What are you reading?

"Bushido: The Soul of Japan." It's about the Japanese samurai, how the warriors were and how Japanese today, their life and the way they think, is probably derived from the old samurai and how they were. They were very determined, loyal, respectful, and respectable. ... I don't read novels, I (only read books) I feel will help me or help our team. So it's books that are related to biographies or books that are in depth about how people feel or how you make people feel, or about getting along — leadership, what makes a good leader, and what makes a good follower.

How does "Bushido" fit in?

I'm not finished with it, and I don't know how it's going to work out, but you can take a look at the Japanese culture and how they work, and how they really take heart to loyalty, to respect and respecting the elders, really taking care of their children and looking to the future. ... I enjoy reading a book like that over time, or something like the book I just finished, called "The Enlightened Partner Revisited." That's on how your mind and your consciousness and your thoughts work together.

What do you like about it?

I was born and raised in Japan, brought up on an army base, and my father was born and raised on Maui. Our family history goes back 90 years in Hawai'i and of course a lot longer in Japan. To think about how my grandfather used to be, and how he used to work hard and was so determined — I go back and think about all those things as I read the book, as well as how the other book talks about ... how we can make ourselves look at the world in a certain way and accept things.

Is this kind of looking back and thinking about your roots essential as your company continues to grow?

The three last books that I've read are books that are related to how I can be a better leader and listen and interact with our staff and continue to make our brand grow. ... I have to continually make our new staff members understand where we came from and why I did it this way. To me, what's really important is where I came from and why I do things. I'm not looking for a soul-searching, deep answer; I'm just looking out to see in history why some things are done certain ways or why things are a certain way.