At GSM, I was able to learn from 3 main topics. The first one is basics of business overall during the first semester in Year 1. The second is the various elective courses taken during the second semester in Year 2. From the various courses, I have studied topics related to hospitality, business valuation, and AI. The third and final one is through the workshops. We were able to select from a vast amount of themes that will help me in the future, such as research, case study, and business plan, which I chose research for the topic.

During my year at Cornell University, not only did I take courses related to hospitality, but I was also able to take courses from other MBA programs, healthcare, and international relations. Particularly, the course on wine from all over the world, spending one semester to consult an existing hotel were the memorable courses.

I work for SNBL, which is listed in the first section of TSE and my father manages. The business consists of preclinical assessment of pharmaceuticals as the core, and we also involve in a variety of business such as resort hotels, medical tourism, geothermal power generation, fishery, etc. For this reason, our strength is that we engage in different businesses. I have been managing 2 subsidiaries during my time in this program, which are hotel management and pharmaceutical development platform business, and I have immediately put it into practice through trial and error from what I have learned through the joint program.

The significant strength of this program is to be able to study at both Kyoto University and Cornell University, and every aspect during my enrollment was impressive. In particular, I did not know much about business strategy before I started this program. I was able to study the field I was not familiar with, such as marketing, leadership governance, finance, etc. and was very excited. At Cornell, there were a lot of opportunities to interact with other departments and alumni that are currently the President and Board Member of a large corporation. Our classmates are all outgoing and have unique backgrounds, and through interacting with them, I was able to widen my view. For WS, I researched the current situation of wellness resorts in Japan and development of framework strategy to implement wellness service. This was my first thesis outside of the medical field, and I was able to finish the thesis with the support of Professor Spring.

Since my second year was all done remotely due to the COVID-19, I have simultaneously studied at GSM and worked at my company. In particular, I have become the President of our hotel business in July after graduating from Cornell, and have conducted the rebranding of our hotel. I used the material from the program to apply it into our management strategy, marketing strategy, restructuring the branding and service operation, etc., and I was able to have a great time looking over the hotel business.
Starting this February, I was appointed to the President of the pharmaceutical development platform. I would like to apply what I have learned through the program, and create a reform that can change the landscape of the industry.
I feel that the KC-CDO program is a great program where you can learn management and hospitality from 2 of the most renowned universities.
Both universities have lectures done by well-known professors, and we are able to be affiliated to the alumni network. In addition to living in Kyoto with a traditional atmosphere, having the opportunity to live near Cornell University, which is considered to be the most beautiful campus in the US, makes this impressive program globally unparalleled. By learning both management and hospitality, I am able to broaden my imagination towards business. As an alumni of the program, I highly suggest people to apply to the program and connect it to their future.