Recognizing Strengths in Japan after Traveling Abroad

When I was a teenager, I was broadly interested in culture in general, including movies, music, art, and fashion, and I wanted to be an artist. At the same time, I was interested in economics and finance, so I majored in economics at university, but my desire to see the wider world and broaden my horizons grew, so I decided to travel abroad during my junior year. I took a leave of absence to save up some money and lived in London for about a year. During my second year abroad, I went backpacking through 30 to 40 countries, mainly in Europe. During this time, I noticed the locals enjoying Japanese video games, anime, and movies. In addition, I met many people who had a deep knowledge of past Japanese designers and film directors of the , such as Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu. I realized firsthand that Japanese culture is more widely appreciated throughout the world than I had expected. I wanted to work in the Japanese entertainment industry once I returned home, and I decided to work for Sega, which has been expanding its business globally since that time. *Transferred to Sega Sammy Holdings in April 2021

Management Skills Developed by Learning from Experts

After starting out as a new employee, my first assignment was at an amusement facility called Sega World Lake Yamanaka, but I was soon transferred to the president's office, where I was involved in Sega's management planning for more than 10 years. I started with an assignment in which I had no idea what was going on. At the time, the company was going through a period of major structural change, and many outside management consultants and financial professionals were involved in the management of the company. I was trained very well as a businessperson by working as an assistant to these people, who all seemed to have a sense of speed and required extremely high quality and precision in their deliverables.

In 2013, I was assigned to Sega Networks (a Sega Group company), which was established for the purpose of developing games for smartphones. I oversaw overall management planning for the new company, including business planning, forecasting, corporate governance, and investment strategy planning. While there were many mid-career employees in the department who had a variety of experience and skills, based on my experience in corporate planning and understanding of the internal structure of the company, I was appointed the general manager of the department. I was able to make use of the experience I gained working with many professionals in the past in this new role.

Beginning in 2016, I began serving as the head of the startup investment division of Sega Sammy Holdings. Based on worldwide trends, I identified startups that have the potential to create synergies in the future across the Sega Sammy Group, building relationships and gathering information through investment.

Aiming to be a place where innovation is created

Since 2017, I have continued to oversee promoting open innovation throughout the Sega Sammy Group in my current position in the investment management department. Our mission is to create "game changers" through open innovation. One of the ways to avoid the innovation dilemma and fulfill our mission is to build relationships and exchange information with startup companies through investment and the creation of management strategy options. We define “entertainment” as everything but the necessities of life, and we are happy to talk with companies in a wide range of genres and stages. Thankfully, we have received investment proposals from many sources, and we proceed with our investment considerations while examining the return on investment and the potential for creating business synergies.

In addition to our investment efforts, we established the “Tunnel Tokyo” innovation space at our head office in 2018. It can be used by anyone to create open innovation efforts with other companies, startups, and individuals. Since location is generally the most important factor for coworking spaces, we focused greatly on the design and functions from the user's perspective, to differentiate it from other places. Our innovation space emphasizes diversity based on the concept of a "tunnel to the future.” There, many diverse and unique events happening there that would not be possible in ordinary coworking spaces. In some cases, new encounters between users have already led to the creation of things that never existed before. We hope to continue to be a place where people invite others to meet, where diverse values and experiences are exchanged, and where innovation is born.

My enjoyment of and mission to discover new talents and possibilities, to support them in connecting to the future, and creating game changers who will have an impact all over the world drives everything I do at Sega Sammy Holdings.

Message to students and those who want to join our company

The Sega Sammy Group has many companies, so one of its most attractive points is that employees can continue to develop their careers without limiting their growth opportunities after joining the Group. I would like to work with people who have an appreciation and curiosity towards all cultures around the world, who are eager to take on new challenges, and who are able to discover new things of value. It is important not to limit one's possibilities when looking for a job, but at the same time, I believe that these days there really are more and more options for one's future. The more choices a person has, the more anxious they may feel about those choices. If you are feeling worried about having too many choices, I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing, as a skill of discernment, to decide "not to do this one thing." Please do not become fixated on the opinions of those around you or make comparisons with others. By all means, have a firm view of your own life and what you want for your future when you are looking for a job!