The Korea Local Administration Review

The study is to present Irodori Company, Kamikatsu, Japan, as a best practice for Korea's aging farming and fishing villages. Irodori has turned the aged into active businessmen earning good amount of income and living physically healthy lives. As a result, young people comes back to the region, making a U-turn or an I-turn. Behind this success case is an innovative local leader, Yokoishi Tomoji. This study describes the dynamics of his leadership upon the four development stages of Irodori. It is revealed that the most important characteristics of his leadership is persistence, which might be a precious lesson for Korean leader or leader-to-be in community business.

□ Keywords: Community Business, Regional Leader, Entrepreneurship, Irodori, Innovative Leader