What would make it ok if I die tomorrow?

Can Japanese to be the country head??

2010-11-27T00:52:00.002+09:00

Hi all.

I have a question for all the business people in Japan.

"How do you compete with young, motivated and smart fresh graduates?"

About 30 million fresh graduates from India are predicted to be entering the workforce by 2014.

This issue goes beyond India. The Indian market can’t absorb all the fresh graduates therefore about 20 million of them will be hunting for opportunities to work globally.

In the next four years, we are going to see the same number of people from good universities in India.

In three years time, we will be facing serious competition.

Most of those students from India have multilingual capabilities and adaptability to adapt to different cultures.

If we don't have the knowledge and skills to manage those kinds of people, we can't work in the global organization anymore.

Did you know that the head of some global organizations in Japan are not Japanese even though their clients are all Japanese?

For most of those organizations, Japan is an important market.

But Japan is not the ideal place to find those suitable employees and leaders.

Actually, many Indians and Singaporean have already filled those positions.

The global heads of some American companies are French, Norwegian, Dutch and Brazilian.

The nationality of the global head is not an issue for global organizations now but why is it that the Japanese haven’t been able to fill the positions as country head of those global organizations?

I think that there are three reasons behind this.

1. Language capability

2. Adaptability

3. Mobility

Many Japanese business men are not good at English in verbal communication. Most of them are good at reading and writing but they find it difficult to hold a conversation face to face. In the business world, communication is an important role for operation. Without speaking and listening comprehension it will be difficult to do business.

Adaptability is hard to get. It means that we have to understand different cultures and values. There are no right answers but right questions. So business people have to deal with various ideas and perspectives.

Mobility is also hard to get. Japanese have a tendency to stay at one place all the time. They don’t want to move to a new place or city. They love their home town and don’t want to take the risk to move around.

From a management’s point of view, we want to hire the people who can change quickly, adapt new initiatives smoothly and can work every where globally.

The many Japanese who lack these three elements can’t act in an important role.

It is critical for Japanese managers to learn the above three skills.

How can they develop those skills?

I will show you another time.

Regards

Why I am staying the Marriott all the time.

2010-11-24T22:20:00.004+09:00

Hi all.

I updated the blog last week so I am trying it this week as well.

How are you doing?

I hope that you all doing well.

As you knew already, I traveled quite a lot.

I stayed at many hotels over 70 nights this year because of my works and holidays.

What are you going to do when you have to organize 70 nights stay in a year?

Location?

Brand name?

Price?

Everyone has own judgment to pick up.

I stayed at Marriott hotels so many nights every around the world and so far they treat me very nice.

Most of hotel I stayed I got the automatically upgrade.

Besides that I can use the executive lounge all the time so I can be a friend with the people working there.

Yes. I can receive the benefits that is one reason.

But I have another good reason to stay there.

That is the safety and urgency procedure.

I will show my story about it.

This year I stayed Chicago Marriott downtown, people in the lounge and concierge are excellent.

They called me first name, give me a hug and cheer me up all the time.

Even when I left there, they gave me a big hug.

During my stay I was a bid nervous because I had to deal with some business issues and had a speech.

Their big warmth welcome and cheered me up gave me a great time in Chicago.

On the day I left Chicago when I reached the airport, I noticed that I left my wallet in the safety in the hotel.

Off course I was in panic.

But I realized that my flight was delayed so I had the time to go back.

I jumped in the cab and rushed back to the downtown.

I called the hotel and told the operator what happened.

The operator on the phone calmed me down and told me that

"Sir when you reach the lobby, call the security and we will check your ID. Then everything is OK we will pass to you your wallet."

"All right."

I hang up and was the chat with the driver on the way.

It took only 30 minutes but for me it felt like couple hours.

To the downtown, I saw so much traffic. I became a little bid hopeless.

I wondered how long it takes to get just one wallet at the hotel.

It could be another 30 minutes, could be 40 minutes.

When I reached the lobby, all concierge were stunned because they saw me.

"What happened,Mr.Ikeda? Everything is all right? Well not all right so you came back"
with big smile on the face.

