Pittori) Well, there were times when I didn&#8217;t understand people&#8217;s feelings. There were times when I felt that I had made a mistake in what I did, and I would realize it later and apologize, or withdraw my comments to an employee. There were many times when I didn&#8217;t hear what the other person was saying.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> My mind was filled with all kinds of things. If I was interested in what was being said, I could concentrate on it, but if not, I would think about something else while conversing. Even when I went sightseeing, the guide would go on to the next site while he was explaining it, and when I asked him what it was, he would say, &#8220;You just said that! I say, &#8220;You just said that! (Laughs.) If it&#8217;s an inspiring story, I&#8217;m listening to it.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The other thing is that I am not organized at all anymore. Once every two or three weeks, my secretary cleans up the stuff that has accumulated on the side of my desk. They tell me to do it myself, but I don&#8217;t. I don&#8217;t like to throw anything away. He doesn&#8217;t like to throw anything away, so he keeps everything, even materials.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I have drawers for ties and shirts by color, but they have piled up, and now I have five cabinets in my room and another five or six in the next room (laughs). I like fancy things, so I keep buying them. Even when I get tired of them, I can&#8217;t seem to get rid of them. When I hold a golf tournament in Vietnam, I bring them to my employees and tell them to take whatever they want.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t like to throw them away, so I accumulate them right away. I heard that my mother and grandmother were the same way, so it must be genetic.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" In middle school, every time I went to the bathroom, they would surround me and beat me."></div>
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<figure id="attachment_468687" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468687" style="width: 980px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="62ac56e5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/a55c46b22323f8503f2abc7707aa445e.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468687" class="wp-caption-text">I didn&#8217;t stop going to school even though I was bullied. I didn&#8217;t think I hated school,&#8221; said Mr. Pittori (pictured left).</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Manga&#8221; saved me from bullying</span><span class="strongInContent"> I never hated school.</span></h3>
<p> &#8211;Since you were a child, there was a big gap between what you could do and what you couldn&#8217;t. What kind of child were you? What kind of child were you?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Nitidori: I don&#8217;t think there were many things I was good at. I was almost incapable of remembering things, and I joined the judo club, ping-pong club, and badminton club, but quit after one year. In high school I went to a boxing gym, and in college I did karate for two years. I am interested in everything, but it doesn&#8217;t last long.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I loved reading and drawing manga. When I couldn&#8217;t afford comics, I would pick up the ones my friends bought and read them around. If I was drawing during class, my classmates would bring me money (laughs), so I would use it to buy bread or pay for ramen noodles. Ramen noodles cost about 20 yen at the time. I once went to learn to be a cartoonist, but I couldn&#8217;t make a story. I was not good at writing letters and sentences, so I gave up.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I read a lot of biographies. I like books about Magellan, Columbus, and other world adventurers and researchers.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
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<p> &#8211;I heard that you were bullied at one time. <span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Nitori: I was bullied from elementary school on. In junior high school, whenever I went to the bathroom during recess, I was surrounded by about three people and beaten up. I was easily bullied in high school as well, and I thought this was a bad idea, so I started learning martial arts. After I trained myself, my opponents became afraid of me when I scowled at them. That kind of &#8220;dominance&#8221; began to appear.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I would approach them with a smirk on my face, so they would call me &#8220;Nitari,&#8221; and it was easy for them to bully me. I guess that kind of thing still exists today (laughs).</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> But back then, even though I was bullied, I didn&#8217;t stop going to school. I didn&#8217;t think I hated school. All I had to do was draw manga during class, and although I only had one or two friends, I managed somehow.