GHB Interview: Tetsuya Asano, President, Ichijo USA

ICHIJO USA, GHB’s Builder of the Year reflects on their secret to success 

Green Home Builder: What is the long-term vision for ICHIJO USA and how does it differ from Ichijo’s strategy in Japan and other markets? 

Tetsuya Asano: Naturally, we are committed to expanding in the United States the high-performance, airtight, and highly insulated homes we have refined in Japan. However, rather than accelerating growth through the acquisition of other builders, we believe it is more appropriate to advance our business on our own to the greatest extent possible. By doing so, we can preserve our corporate originality and continue making steady, deliberate progress, step by step.

GHB: How do you foster innovation while maintaining rigorous quality standards? 

TA: Maintaining high quality is the most critical priority for our company, and it is something that must never be compromised—regardless of how many homes we build. For this reason, we place quality control under the leadership of staff members with construction experience in Japan, ensuring that we continue to deliver superior homes to our customers.

At the same time, as customer needs become increasingly diverse, we are committed to meeting as many of those expectations as possible while upholding the highest standards of quality. Guided by the philosophy of our parent company in Japan, we embrace the motto: “Have more passion and enthusiasm for building great homes than even our homeowners.” With this principle at the core of our operations, we approach every home we build with the utmost sincerity and professionalism.

Furthermore, we have established a product development team that leverages our experience in Japan to conduct ongoing experiments and research, enabling us to continually pursue the creation of even better homes.

GHB: You won the Green Home Builder of the Year from Earth Advantage, what steps did you take to earn that recognition, and how does it shape your future projects? 

TA: We received the Most Platinum Homes 2025 award, which recognizes the builder with the highest number of Earth Advantage Platinum certifications. This marks our fourth consecutive year achieving Platinum-level recognition (2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025).

To maximize each home’s performance score, we carefully select our framing methods, insulation, and high-efficiency appliances to ensure strong energy and resource efficiency. Our mission is to bring the homes of tomorrow to life today through advanced energy efficiency, and that’s the standard we are proud to deliver here in the United States.

GHB:What is the biggest opportunity in residential construction that no one is talking about yet?

TA:In the U.S. housing industry, there is a prevailing tendency to focus heavily on the visible features of a home, what the customer can immediately see, while placing far less emphasis on the invisible components, the structural and foundational elements that ultimately determine long-term quality.

Having developed our business in Japan, a country known for its exceptional standards of craftsmanship, we see a significant opportunity in elevating these invisible components. Through our “IJQ” (ICHIJO Japan Quality) initiative, we conduct thorough inspections of the elements that will eventually be concealed such as the foundation, walls and underlying structural systems and document them for our customers. By providing this level of transparency, we aim to earn their trust and demonstrate our uncompromising approach to quality.

While attention to the visible features is, of course, essential, we remain equally committed to rigorously upholding and continuously strengthening, our focus on the invisible components that define the true integrity of a home.

GHB: How do you see ICHIJO USA evolving over the next decade in terms of design, performance and business models?

TA: At ICHIJO USA, we incorporate not only locally sourced products but also a wide range of materials, components, and technologies used in Japan. We will continue to adopt these products proactively, further enhancing the functionality and convenience that distinguish Japanese manufacturing.

With respect to performance, we remain firmly committed to “quality” as our top priority, while simultaneously pursuing even greater levels of comfort and livability in our homes.

From a business-model perspective, we are transitioning from a traditional spec-home approach to a Pre-Sale model, which allows customers to make selections earlier in the process and enjoy a broader range of options. By adopting this more flexible framework, we aim to further strengthen overall customer satisfaction.

GHB:What are you proud of achieving this year and what sustainability goals have you set for the next 5–10 years? 

TA: Unfortunately, we have not yet achieved this year’s target. However, thanks to the dedicated efforts of our team, I believe we are steadily moving closer to our goal. To ensure that the smiles our customers show at the time of closing last a lifetime, we will continue working together as one team, never losing sight of the daily effort required to further strengthen our commitment to customer satisfaction.

Ultimately, by earning our customers’ genuine trust and recognition of the homes we build, we aim to create a company where both our customers and our employees can share in long-lasting happiness.

This is the full version of the GHB interview, read the print version here.