Then they called the security and the security passed me the wallet because all concierge know who I am.

If this is not the Marriott, story could be different.

They are so nice and super with personal touch I never forget.

I want to go back there when I have the opportunity.

This is the true story about one of my experience in Marriott.

Well, there are so many hotels and resorts out there.

But nice people and professional can make the brand reality.

Once you encountered those experience, we all love them.

I hope that this story show you how great the Marriott hotels are.

What kind of criteria you have when you pick up the hotel?

Regards

Teppei

Find the way around you.

2010-11-20T23:21:00.003+09:00

Hi all.

It has been eight months already since last update.

Since then I have been Beijing, Chicago, Frankfurt, Nice, Canne, Munich, Seoul, Yuzhino Shaklinsk and Singapore.

As I said on my last update, I have been many countries.
It meant my projection was right.

Finally I came back to Tokyo and thought back what was actually going on.

I am sure one thing.

We all can see the increasing demands for creating the leaders with global brain.

Many companies need the leaders who knows how to handle uncertain situation.

We don't have any answers for new emerging global issues therefore we have to attack with the flexible and open mindsets.

China became very harsh about the boarders.

Republican won the last election in U.S.

India is still growing.

Well what can we do?

How do we survive in uncertain world?

I know one thing is for sure.

You ask the people around you, they will guide you to the right answer.

So hang around with the friend and people with respect and honor.

They will lead you the way.

But you have to judge on final call.

regards

Three secrets to be successful in Japan

2010-03-02T19:32:00.003+09:00

Hi all.

It has been two months already since my last update.

How are you?

And, how is your new year so far?

I started 2010 with a very relaxed trip to Bangkok.

Then followed a business trip to Osaka for a week.

And following this was Chinese New Year.

I feel as though I have not done too much, and yet two months have already passed.

This year I am expecting to travel to many locations, including Singapore, Thailand, China, USA, France and Russia.

There is a growing demand within the business sectors of other countries. Or, perhaps it is my services that are become more popular, I am not sure.

In Tokyo itself we have the head offices of fifty-one Fortune Global 500 companies.

Together, these companies generate more than 2 trillion dollars in revenue.

Two trillion!!!

The wealth generated from these organisations is distributed to their management teams, employees, partners, vendors and shareholders.

It is no wonder that Tokyo remains one of the busiest cities in the world.

And, as in any dynamic metropolis, competition is very strong for every piece of the financial cake.

But I believe that it is possible for you to enjoy a big slice of this prosperity yourself.

How?

Well, there are three secrets to getting your share.

First, be an expert in your chosen field.
It is not important exactly who you are, what you do, or in which sphere.

If you have a specialist knowledge which is in demand, you can have a piece of the cake.

Second, build a strong social network.
Familial connections, community members, friends and colleagues all create a strong foundation of contacts to expand your world into new areas.

Personal referrals are a very common way of sharing business in Japan, so every contact is a possible opportunity to extend your scope of influence.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, you must bring something unique to your personal relations.

If people trust and love you, they will help you.

Many of my business contacts are located in Singapore, a place where I enjoy a success that comes from my ability to use their dialect and also speak English with the same accent.

Many Japanese speak Mandarin but, unlike myself, few can speak Cantonese and Hokkien.

My unique communication abilities help me stand out from the competition and leave lasting impressions to those with whom I do business.

When you can take advantage of these three secrets you can also enjoy a big piece of the cake.

Think about how each is relevant to you.

It is really very simple and just involves stepping outside the old, familiar patterns that so many fall into.

Success in Tokyo, or any big city, can be achieved with a little planning and creative thinking that comes from applying the above secrets to how you do business.

Regards.

Lucks bring the results or actions bring lucks?

2009-12-21T23:44:00.008+09:00

Hi all.

How are you?

Tokyo has been getting colder in these last few days.

When people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving, they may start to feel the year drawing to a close.

But we, as Tokyoites, get the same feeling about the year’s end when we have the Torinoichi festival in November. (I know it was last month)

The big shrines in Tokyo, such as Hanazono and Asakusa Sanja celebrate the Torinoichi festival

This festival is held on Tori Day (The day of the Rooster) in the Japanese traditional calendar.

