Posts

Knowing the World: One Human Connection at a Time

I have to be honest: I have always been a very shy person. Right, it certainly does not seem like it now, but because I spent so much of my life moving around the world (average of about one new place every two years), the impossibility of developing long-term stable friendships eventually become a sort of hidden inferiority complex. It has been a personal habit of mine to not really aggressively "sell" myself to others since I would move away soon and potentially never see the people I met again anyways. With such an inferiority complex larking underneath, it is no surprise that over time, I develop a highly proud and often arrogant way of presenting myself to others. Professing to be truly "worldly" and not entangled (or even remotely interested) in those little up-and-down emotional relationships among individuals, I often take a self-isolating stance to meeting others. Not meeting others and connecting with them deeply is the best way to prevent unnecessary

Does the Japanese Education and Job Search Process Stifle Personal Ambitions?

As the news of my imminent departure from Japan and Rakuten continues to spread like a wildfire within the company, the compilation of reactions is certainly becoming a tool for me to further understand what it means to be a salary-men. The stability-seeking middle class backbone of Japanese corporate world, so loyal to their companies and so diligent in fulfilling top-down orders day in and day out , becomes something very interesting when even they become disillusioned with reality within the current work environment. But before talking about disillusion and all, it is important to note just how "stability-oriented" Japanese education and job-search processes really are. Because of continued tendency for mass hiring, job posts are generally specified for new grads, nor are job posts really open to selection by the new grads themselves. Unless the new grad in question have seriously strong skill in one aspect, he or she will simply be placed, along with most others, in

Voicing the Role of Sales in Japanese Society

With the end of the last call yesterday, my sales experience in Japan has officially topped two and a half months. Even though I am still without a single success to my belt, it feels as if, at least from a socio-cultural standpoint, I am starting to see what exactly is the role of a salesman here in Japan. In an IT company whose success is largely defined by aggressive sales rather than technical innovation, understanding the place of sales and its practitioners in Japanese society would be not only necessary but fundamental. In a previous post , I already established that sales skills are obviously not a cookie-cutter ability applicable in the same way to every country out there. But I am coming to realize that what is more important for the difference in sales across countries is social status and function rather than sheer approach and methodology. People would tend to listen to salesmen if the salesmen are perceived to carry more of a social significance, rather than just so

Personal Ambitions and Nonexistent “Congrats” from the Company

"I have decided to graduate from Rakuten and go become a teacher in Uganda!" The tone from an outgoing coworker cannot have sounded more optimistic and forward-looking to a globetrotter like me. A sudden message indeed, and no doubt caught most of the people on the recipient mailing list with great surprise. While I am reading and feeling absolutely jealous and in complete respect for the courage of making such a risky move, I at the same time wonder how others are feeling about the same announcement.

Chasing Sunshine, on the Skin and in the Heart

Waking up in an Internet café in Nagano after a hasty overnight stay to avoid the downpours, I was refreshed in excitement as I went back onto the streets at 6am. The clear blue sky offered not a trace of clouds, and the empty morning streets were completely devoid of any moistness. Breathing in the crisp (and cold…I can see my breath!) morning air, the traveler would not have known that incessant rain made the town as bleak as it can possibly be just a few hours ago. An adventurous traveler can be offered nothing more exciting than fine weather. As long as the weather does not slow him down, the traveler seems to have the entire world to his own . As the sun introduced a bit of warmness to the chilly morning air, passions and energy are reignited, and the traveler just cannot wait to run through the streets, putting his full-packed day of travel planning into execution mode. It is just too unfortunate that everyone who wants to travel has to suppress the urge to do so during weekd