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It's been a while since my last post. These past few months have been incredibly busy, with work continuing from morning to night. That said, compared to when I first started my business with zero sales and couldn't see any way forward, this is nothing to complain about. This is all thanks to the support—both visible and invisible—from everyone around me. I'm truly grateful. ♪ Still, quite a lot has happened this year…
When I was working as an environmental assessment specialist, I heard this story from a colleague. There was a time when the public was concerned about chlorine compounds in tap water becoming carcinogenic substances. During that period, a certain country decided in parliament that chlorine was the culprit and stopped chlorinating their tap water. So what happened next? Well, certainly...
Several years ago, while working in a Southeast Asian country, I took a vacation to visit my local colleague's family home. It was quite a remote village, but it was a place where the Japanese military had been stationed during the Pacific War. According to what I heard, all the Japanese soldiers died in combat with the Allied forces, but the village had a large tree planted there to honor their memory, and even now…
Recently, I've been posting on a certain business SNS in both English and Japanese. While ChatGPT can easily translate into English, I sometimes feel that the intent isn't getting across. To maintain my own English skills, I take the extra effort to follow this approach: 1. First, I draft the text in Japanese. 2. Then... (your text appears to be cut off here) Could you provide the complete text? I'm ready to translate the full passage once you share it.
I took a four-day trip to Miyazaki with Takachiho as the main destination, starting last Friday! As you probably know, Takachiho in particular is said to be the setting of Japanese mythology, with important shrines scattered throughout the area, including shrines related to the famous legend of Ama-no-Iwato. It's truly a paradise for shrine enthusiasts. By the way, when you visit shrines or temples, I imagine most people offer prayers or make wishes. I wonder what kinds of wishes people make...
While everyone else was enjoying their Obon holidays, I was glued to my PC at home working away. So now I'm taking some time off and visiting Takachiho, a place I've always wanted to see. I had a lot of things I was looking forward to, but on the first day, I experienced "Yoru Kagura" (Night Kagura), a nationally designated intangible cultural property. The performances—if you can call them that—were roughly presented in two parts. One was based on the famous legend of Ama no Iwato and had a solemn...
I participated in the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers about 3X years ago (that would give away my age...), and since then, I've consistently been involved with development issues in emerging countries. What strikes me is how much the players addressing social challenges have shifted over these past few decades. This is quite a broad observation, but I'd like to touch on it briefly. In the 1970s, the main actors solving social challenges were unmistakably...
In our previous post, we touched on social issues from the perspective of "externalities." As a continuation of that discussion, this time we'll explore the question: "How can business solve social issues?" The key concept is "internalization of externalities." I apologize for introducing another complex term, but essentially, it's about suppressing activities that have a negative impact on society, or for society...
Our company operates what is known as social business—approaching the resolution of challenges in developing countries through business activities. However, we sometimes receive feedback like this: "If a business is profitable, isn't it already contributing to society in a normal way?" It's true that all businesses provide valuable products and services, create employment, and through business…
Recently, I've been thinking that my eyes feel strained from looking at displays too much. Then Amazon released a Kindle device with Color E-Ink, which caught my interest. However, the thing is, you can only read Kindle books on it... You can't browse the web, and you can't read Smanyu or other e-books either...
I was recently invited to a one-year anniversary event at a cross-industry networking gathering, so I decided to attend. Among approximately 30 participants, I exchanged business cards with 11 people. What surprised me was that 5 of those business owners were engaged in, or had some involvement with, socially responsible business initiatives in some form or another! To be honest, I had assumed that these kinds of efforts were something "large enterprises…
# A Country Without "Thank You"? Insights from East Timor This is a story from my time working as a JICA expert in East Timor. What surprised me first was that the local language (Tetum) has no word equivalent to "thank you." Instead, people use "obrigado," which comes from Portuguese, the former colonial power. When I first learned this, I thought, "There's no concept of gratitude here…
# Lessons Learned from Trouble in Bali Recently, I've been seeing a lot of articles on platforms like SmartNews with titles like "Third-rate businesspeople do ○○, but first-rate ones do ??". It reminded me of something about what "first-rate" really means, so I thought I'd write about it. This is a story from when I was working in Southeast Asia as a JICA expert. When I was returning to Japan on temporary leave, I ran into some trouble in Bali...
Thank you so much for all your messages♪ I also received kind words from my wife saying, "You've climbed another step into adulthood♡" Today, I've finally surpassed Isono Namihei, who eternally remains 54 years old, and turned 55. That said, living forever as a 54-year-old does seem like quite a hellish existence when you think about it, and I can relate to that...
Recently, I attended a charity event organized by a group. The beneficiaries are people from a certain country currently facing a politically difficult situation. I'm withholding the details here as the matter is sensitive, but there were individuals who felt compelled to dedicate their lives to ongoing support activities. What left a strong impression was a remark made by one of the speakers. …
# A Question from a Business Networking Event I attended a business networking event the other day and received a question, so I'd like to share it with you. At X-edutainment, we develop business applications that sit between Excel and full-scale systems—customized to match our clients' specific needs. If you were to build something like this through conventional methods, it could easily cost several million yen. However, we're able to deliver solutions at roughly 1/10th to 1/20th of that price. "Why is it so affordable? Are you outsourcing to engineers in developing countries…"
I'm usually hesitant to post current events on social media, but this one had such a significant impact on me personally that I'm bringing it up. Many of you probably saw it because GACKT posted about it on X, but I'm referring to President Trump's decision to shut down USAID (United States Agency for International Development). USAID is, in Japanese terms, comparable to JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency)…