Most foreigners know about the 12-yearly cycle of animals from Chinese astrology.

But many do not know that we have dates within each year for animals also.
In fact, many young Japanese do not even know about this.

So, each year, when it’s time for Torinoichi, I begin to feel festive.

At the Torinoichi festival there are always so many stalls and delicious food stands.

Vendor stalls sell “Kumade” (which translates to “Bear Claw”) and we decorate these with old coins and treasures.

Because bear hands are broad and strong, they can collect many things; this is why we believe that Kumade can collect prosperity for us.

It is a lucky symbol for Japanese people, bringing us good fortune for the following year.

This is especially so for people in the retail business.

They buy Kumade with wishes for luck and prosperity.

Do you have any special items that you use to bring you luck?

Maybe religious charms, or tokens from festivals, or lucky gifts from friends and loved ones?

But, surely, lucky charms cannot make any great changes in our life, can they?

What can these small treasures do to give you the things you want in the way of career, relationships and health?

Of course, if it feels good to cherish these treasures, then enjoy the happiness they can bring you.

But real, dynamic change can only happen in your life when you take action.

Strategy, planning and diligence are the ways to bring yourself true, lasting transformation.

So, don’t wait for good things in life to find their way to you, make plans today to get out there and make it happen for yourself.

What kinds of action would you take?

What kinds of luck could you bring to your life?

Think about it now!

Regards

What is your working style?

2009-12-16T21:51:00.002+09:00

Hi all.

In these last few days Tokyo has been getting much cooler.

How is the weather where you are?

As I told you before, I often travel to the countryside.

Being away from the office, and with poor mobile reception, I am rarely bothered by phone calls.

So far, my assistant has been handling my urgent mails and calls at the office back in Tokyo.

I have noticed one thing about this situation:

Finding my concentration for work is much easier without phone interruptions.

Most of you know already about the scope of my work.

I run workshops, seminars and speech sessions.

So I am constantly working on updating and revising the contents of these events.

I work with some agencies, like training companies, who are very effective at providing good content to me.

This makes my life easier, however, it sometimes takes a little of the fun out my work.

I love that I can create works with contents that are my own, unique.
The expressions and phrases are copyrighted and belong to me.

Those works are like my baby. They are a part of me.

They come in many forms: games, exercises and quotes.

And they emerge through my everyday work: talking to clients, asking questions and engaging with my audience.

But I find I am always trying to do everything at the last minute.

When I can feel a deadline approaching, my concentration shifts and I find the focus to finish my task.

In that case I find I can produce very good quality and good results.

So, it can be good for me to get away because it is easier to shift my mind to focus on the work at hand.

Since recognizing this I have begun to plan my working schedule to fit in with these out-of-town trips, thus allowing me a better environment to concentrate in.

It maximizes my working time and allows me to work faster and more effectively.

What is your working style?

Are you strong at the last-minute or do you excel when you plan ahead?

I sometimes wish I could be the kind of person who plans ahead but it’s just not my technique.

You might wonder, why is this?

Because I do enjoy the pressures of the last-minute rush!

But I learned this on my latest business trip: my creativity is just a plane ticket away.

To effectively use my time and produce new works, a sanctuary in the countryside is just what I would love.

In theory it sounds like a very good solution.

But, of course, in reality there is a concern with a situation like this:

I wish my wife could understand this kind of behavior!

Regards

Simple thing but difficult to do?

2009-11-28T22:44:00.003+09:00

Hi all.

It has been a few weeks since my last update.
How have you been?

A few weeks ago I encountered a something strange:

At my train station a woman was using the ticketing machine.

The machine clearly shows instructions for choosing the type of ticket, a destination, and inserting the required fare.

It is so simple.

But I watched as she tried once, twice, three times unsuccessfully, all the while mumbling to herself, “what is wrong with this machine?!”

Watching her, I could tell that she wasn’t even trying to read the instructions.

Such a simple process was so irritating for her because she would not follow the correct steps.

