Shinsuke Nuriya Interview

Shinsuke Nuriya

Shinsuke Nuriya

Head of Investment, Patience Capital Group

ULI Japan YLG Chair

Shin is the Head of Investment for Patience Capital Group, a real estate private equity firm based in Singapore and Japan. Before joining PCG, Shin was a founding member and director of Crowd Realty, Inc., an online peer-to-peer equity real estate crowdfunding platform based in Japan and Estonia. Prior to that, Shin worked at Blackstone, where he was involved in the acquisition and asset management of various projects in Japan. Prior to joining Blackstone, he worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was involved in various financial arrangements and mergers and acquisitions. He received a BA in Business and Commerce from Keio University and an MSc in Sustainability Management from Columbia University. Shin currently serves as the Chair of ULI Japan’s Young Leaders Group and sits on ULI Japan’s Executive Committee.

1) What role can young entrepreneurs play in pushing the envelope with Japanese real estate? As people’s lifestyles change, the nature of real estate is changing too. In order to deal with this change, regardless of which country it is, I feel that it is necessary to combine the strengths of different generations. With a combination of innovative ideas and strong determination, young entrepreneurs have the capacity to achieve breakthroughs, and they use this to tackle difficult challenges. Not everything they do will be successful, but I believe the efforts of passionate young entrepreneurs will pave the way for major changes. The important thing is for large companies in the industry and those seeking to protect established interests to embrace the enthusiasm of these young entrepreneurs and the changes they bring.
2) What is needed to make Japanese real estate more exciting? I feel that Japanese real estate is attractive as an investment in the global market at the moment. Housing and logistics facilities offer stable yields and are attracting attention as solid investments, and compared to real estate in other countries that delivers similar yields, they are perceived as superior options due to factors such as the low country risk, the quality of buildings relative to their price, and high yield spreads. Japanese real estate therefore seems to be perceived as a solid, stable investment option rather than an exciting investment opportunity. I believe creative ideas that rethink the way buildings are used will be required for Japanese real estate. Focusing on the gap between the new nature of real estate driven by lifestyle changes and the realities of existing real estate, we as PCG are considering investments in both facilities and services.
3) Can Japanese real estate catch up with the rest of Asia in proptech? The term “proptech” can sometimes be ambiguous and misleading, so I will respond by defining it here as any problem-solving solution. The reason for this is that many of the challenges faced by the real estate industry today will not necessarily be solved by means of technological innovation. Of course, it is possible that the inherent challenges of the real estate industry could be solved using so-called “deep tech,” but unfortunately, there are not many successful examples of this in Asia.

Real estate industry circumstances vary greatly from one country to another, and while there are challenges that are common to various countries, we realize that there are also issues unique to each country. First of all, when it comes to resolving common issues, Japan is lagging behind, and I think that the leading solutions are being created by platforms originated in other countries or industries other than real estate. Next, when you talk about Japan, it is recognized that the problems specific to the country are often due to old-fashioned industry practices, pressure to protect established interests, and a legal system that lacks flexibility. However, I believe there is considerable potential for technology to achieve breakthroughs that will help to solve these challenges.
4) What is needed to positively transform tourism/entertainment in real estate? We view the lack of a user perspective as a key challenge in Japanese tourism- and leisure-sector real estate. For example, Japan has an abundance of attractive tourism resources whose value has not yet been realized. I believe their value has not been realized due to a lack of design thinking necessary for selecting appropriate targets to evaluate and experience in order to identify their value, developing a user experience (UX) that maximizes that value, and then delivering the UX to users.
5) Are the last four months of 2020 going to be tough on Japanese real estate or be the start of a strong, positive repositioning of the market? “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.” – Albert Einstein. Just as Einstein once said “in crisis lies opportunity,” I am trying find positives in the current coronavirus crisis. The crisis has made me appreciate the daily life that I took for granted pre-crisis, while also leading me to seriously think about the paradigm shift and lifestyle of the future. I do not think there has ever been an event that has changed people’s lives as much as this will. When major changes occur, the market may also be distorted. I want to keep myself up to date so that I do not miss out on this opportunity.