my story

Born and raised in Osaka, Japan. At 16, I went to New Zealand as an exchange student for a year. I loved that I could try whatever subject and activity I was interested in. I stayed for two years instead and graduated high school in Auckland.

I went back to Japan for a half year, I bought shamisen to a shamisen factory and moved to Liverpool to study BA (Honours) in Arts, Music and Entertainment Management. After graduation I lived in New York for six months, working for an arts event company. I worked on various projects: arts events, theatre productions, bands and art exhibitions.

My projects required the coordination of many different people. Everyone had different perspectives that weren't well communicated. I became a bridge person to translate everyone's views into a common ground. Acting as the interpreter in the middle of cultures and values made me realise cultures influence how we behave, how we interpret others' behaviours and ultimately who we are.

I completed a Master's degree in Intercultural Communication for Business and Professions in London. I learnt about the psychology of how culture can shape us, not just cultural theories. I wrote a published research article on Linguistic Schizophrenia, something I had been feeling since leaving Japan. I lived in Cyprus for a year to work as a psycholinguistic research assistant at the University of Cyprus while working as a sushi chef to survive.

To become an intercultural consultant, I needed to experience the Salaryman Life. I went to Nara, Japan, to work for a mid-sized manufacturing company, where no one spoke English or had international experience. I worked very closely with the CEO and became the head of HR and IT. This four-year experience gave me a first-person perspective on Japanese business culture – I saw how cultural theories applied in real life.

I moved to London and started working for a Japanese IT company. There I saw how Japanese and local engineers had different ways of approaching problems and the large gap in business expectations between local and Japanese companies. I became the director of WorldWork, a British psychometrics tools company while working as an intercultural communication trainer. I trained many different professionals and listened to their stories - how they ended up being in that specific profession, what motivates them, what their goals are.

I felt that the career journey starts much earlier than university and early exposure to different professions could have many advantages for kids. With this idea I started a startup for career education while continuing to work as an intercultural communication trainer. After two years, I transitioned back to consulting, bringing invaluable startup experience that now informs my work. I regularly lecture on entrepreneurship from intercultural perspectives and use these insights to support other startups and businesses.

Today I work as an intercultural consultant, Chief Global Officer/Strategic Partner for iHistory, a Japanese SaaS startup and Strategic Advisor for the psychometrics tools business of TCO International, a UK/Italian coaching and training company. I am married to Valeria, a Sicilian woman I met in London and we are raising our son in Tokyo, facing intercultural challenges every day!

qualification, certification, publication