Wanting to save her anymore frustration, I finally stepped in and showed the woman how to purchase her fare, after which she turned away from me, grunting “hrmm!”

And, without even a single word, she walked away. Gone, just like that!

We Japanese are often regarded as very polite people.

It is one of the strongest impressions we make on visitors from overseas and one of the qualities of which I am most proud to associate with my own country.

But today I encountered a (hopefully!) rare exception to this ideal.

This mature woman had trouble with something so simple and then did not even make the slightest effort to show gratitude to a fellow human being when she was assisted.

Perhaps this example is only small and relatively insignificant.

But I was quite shocked and it got me thinking…

Does it mean something?

Yes, I think it does.

This kind of occurrence appears to be happening more and more. The kindness that I had always come to expect from those around me appears to be slipping away, bit by bit.

It seems to me to be a sign of slowly collapsing Japanese values, perhaps global values also.

Maybe these changes are the result of life’s daily pressures, global influences or even popular media; what do you think?

I strongly believe that it is our good will and kind manners to those around us that help to form the healthy foundation for our community.

Without a collective agreement to respect and consider our fellow citizens we jeopardize this stability.

Common courtesy, manners and kindness should be as important to us now as they ever were.

So, let’s keep these values as vital elements in our daily actions.

How can we do this?

Well, this is what I have decided to do:

Show more affection, more gratitude and more appreciation.

It’s that simple!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blogs.

And thanks for your comments and feedback also.

It means a lot to me to hear about the issues that are important to you.

Talk to you soon.

Teppei

Accidental Encounter! Does it mean something?

2009-11-12T13:00:00.002+09:00

Hi all.

It has already been about one month since my last update.
How are you?

Today I have been wondering: have you ever bumped into the same person more than once in short period of time?

Well, I have.

Recently, I casually dropped by a Starbucks in Ginza and bumped into an old friend. He is really cool guy: tall, good-looking, smart and intelligent.

In the past we have been out together to parties and such, but, since my marriage, I rarely go to those same events or spend time with those same friends.

In the last three years, however, I have bumped into him more than five times.

Each time we have met like this, my life has shifted to a new level.

Are chance meetings merely co-incidence? Or, is there some meaning to such encounters as these?

People tell me that it is impossible to meet someone you know in such a big city.

In a way, this is true. Just at Shinjuku station, 3 million people pass through on a daily basis.

So, it seems to me that bumping into someone you know is quite a remarkable event. Perhaps there is some reason why these people are brought back into our lives without our conscious efforts.

Life is too short to meet every one of those millions of people we pass by; there are only so many we can get to know in our lifetime.

However, there will always be room for new experiences and new relationships to form. Spending meaningful times with interesting people is very important to me.

We should never allow daily routine to limit our potential for these events to occur.

So let’s put our focus on meeting new people.

By broadening your horizons to include new friendships and experiences only good can come into your world.

Don’t wait for fate to step in and cause these “accidental” encounters; make it happen for yourself!

When is the Special day in your life?

2009-10-07T23:39:00.005+09:00

Hi all.

I had a great birthday on October 4th.

I became 42 years young (not old, haha)

After my workshop that day, the participants gave me a surprise present;
a big flower bouquet that put a huge smile on my face.

Birthdays are special for everyone.

What is the best birthday memory for you?

When you are kid, you might have a big party.

How about your 20th birthday?

40th birthday?

But birthdays are surely not the only important moments in our lives.

One of my friends told me that the day his daughter was born was the most special day for him.

Everyone has memories of these special days in their life.

Actually, every day is a special one for us.

No two days in our life are the same.

Today is not the same as yesterday.

And tomorrow won’t be the same as today.

The present moment cannot be experienced again.

It is better for us to live fully, here and in the now.

When you focus your energy on all the things you don’t have, you create worry and invite anxiety into your thinking.

Surely, we are better off when we ignore such thoughts.

Life is best lived when we are happy with the gifts with which we are bestowed.

This doesn’t mean your possessions.

It means what you carry inside of you.

Your values, your life mission and your philosophies are infinitely more valuable than your earthly possessions.

Money can help you to buy almost anything, but belongings alone will never bring you happiness.

