Our Managing Partner and Management Services Division Co-CEO, Daisuke Katano, was recently featured in CNN, where he shared his perspective on Japan’s construction sector and the role 3D printing could play in addressing its productivity challenges.
The article explores Japan’s growing interest in 3D-printed construction, especially as the country faces rising material costs, an aging workforce, and long-standing productivity constraints in residential building.
Within this context, Katano-san notes that 3D printing can consolidate up to seven traditional on-site construction trades, helping simplify coordination and improve productivity in residential construction.
He also adds that even a 5–10 percentage-point improvement in construction productivity could be worth trillions of yen in freed-up productive capacity. His perspective frames 3D printing not only as a new construction method, but also as a practical response to labor shortages and coordination inefficiencies in Japan’s residential construction sector.
The broader article discusses “Stealth House,” Japan’s first two-story 3D-printed home, developed by Kizuki in collaboration with ONOCOM and other partners. The project demonstrates how 3D-printed construction may support faster building timelines while meeting Japan’s strict seismic design requirements.
By examining the intersection of construction technology, workforce constraints, and productivity improvement, the article raises important questions around how Japan’s construction sector can adopt new methods to respond to demographic pressure, regional housing needs, and future infrastructure demand.
Read the full article here.
About Our Expert
Daisuke Katano is a Managing Partner and Co-CEO of the Management Services Division at YCP, based in Japan. He has over 15 years of experience in management consulting, specializing in strategic planning and business transformation, with extensive knowledge across private equity, retail and consumer goods, IT, and telecommunications.
