Weekday wanderings around Tokyo....and having fun in business

Another beautiful fine autumn day here in the Japanese capital, albeit a bit on the chilly side. Today I wanted to talk about weekday wanderings in the huge metropolis that is Tokyo. So, I do manage to get out of the house a bit during the week in the daytime and am extremely grateful that I made the choice to work a business from home as it gives me the flexibility to do that.

I guess it took me a while at first to realize that working a home business could be fun - when I first got started I felt like staying at home and typing out promotional material hour after hour, and day after day. But I soon realized that was no fun!!! So, in the true Davies spirit, I got curious and started to venture out to discover more about Tokyo suburban life during the daytime - and these are just a few of my observations on my excursions!

Okutama, a famous lake in far western Tokyo

Its quite funny some of the looks I get when I am out and about during the day, most noticeably in my local area (which is very local!!). 

If you can picture its 11 am on a weekday morning and I am in my local supermarket doing a spot of shopping - I am without a shadow of doubt the the only Caucasian foreigner in the store and most likely the only male customer under the age of 65 in the store! 

Then if you could also picture the middle of the afternoon in my local coffee shop -  I am surrounded by chatty housewives, ojii & obaa-chans (grandmas and grandpas) everywhere, once again being the only Caucasian foreigner in the shop!

Of course the closer I get to central Tokyo, there more non-Japanese people you tend to see so I guess I just blend in, and everyone thinks I am just another tourist on the loose in this huge city!

About twice a week, I go to a major station in the early evening where I know there should be some foreigner foot traffic. I stand there and hand out some flyers for my business to all and every foreigner I can find (as my business materials are in English only at the present time). When I say "sir" or "madam" and present them with a flyer, many people look up to see a big smiling foreigner handing them the paper and it intrigues them a bit, so they take one!

I am starting to make a game of this process - I am going to see how many stations on the Yamanote line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamanote_Line) I can go to to distribute my flyers and compare notes to pick the best ones.

Recently I have also got out and about and made some youtube videos (you can see some of them at the bottom of the blog and there are more to come)- with my trusty Sony Cybershot digital camera!!! I am not looking to take over Steven Spielberg's position just yet, maybe I might gun for that one in 2011!!! lol

So to wrap up today's topic I would like to say that the reason I get out and about is to allow myself to have some fun during the week - it gives me more inspiration and ignites my passion about what I do that much more! So my advice for today is even if you are still working a job, or doing a business, learn to have a bit of fun and seek the passion in what you do. Once you do this, you will find a lot of things in your business life will flow much more smoothly. That's my rant for today! Cheers!

Lessons from Consulting in Japan (Part 1 of Many)

During my 8 or so years here in this island country, I spent about 6 of those years doing consulting and project work for many Japanese subsidiaries of foreign entities in and around Tokyo (called "Gaishikei"). Most of that project work was in the areas of Sarbanes Oxley, internal audit and interim financial position work, and I was actually lucky enough to do projects in a number of  offices with staff numbers ranging from just 10 people all the way up to 500 or more people. I guess it means I have been privy to a number of different working environments.

So lets take a step back here. In Japan at least, even though the name of the company might be foreign and well recognized, that in a lot of cases is the only thing foreign about the firm!!! All correspondence in the firm, all invoices to clients and bills from creditors are in Japanese (well that's at least half expected), spoken Japanese only is used by everyone except for a few members of staff at the upper levels who have to deal by email or phone with the parent company overseas, who use English when absolutely necessary!

Yugawara, Kanagawa-ken

I started my career here in the Tsukiji area of Tokyo - which is right next to one of the biggest wholesale fish markets in the world, and worked for a seafood trading company (the side benefit of this was the WORLD'S best sushi for lunch three times a week)!!. I learnt on my first day when I went to the office of the company I was to work for way back in April 2002,  that as soon as I said "Good morning" in my normal Aussie accent, all I received was blank stares. I slowed down, put on a slightly more British accent and focused on my pronunciation, and this time there was more response from the other staff members I was meeting. 

After a couple of attempts, I learnt how to say "good morning" in Japanese as well, and that started my passion for this language. I still use both English and Japanese (not perfect but not bad at all I think) on a daily basis - I love speaking in both languages.

