Since graduating Meiji University, I have been working at a Japanese securities company. My role at the securities company is not only to connect investors with investment needs and issuing entities that issue credit such as companies, countries, and financial institutions with financing needs, but also to improve the liquidity of the financial market (ease of transactions on the market). My job is to stand in the shoes of investors and grasp their needs within the overall flow and make trade proposals.

I think that for sales, the trick to winning is how to establish trust with the customer and share my perspective on the market as a representative of the company. My customers are mainly investors at overseas financial institutions and professionals in finance. How to get such customers to trust me and make them think that I am someone to whom they want to listen is important. I believe that having them trust me is the first step in being able to ask about their perspective on the market and what they are thinking.

The market changes daily and there is no one day that is the same as another; studying it daily is imperative. The strong sense of responsibility that I feel towards customers about the brands I recommend is what inspires me as I engage in my work every day.

The words “think outside the box” are important to me; it means the attitude “to be inventive and think without being bound by existing notions.” When working, I think that it is important to continuously raise questions within yourself and keep thinking of new ideas and methods.

In recent years, the Japanese stock market has been gathering attention not only from Western institutional investors, but also from Asian institutional investors. However, because investor relations (PR targeting investors) at Japanese companies remain mostly announcements in Japanese, a language barrier still exists for foreign institutional investors. Going forward, I would like to utilize my own language abilities and experience for such customers and convey the merits of Japanese companies.

I was job-hunting right after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Because of that, at the time many companies were hesitant about hiring people. It was a difficult situation for me as well as for Japanese students, and I had a tough time. However, I am still in touch with the friends I made during job interviews during such a situation and I treasure their friendship now even several years after getting employed.

There is no other way to overcome difficulties than by putting in effort. I committed to personal development and my friends and I always supported each other and exchanged information.

I worked part-time at a sushi restaurant while studying. I started out by doing the washing and cleaning, but as I gained experience I started serving customers and cooking as well. I was able to gain a lot of experience such as standing behind the counter preparing fish while talking to customers and becoming able to prepare sushi in accordance with customers' requests. I also had the highest sales among all of the several restaurants in the chain.

My student life at Meiji University and various aspects of living in Japan including, of course, interaction with Japanese students, discussions in and outside the classroom with students gathered from all over the world, working on assignments every day, and work experience through part-time work, made me develop as a person.

I worked part-time for prolonged periods over the summer and winter breaks in order to reduce the burden of tuition on my family living in back home. My job at the sushi restaurant required standing all the time; I can still recall the bone-breaking pain I experienced trying to get up the next day.

Going to Cambridge University in England to study English through the university's curriculum during the summer break. I learned the importance of the ability to think and the ability to worry at Cambridge University. I think that what I experienced there led to my motivation during job-hunting after I came back to Japan.

Professor Kohei Yamada's Cost Accounting and Management Accounting classes.

Classes in graduate school focus on discussions. In order to hold discussions, it is essential to always be meticulously prepared. The experienced I gained from the effort I put in for each and every assignment is what I think I find most useful in my current job.

From scholarships to job-hunting support and the detailed support structure for living in Japan, no other university could match the support I received.