If this is true, then why are we so obsessed with making money?

Because many of us are influenced by commercial messages every day.

We are faced with advertisements for designer clothes, luxurious hotels, and global brand names at almost every moment.

These things carry temptation and stimulate our consumption.

So, our hard-earned money is plunged into these merchants and corporations as the desire to spend takes over us.

But, wait a second.

Do we really need to have 20 different pairs of shoes, stay in every five-star hotel and spend all our money in fine dining restaurants?

No.

We don’t need these things to be happy.

Let’s forget about the things we don’t have.

It’s time to focus on what we do have.

Life can be short.

Don’t waste your time.

Use it to find yourself, find your purpose and polish your glowing inner beauty.

If you start thinking in this way, you will realise that every moment in life is precious.

Is cutting the budget right thing to do?

2009-10-02T22:33:00.003+09:00

Hi all.

It has been such a long time since my last update.

Being the last month in the Japanese fiscal year, September is usually very busy.

My clients were anxious to use the remainder of their budgets, which needed to be spent by the end of the month.

In everyday life, if people don’t have the need to spend their money they will save it for the future.

However, business organisations work differently;

if they don’t spend their full allowance in the set financial period, the remainder will be deducted from the future budget.

This leads to a tendency to spend heavily towards the end of the year.

Is this the right thing to do?

No.

A company budget is intended for driving the business forwards.

It is not designed for unbalanced consumption such as this panicked, last minute spending.

Unfortunately, it is an all-too common practice.

In times of economic downturn, this attitude similarly leads to a tendency to heavily cut spending and fear the expenditure of company resources.

We must change this mindset.

Whatever the financial condition, corporate management teams are responsible for investing in and propelling business onwards.

Capital is necessary in order to create new business opportunities and strengthen existing structures.

When we go on a diet, we change our eating habits and out attitude towards food.

However, we can never stop eating and drinking.

In order to survive, we must be smart about the use of our bodies and the food available to us.

Investing in people development follows the same rules.

If we don’t cultivate our human resources, staff will not contribute to the progression of future business.

Even in times of economic downturn, we must be smart with our resources and learn to use them in a way that allows our business to be strong and dynamic in the face of financial challenges.

Cutting budgets for people development in times of recession will inevitably damage business opportunities.

Now is the time to ensure the ongoing success of your company; be proactive and astute with resources and create a strong foundation for future growth.

I am in love with city Rome

2009-08-14T17:56:00.002+09:00

Hi all.

You must wonder why I was not updating blogs.

well, I was on vacation about two weeks.

I was in Bangkok, Rome and Barcelona last two weeks.

I had a really good time.

Surrounding historical monuments and beautiful buidings I felt true moment of the life.

All those have much longer history than our lives.

It was amazed to see few thousand years old building remain as same as before and people walked by there normally.

Now I am in love.

Love Rome.

If you have not been there, just buy the ticket .

"Be there, See there, feel there"

I am 100% guranteed that you have a great time there.

I was so happy there.

When if you go there, don't miss some places..

Vatican museum, Sant Angelo, Correceo, Sant Maria Cathedral, Piazza de Navona, Panteon, Trevi fontain, Piazza de Barberini and Piazza de Republicca.

Regards

Social Media help or not?

2009-07-22T02:37:00.007+09:00

Hi all

Would like to know how to use SNS, YouTube and twitter to support your business?

How many social media do you use everyday?

Do you use facebook,twitter and blog to promote your business?

I am using blog and SNS.

So far none of business are coming from thoese sources.

According to the independent professionals we have to improve the profiles and blogs.

Those social media can show your opinions, values and your own way of thinking.

It help for many business person who wants to connect the counter-party more.

The more they know about you, the better they can work with you.

So far I am writing one blog in English and two blogs in Japanese.

As you notice, I am not good at keeping update everything.

Some of my friends recommend me some ways to do it.

So I will try those ideas.

Regards

All my friends made my prosperous life

2009-07-21T15:46:00.002+09:00

Hi,there.

I hope that every one are enjoying summer.

I just noticed one thing yesterday.