So I guess to wrap up this post, what I wish to say to anyone who does come here on business (or pleasure for that matter) is that it goes a long way to build bridges with local people to learn just a few words in Japanese before you come - the basics might be -

Ohayou gozai masu - good morning

Konnichi wa - Hello/good afternoon

Arigatou gozai masu - Thank You

Dou Itashi mashite - You are welcome

....kudasai/onegai shimasu - .....please

By making an attempt to speak a little Japanese (no matter how little), it will show to local people that you are respecting their language, and I am sure it will help you be received that much more warmly! Cheers!

Working a business from home in Tokyo

Well, where to start with this topic?

Let’s start BOLDLY - it seems in Tokyo at least that people are much more willing to sell themselves to an employer for less and trade their time for the supposed "security" of a job, and to be quite honest that saddens me. Safety and security are much more highly prized it seems than the chance to be rich in all areas of a person’s life (finances, health, relationships etc) by taking a risk and going into business for themselves.

I was once like that too, I also believed that the security and the pay check each month would keep me safe from harm - although I have managed to earn plenty of money during my life for my services, I have managed to spend it all as well - so that always put me back at the starting point at the end of each month - living pay check to pay check - so I could get through the next month!

Daibutsu, Kamakura, Kanagawa-ken

But maybe it was a combination of me turning forty last month (Oct), or me being sick of what I was doing, or me wanting to follow my heart and do something with my life which would change it dramatically that led me to here today. I had realized that I had become such a selfish bastard that all I cared about was myself and the meaning of my life I was seriously questioning. 

However my current opportunity came up, which gave me the chance to do something better for myself and others. It was presented to me by people I knew from a previous home business, who were filled with passion, vitality and integrity, so of course I dived in immediately. Once again, joining this opportunity ignited something inside of me, a small flame which before that time had died out to a large extent.

For those who don't know, working a business from home is an amazing feeling - you have a great deal of freedom when it comes to planning your time and provided you are consistent and show up each day, focused and spending time on the money making activities, incredible amounts of money can await you for the same number of hours as a part time job. And of course it saves on the hassles of having to report to a boss or in Tokyo even worse, the daily commute.

I used to ride around on a motorbike to work and that was fun - except when it was raining. So when it was raining I would catch the train, and anybody who knows about morning trains in Tokyo will know that at some stations there are actually station staff waiting on the platform to help squeeze people into the train when it seems there is no room left - they always seem to make room for 1 or 2 more people!!! That will give you an idea of how much the commute by train in Tokyo can take it out of you - getting to the office with all limbs intact can always be a challenge!

Don't get me wrong here, some committed effort is required for a business to be successful but if you align your mindset with what you wish to achieve (and have good teachers in your business who are committed to your success), choose what you focus on carefully (don’t focus on your current circumstances -BE DO HAVE principle), then some great rewards can await you.

I always love it how some people think that they can enter an MLM or affiliate type arrangement for 10 USD and expect to make 10,000 USD the next month with little or no effort......why does this mentality exist? I believe it exists because people are scared to do the work necessary on themselves to be truly successful and are half hearted in their attempts at business.

Trust me, if you are poor, then it’s very unlikely you can help others, you are too busy attempting to help yourself – I know I have been there! I have done business before and failed, it took me a while but finally I said “so what”, I picked myself up and moved forward again, as I know being rich is a mindset.

Just remember if you are serious about a home business, look for a company with vision, a community of people with strong values, a product that is in demand and study the compensation plan thoroughly to understand fully how you make money....that’s why you want to go into business after all, isn't it?

Anyway, that’s my two cents worth today; if you have any comments please post below. Cheers!

Welcome and Greetings from Tokyo!

Welcome, or "Yokoso" as they say in Japanese to the "Life & Business in Tokyo" blog.

You can get a bit of a feel for who I am and where I come from in the profile section down to the side of this blog. Currently I am living in a very suburban area in Katsushika-ku, which is one of the northern wards (-ku) of the 23 council wards that make up Tokyo (not to mention the other outer ward areas that make up Tokyo called the "-shi").

As I start this blog, I guess I want to share the purposes of this blog -

- to share my views/opinions/experiences about about my life in Tokyo

- to share my business experiences in Japan

- to teach about Japanese social and business etiquette and funny experiences that I have had in different situations as a foreigner here

- to share some tips for the first timer to expect in Tokyo as a tourist or business visitor

- to explain some things that might be unique to Tokyo and Japan

- other miscellaneous bits and pieces.

I sincerely hope you find it informative, funny and and for those of you who have never been here to come and have a look at this fascinating country! For those of you who are already here, I hope you get a big laugh, can relate to what I am saying and even learn something from it!! We are here to do business and have fun in life, hence the name for the blog. Cheers!