I have studied in the faculty of engineering. However, I found myself strongly attached to the study of design, fashion, art and start up business. I want to be more professional in the area of fashion and business, which makes me to enroll in MBA course at Kyoto University. In this course, not only I learned all the fundamental knowledge about business, but I attended several projects studying the creation of new businesses and service design. It was the best place to explore my talents. Students are allowed to choose freely the contents of study according to their interests, and they can take the classes given by teachers and executives with various business experiences. This is why Kyoto University is so attractive for me.

It so happened that one of my former colleagues in a company run by my previous employer was a graduate of GSM. In private conversation with that person, I admitted that I wanted to work for a project to develop the Amakusa region in western Kumamoto, Kyushu. I was informed that Prof. K. Kobayashi of GSM, Kyoto Univ., was engaged in a community development project in Amakusa. I immediately decided to apply for GSM, aiming to get involved with Prof. Kobayashi’s activities. In my decision- making process, I never thought about other options such as other graduate schools. In those days, population decrease had become an increasingly alarming issue in Amakusa, where people were facing a serious decay of healthcare services in the local community. I earnestly hoped to make some contribution to resolving the problem, revitalising the local community. After joining GSM, I participated in a workshop in Year 2, visiting Amakusa, where, under Prof. Kobayashi’s guidance, I carried out a field survey, conducting hearings from medical institutes as well as elderly local citizens. Based on those interviews and fact-finding, I prepared and distributed a proposal to the local associations of pharmacists and care givers, who were taking care of the elderly, disabled and/or significantly ill. I became aware that, although I was in a senior management position in a business, I had not learned about management systematically. I realised that there was a gap in my knowledge and expertise, and became fully committed to learning the fundamentals of management at GSM.

After graduating from university, I worked for a trading company for about 2 years and later started my own business. Two years ago, I was confused whether I should expand my business. In order to figure it out from a boarder perspective as well as to make my career path more clearly, I decided to take MBA course in GSM-KU. I have gained precious experience during these two years studying, I have met excellent classmates and professors from all walks of life, which gave me different perspectives of life and work. Besides, GSM-KU provided us with such a wide range of curriculum and lectures, including both academic field and practical […]

I had spent my undergraduate years in the economics department of Kyoto University and founded a software development startup company in my undergraduate years. I've been involved in software development since I was a junior high school student, so I knew a lot about "making" but now I want to learn "selling what I made" too. Since I was an undergraduate, I had an attachment to learning in Kyoto, and I chose Kyoto University GSM because the quality of the professors was reliable.

After majoring in Architecture of Engineering and working in the construction field in Japan, I joined the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) out of a desire to work overseas.

My research interests include corporate strategy, corporate governance, international business, business history, and especially the evolution of large enterprises in developed and emerging economies.

I received my master’s degree in Agricultural Science from the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University.

My research efforts to date have given me with opportunities to create ideas that explain what we see in the service sector.