Speaking only one language make our world very small.

But if we understand unversal language (I meant) English world is getting bigger.

I am using three SNSs. Two of them are in Japanese and one of them is in English.

Facebook is one of them and this service made me connect so many friends of mine lost in touch many years.

But most of re-connected friends made me what I am now. They influenced me a lot and made me learned many things.

Especially friends from other countries taught me many things; culture differences, values and language.

That is one of reason why I am very flexible and adaptable to other cultures.

I know that I am a little bid show-off in speaking various language.

But it helped me a lot in career and private.

Our society are built based on the communications and people connections.

Without those simple things we can not eat and live.

Let's talk more.

Let's ask questions to others.

It will lead you prosperous life.

What kind of question would you ask?

Everyday is actually lucky day

2009-07-16T17:59:00.002+09:00

Hi, everyone.

I am still on track.

Now I am enjoying hot summer weather in Tokyo.

Summer always reminds my young days.

There were so many good memories, such as Regge festival in Yomiuri land, fireworks, bar-hopping and going to the beaches.

Early 20's I partied a lot, almost every weekend.

It has been twenty years already since my craziest time.

Last three years my view toward the life has been changed.

Especially after I was diagnosed colon cancer and went through the operation and chemo, everyday sound great to me.

It makes me think about the life.

Now I am trying to live fully.

Another day of the life is a lucky gift for me.

I appreciated the people I met today.

regards

2009-07-11T17:02:00.003+09:00

Hi, everyone.

It is very nice cozy weather weekend in Tokyo.

How is yours?

Ever since I came back from Singapore 12 years, my life was force to be very Japanese.

Friends around me expected me to do the same things even I don't want to do.

Even if I said to them "No" nicely, they put me the label "Gaijin".

People in Japan are often called that way.

But not many foreign nationals don't know what the word exact meaning.

It literally means "Alien". This expressinsion implies many meaning.

It can be "You are outsider."

It can be "you are not belonging here."

It is very unfortunate that still many shops in Japan show the sign "Gaijin Okotowari".

Without people support and help we can't build our society. If the society accept this kind of ideas, it turn off the people who came from other countries.

Our present legal systems are not easy for people from other countries.

There are so many procedures and steps to have legal rights to stay here.

But once you are getting married with Japanese nationals. It becomes much easier.

It became the loop hole in legal systems.

People who wants to work here or stay here are willing to take easy actions.

Purchasing the marriage.

Getting married with Japanese nationals and acquire the marriage status then can work or study here.

Obviously the number of fake marriages are increasing.

Legal and social system are not working well any more.

Under these situations Japanese government decided to Chinese people can come as individual tourist here in Japan.

I am confused.

Because the government allowed the social atomosphere and people have the discrimination against the foreign nationals.

But the same time promote chinese people to come over Japan.

Wait a second, do the government really think about those.

I think that is total wrong ideas.

Let the policy easier towards other countries nationals who loves Japan more.

I believe it may help the future of our country.

Regards

Translation is not my job

2009-07-01T22:05:00.003+09:00

You already knew that I am providing the speeches and the trainings to the organization.

Right now most of my works have done in Japanese.

Last year I had only three sessions in English.

Prior to the training, I usually have the meeting and the consultation with the management.

Those parts are usually held in English.

As the result, I have to prepare the document in both languages.

I am professional trainer, facilitator and speaker.

I am not translator or intepreter.

So it is tough to explain or tell them in both languages.

Most of my HRD theories and methodologies are learned in English.

So some of translations widely used in Japanese don't fit to my understanding.

If I am facing these sitations, I spend the more time to explain.

For exapmle we are using the term "talent management" in HRD professionals.

But it means actors agents in Japanese.

If we are using the term "job engagement", people may misunderstand that employees in the organization fell in love and going to get married.

Some English expressions are used totally different from original meaning.

So we have to be very careful in wording.

I need more deep understanding in both languages.

Regards

My first Sunday today!

2009-06-28T23:50:00.002+09:00

Today is my truely first Sunday in six weeks.

Because I don't have any work and any commuting today.

