It’s been snowing this morning in Tokyo. Watching snow falling reminds me of the days studying for the entrance exams. When I was in elementary school, I studied hard not just because of the exam, but also because I liked studying. I was excited to know new things, excited to learn and be able to do what I couldn’t do. Even though I tried hard, I had to move from Japan with my family and I never had chance to take the exam to entrance middle school in Japan. That was one of my regrettable stories but also good lesson for me that life if not easy to control myself.

Hello everyone, I’m Risako Ikeda. I joined IISIA on March 1^st.

I started my career as a representative at a pharmaceutical company. I was glad to hear from doctors about the patients those who were getting better because of the medicine I informed.  I had feeling that what I was doing was good for people. And also, the number of sales told me how I was doing at work and that gave me confidence. However, at some point, doing what company said made me stop thinking about my own life. I had a feeling that I was not controlling my life myself.

I quit my job and started to find what I wanted to do. What I could do for people and community. When I thought about what I wanted to do, my experience at the university came up. I was so in to the project of making drama. There was a big competition of drama once a year. 6 sections for cast, costume and make-up, light, sound, set, and property worked hard for the final day of the competition. There were many troubles during the preparation but at the final day, we could perform well and everyone cried from the excitement and impression.

After leaving my job, I entered a school to study architecture. I wanted to create places that people would communicate with each other. One of my projects was a library without papers. By using devices to read, I thought there could be a place that people read books more freely and communicate with others frankly.

While I was thinking about what I want to do for the future, I had a chance to talk with Mr. Harada, our CEO. He discussed about what was happening in the world, what we have to do for the future.

I was so excited about what I might be able to do for the world. I wondered what if I could make world better from my experience. Even though I didn’t know what I could do, I thought there were something I might be able to do.

World is changing so fast. Something that was right could be wrong tomorrow. I will work to realize Pax Japonica and contribute for the society.

Thank you for reading so far, warm wishes to you.

Corporate Planning Group, Risako Ikeda