No. 06 Learning from a woman who suits mimosa: What is a true international perspective?

March 8th was [Festa della Donna].
In Italy, it is a day to express daily gratitude by giving mimosa to women, and after receiving mimosa from an Italian friend, it became my favorite flower. I am often not in Italy during this time of year, but this year, I received a message and a photo of mimosa from my Italian friend, which made me very happy.

And just on this day, I had lunch with a woman I met through work, and I was able to hear plenty of valuable stories about her life, which is rich in international experience. To organize my own thoughts, I would like to record her stories along with my own reflections.

Armed with her native Japanese and near-native English,
a woman who navigated various industries in the United States

In the 70s, when the environment for things like studying abroad was not as well-established as it is now, she studied at a university in the United States. After graduating, she continued to work in the U.S., and by leveraging her native Japanese in addition to her near-native English, she also experienced changing jobs across different industries. After working in the U.S. for a total of over 30 years, she returned to Fukuoka and is currently dedicated to international projects.

For language acquisition, start with pronunciation

In the U.S., in business, if your English pronunciation is not native-level, you lack persuasiveness and people will not listen to you. To get people to listen in the first place, pronunciation is more important than vocabulary.

I also make a conscious effort to shadow when learning Italian. Listening and speaking to acquire the correct rhythm and pronunciation is indeed important, and ultimately, it seems to be the shortcut.

What is a [true international perspective]?

She says that a true international perspective is not acquired just by [being able to speak a foreign language] or [having lived abroad]. I have felt this keenly myself, and I believe a true international perspective is something like a gut feeling that is only acquired by engaging with locals on equal footing in business, like she does, or by blending into the local community.

Applying this to myself, although I go back and forth between Japan and Italy, I do not work with Italians, and my community is limited. While listening to her, I almost groaned at my own half-baked current situation.

Differences in business

In business, there are too many differences between the U.S. and Japan, and Japan has its own unique rules, so we should be more conscious of international standards. Also, while there is finally a trend of wage increases in large companies recently, wages in Japan are still far too low.

This is my personal opinion, but isn't Japan's low wage a sign that we are not confident in our own work? I am still halfway there myself, so I must accumulate work that I can be confident in and increase my own value.

Fukuoka cannot become a global city

After returning to Fukuoka, she dedicated herself to the city's globalization, but in the end, she apparently gave up. Even with all her energy, she couldn't make Fukuoka global. I think it means Fukuoka simply didn't have the capacity to embrace her international experience. What a waste.

I also felt that Fukuoka, and Japan as a whole, would always be like a country in national isolation. Not just the sea, but invisible walls stand in the way, and in the true sense, it is never open to the world. While people say they want to globalize, I feel there is a counter-reaction at work that wants to stay comfortably within their own circles. I don't necessarily think not globalizing is bad. However, especially in Fukuoka, since there are no historic townscapes like in Kyoto or original rural landscapes like in Shirakawa-go, I feel it ends up being neither one thing nor the other.

I want young people to challenge themselves abroad more.

These were the words she said at the end. Although various tools to connect with the world have developed recently, she still wants young people to take that step forward to see the world.

Comparing Japan and Italy, I often feel frustrated that Japan is still bound by old values, but I believe that by interacting with people from around the world and learning about the world, we and the younger generation can help change such a society.

Listening to her story, I was overwhelmed and found it convincing, but at the same time, it felt like she was hitting a sore spot of mine, leaving me full of emotion and unable to say anything by the end.

Backed by her unique and rich international experience, she was dignified and full of confidence. I certainly cannot talk about myself with that much confidence right now.

She was truly a woman who looked good in mimosa, a woman worthy of mimosa.

Italian phrases useful for travel

Lei è Maria. Ha un lavoro internazionale.
(Lei è Maria. Ha un lavoro internazionale.)
She is Maria. She has an international job.