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<figure id="attachment_468688" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468688" style="width: 4480px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="10a55893"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/37aa53c52366df214addfe2f4cf3227f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468688" class="wp-caption-text"> The flamboyant ukiyo-e pattern lining of the jacket, which Chairman Pittori showed us after the interview, saying, &#8220;I like flashy things, so I keep buying them.&#8221;　Of course, it was a specially ordered one-of-a-kind item!</figcaption></figure>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> He is not organized and cannot concentrate in class. He was also subjected to fierce bullying as a boy. How was he able to create a leading Japanese company with annual sales of 900 billion yen, when he was full of such &#8220;inabilities&#8221;?</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In the paid version of &#8220;FRIDAY Subscription,&#8221; we will look at Chairman Nitori&#8217;s unique philosophy of &#8220;doing what others won&#8217;t do to win,&#8221; his substandard business techniques that turn even economic downturns into opportunities, and the true meaning of his words, &#8220;Never overcome what you are weak at.</span><span class="strongInContent"> </span></p>
<div data-friday-gold-link-url="https://friday.gold/article/419646" data-friday-gold-link-title="Nitori Chairman, 74 years old and diagnosed with a developmental disability, reveals his substandard success formula and the story behind the birth of &quot;N Cool." data-friday-gold-link-excerpt=" I don't understand people's feelings. At the age of 74, he was diagnosed with a developmental disorder. What is the reason why a boy with so many &quot;I can't's&quot; was able to create one of Japan's leading companies?" data-friday-gold-link-thumbnail-wide="https://assets.friday.gold/friday-wp-production-assets/app/uploads/2026/05/1dcbc79cdeef725496fc0c52a77b4475-22191836482795.png/v/crop-faces:width=256,height=144/format:type=webp?Expires=4102444800&amp;Key-Pair-Id=K2H5GZZHVJCN4V&amp;Signature=C5FhP5lbJHgDYnpstAsQ61Xkyxb4a2c7fm9bwW2Y4H3nt8FhsY5PQ~WOi72k0SAXEnrPb3w2qq0El-WSSD22hBUvK9MRkmXWVDY3oLELi-UK4g3DKHUm2Z88efFYlFTybHL3qlYougEFI98~B-UXmuI5ftgPZV7K56ly8xt-biL7A12CTKruk~IuqJSR4Ki5x8kxqQ1Y7WpusfxAvWkKnbUGNPsLdr7zBlzkIU1GjHzGDRD899LS1mLCQrIEF5Z~CheSgJkVdLnCZ~S6nSnwucOxQ-UtGpCNaZp5ypQ7fZ3sgRFTUUsEAHt0gDw~3fJF0yqZUKBwfhiDJiVDxXzq1Q__" data-friday-gold-link-thumbnail-square="https://assets.friday.gold/friday-wp-production-assets/app/uploads/2026/05/1dcbc79cdeef725496fc0c52a77b4475-22191836482795.png/v/crop-faces:width=105,height=105/format:type=webp?Expires=4102444800&amp;Key-Pair-Id=K2H5GZZHVJCN4V&amp;Signature=I2EABajJpaBfrwqeWVOskOX5KAgSc2PeMrcgAjSwhhkvOTD2LzxeapF1oFBPYv7rsocfkOUHtShsayb81pVpy4eyfYw6C2aYqWKxzEza6C1hQrxKRBxTJMQhJzM4RPVN0ZTQ2NCHNWLNcOCRo3AREdVW4k-qsmN-zjgUbeV1P3DvCqllvRHHr~t750lD3WMF4QObnAVnD8ivxRS20b2Ng8RjnFf95J~D4gxaDGwS9yQd8RoUjwtxwwVLt2jPADCoCBOActZKMD01UEjY4B9wpvB~B9~f8ovKxFqYvbn78Xc8OkUnWiOkwKA5K7jZoNMk3yT3DN6zB~VBfWaHyLpeNw__"></div>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="『普通』ができなかった男の逆転劇〜ニトリHD会長・似鳥昭雄氏の「非常識」な経営哲学〜" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ssCsvjHGRuw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
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<figure id="attachment_468689" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468689" style="width: 1800px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6fbbf7dd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/51494b66b20eaec11fe501f5bdf797f4.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468689" class="wp-caption-text"> The book is a half-life story of the chairman of Nitori HD, Akio Nitori. This is a book that gives hope and courage to readers with its powerful attitude of &#8220;I was able to succeed not because of my disability&#8221; but because of it.</figcaption></figure>
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<p><a href="https://amzn.to/4lRRcuF" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Click here to purchase <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Because I Have a Developmental Disability, I Was A Success&#8221; by Akio Nitori (Shodensha, Inc.)</span></a></p>
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 Writer, born in 1973. After working for a publishing company and an advertising production company, became a freelance writer. She interviews actors for weekly and monthly magazines and writes columns on dramas for various media. His major publications include "All the Important Things Are Taught by Morning Drama" (Ota Publishing Co., Ltd.).

 Wakako Takou

 Mayumi Abe

 Unable to keep things in order" and "fierce bullying"... Akio Nitori, Chairman of Nitori HD, who was diagnosed with a developmental disorder at the age of 74, speaks out in great detail. We will find out how a boy who was incapable of doing many things created a company with sales of 900 billion yen.

 Fierce Bullying and the Days Saved by Manga - Interview with Akio Nitori, Chairman of Nitori HD

Nitori HD Chairman, diagnosed with a developmental disorder at age 74, says he can&#8217;t keep things in order&#8230; From fierce bullying to 900 billion in annual sales

Nitori HD Chairman, diagnosed with a developmental disorder at age 74, says he can’t keep things in order… From fierce bullying to 900 billion in annual sales

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