Surpassing My Own Expectations

I grew up in Niigata, where I experienced the Chuetsu earthquakes as a high school student. Seeing the impacts of the disaster firsthand fueled my desire to pursue work that could help people and contribute to local communities. For this reason, I aspired to work at a general trading company where providing solutions to society’s challenges is one of the company’s primary missions.

I attended Sojitz’s recruitment seminar and heard from employees who stood out to me from individuals at other companies. The employees at Sojitz came across as outstanding, action-driven individuals who were leveraging their unique strengths to pursue projects with freedom and flexibility. These Sojitz employees left a lasting impression on me that inspired my desire to join Sojitz and follow in their footsteps.

After joining the company, I was assigned to a department engaged in overseeing shopping center management in Japan. I was both surprised and impressed by the quantitative analysis performed by my manager and senior colleagues who uncovered business issues through in-depth analysis of financial statements. Based on their example, I was determined to master the quantitative skills to identify the narratives behind the numbers. During my time in the department, I studied bookkeeping and gained a command of using numbers to support my explanations while working in shopping center management. These critical skills have proved to be of immeasurable benefit.

In my 7th year at Sojitz, I applied through the internal recruitment system*¹ to do administrative accounting work in a department managing the company’s rail businesses. I wanted to take advantage of being at a general trading company by working on new projects and overseas business. After transferring departments, I took on accounting duties for Sojitz’s dedicated freight corridor project in India. Despite hitting roadblocks such as the complexities of Indian tax regulations, I believe the experience of preparing an accounting framework for the new project was a major stepping stone for personal growth.


*1: For more details on Sojitz’s internal recruitment system: Human Resource Management｜Sojitz ESG BOOK｜Sustainability｜Sojitz Corporation


After three years in the rail business, I requested to transfer to the Business Innovation Office, which supports business divisions with new business development. I had heard about the department’s exciting initiatives from one of my close colleagues who worked in the Business Innovation Office, and I felt a strong interest in new business creation. I also wanted to leverage my accounting and tax background, which was a major determining factor in my decision to make a transfer. When I first joined the Business Innovation Office, the department had just established a corporate venture capital fund for new business investment in the U.S. and India, and I was involved in the preparations. Despite facing a number of challenges, I was able to find solutions to resolve each issue in cooperation with employees on assignment overseas, partner companies, and specialists. In spite of the setbacks, it was a big win for us to be able to advance the venture capital fund for new investment.

I communicated to my manager and colleagues that I would like to get involved with operating company management, and my next big move was to the Automotive Division. During my time in the Business Innovation Office, my eyes were opened to the possibility of further expanding my career. Using Sojitz’s internal transfer system, I applied to change from the administrative to the career track. *² During the same period, I was presented with opportunities for career planning and offered more occasions to discuss my career with my manager. Over the course of these discussions, I was able to identify and articulate my desire to work in business management. I don’t believe I would have come up with this career path or other aspects without valuable input from my then manager, and I am eternally grateful for the guidance.

My current work involves PMI*³ for an automobile dealer and distributor in Panama in addition to initiatives to raise the corporate value of a dealership Sojitz acquired in North America. Specifically, we are working to align the companies with Sojitz Group governance, support business planning, and oversee progress as part of operating company management undertaken in partnership with on-site teams. The automotive industry is easily impacted by changes in the external operating environment, which means that flexible response measures are often necessary. Coordinating with internal and external partners is not always easy, but I have continued to move projects forward and I have been able to make personal progress—as I did during my time in the Business Innovation Office—by uniting to take on challenges and find solutions to each problem together with managers, colleagues, on-site employees, and related parties.

Repeatedly taking on new challenges has led to my personal growth over the long-term, and these experiences will undoubtedly be beneficial when I go on secondment to take part in operating company management in the future. My work at Sojitz gives me a sense of fulfillment, and I am incredibly grateful to my managers and colleagues who have provided advice and guidance and to the company for supporting my professional development over the long-term.

*2 For more details on expanding opportunities for administrative-track employees: Sojitz’s Diversity Management｜Sojitz ESG BOOK｜Sustainability｜Sojitz Corporation

*3 Post-merger integration (PMI): The process of merging two companies’ management after the close of an M&A deal.

My career plan is to go on secondment to an operating company for on-site business management. That being said, I have not decided on a specific business of interest yet. By dedicating myself to the work in front of me, I hope to find a field that calls to me and a business I feel uniquely positioned to take ownership of and lead. The ideal scenario would be to build a business from the seed stage and to then contribute to on-site management of the company. In terms of operating company management, I believe my challenge-taking spirit and experience scaling even the highest hurdles will prove instrumental.

In the more distant future, I hope to express my gratitude by giving back to my home prefecture of Niigata. Each time I return home, I am disheartened by the decline in traditional local industries. It would be incredibly rewarding to help revive these endangered businesses. While I could have started working at a local company in Niigata after graduating from university, I hope that my experience working at a global company will allow me to someday contribute to my home prefecture. I imagine the work I am putting in now and future experience will have helped cultivate my business management skills into a great asset by that point in my career.