The first thing Hiroaki Ninoyu does almost every day when he arrives at work is head to the meditation room.

He begins his half-hour ritual at 7:30 a.m. in a Japanese-style room equipped with soothing sounds and lighting effects.

Thanks to meditation, "I can focus on one thing without being easily distracted," said Ninoyu, the general manager at the Tokyo headquarters of office solutions company Itoki Corp.