Norihisa Tomiyasu opened his first mortuary in 1997 aiming to clean up a profession he says deserved its bad reputation for exploiting people¡¯s grief and overcharging them at some of the most fraught moments of their lives.

¡°The industry was so backward,¡± he says. ¡°I wanted to make it more socially responsible.¡±

It turned out to be a shrewd career choice. Tomiyasu is founder and president of Tear Corp., a chain of discount funeral homes known for transparent pricing, whose share price has almost doubled since listing on the first tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2014.