Arts & Culture Jun. 19, 2009 - 07:00AM JST ( 4 )

“How I Saved a Bank” is the fascinating and timely story of the author’s years at the helm of a regional Japanese bank. Brought in when the bank was on the brink of collapse, Tadahiko Ito decided to conduct operations at the firm based on a people-first philosophy.

His experience turning the bank’s fortunes around was the subject of his first book in Japanese, “Spiritual Management,” which was followed by “Celestine Lifestyle,” about his philosophy on life and religious beliefs. He is presently chairman of the board of Kansai Urban Banking Corporation.

From the start, he championed a framework of moral and ethical responsibility in the company’s banking methods, foreshadowing the demands people are making of today’s financial institutions worldwide.

Ito’s system is anchored in his own spiritual ideals. He believes that a focus on a universal goal of prosperity rather than a narrow-minded approach centered entirely on profit and self-interest aligns us with the universe, and results in a harmonious system that encourages all participants and helps guide us on our way. His system resulted in a dramatic turnaround that more traditional experts believed impossible: Kansai Urban Bank recovered and now ranks as one of the top second-tier banks in Japan.

In these pages, Ito recounts his experiences. He combines the most cogent ideas from his two Japanese bestsellers. The first part relates his successful solution to rescue a floundering bank. The second part goes more deeply into Ito’s Christian beliefs, as he explains how anyone can become a force for good, ultimately leading to our own happiness and success. But regardless of one’s spiritual leanings, Ito offers fresh ideas for age-old problems in the workplace.

A timely, thought-provoking account of how the strong Christian beliefs of a Japanese bank president helped him turn the firm from the brink of disaster into a profitable concern.