Last few weeks I had the workshop to run.

Three weeks ago I had the seminar to attend.

Four weeks ago I came back from overseas.

When I am busy for the training and workshop, I usually take the fligts and train on sunday.

If I don't show up, it cancel the whole workshop and can't make any money out of it.

I know too busy is not good things.

Actually "Busy" in Japanese Kaji character consists two things, it means "losing mind".

But I love the work.

I love the training and making the speech in front of people.

Later this year I will push forward more about the speech jobs.

One is cominig next week in Toyama prefecture.

I will talk about "Team building".

This is my favorite topic.

Regards

MJ passed away. We can't see him on live stage

2009-06-27T10:47:00.003+09:00

The king of pops passed away.

It made us shocked and remind us how good his musics are.

Then amazing numbers of people mentioned about his death and contribution on blogs and SNS.

Wait!

Why do we talk about him after his death?

Why didn't talk about him when he is alive?

So many of us start talking about him now.

But the realities are;

we lost him, we can't get him back.

We can't reach his music on live anymore.

No more.

I am regretting that I did not go his concert when I had a opportunity.

But this opportunity I will never have.

I learned one thing from his death.

It is better for us to talk about and praise people when they are alive.

Let's talk with you family members, your spouse and siblings.

Let's pick up the phone to call your friends.

Let's write the e-mails and messages to your friends.

Regards

Effective opening attracts all audience

2009-06-25T16:10:00.002+09:00

Hi, everyone.

I hope that everything is OK to you.

Writing in English is very tough. Business writing is easy.

The readers are limited and you already knew who are going to read your articles and e-mails.

But some articles, books and blogs the readers are anonymous.

Anybody can read.

Especially my work and projects make me exposed to the public opinions.

Everybody talks about my performance, my methodology and my way of talking.

As I said previously, the trainer and the public speaker have to attract the audience first few mintutes.

If it fails, I can't creat any learning and motivation towards the participants.

So I have to be prepared the opening all the time.

I have some tips for making good opening.

1. Connect the audience's value or life

Some of you want to know how to make living just from talking non-sence.

or

All of you don't know when you are going to die.

2. Using some episode

When you are elementary school, you may feel uncomfortable at class room.

or

When you have the first date, you may feel nervous to have the conversation.

3. Finally suggest my ideas and view.

As I told you that all of you have the fear of losing money.

But if you have goose which creates golden eggs everyday, you wouldn't worry about the money.

Actually all of you have this kind of goose in yourself.

But you don't realise that you have.

So today I will show you how to find your own goose with golden eggs.

These three simple technics work everywhere.

But you have to be careful, some people are not interested in monetary topics.

Under this case , you have to change your statement something like self development or self growth related.

How do you start your statement in the training session or speech?

Regards

What do I do? Do you know my profession?

2009-06-14T08:54:00.003+09:00

Hi eveyone?

This is Teppei.

How is your weekend.

I hope that you have a great weekend at the moment.

Most of the readers of my blog are my frined but some of them you may not know what I am doing.

Today I explain more what I'm doing for living.

I am a learning professional.

Do you know what it means?

It can be anything.

My focus of the work is making learning happened in the organization.

I provide the training, workshop and the facitation.

Using the training contents, books, theories, tools and other methodologies, I provide the learning opportunities to my client organisation.

So far, I am called "Business Trainer", "Facilitator","Teacher" and "Coach".

My approach is very simple.

Just focus on their expertises and strong points.

Whatever the aproaches are, my objectives of my practices are making the more effective business person.

If he wants to be good manager, I will bring and suggest him to be better manager.

If he wants to be good sales person, I will provide some good communication and prepartaion tools for him.

As a result, my present clients and potential clients are kept knocking door to hire me as the learning professionals.

If many people remember me as learning provider, it makes me so happy.

Regards

How to provide the best practices to the client

2009-06-09T23:50:00.002+09:00

Hi, how are you all?

Hello from Tokyo.

I just came back Toky a few days ago.

I have been DC for 9 days.

Every year I attend the conference called American Society Training and Development international conference.

There are three reasons to attend this conference.

First of all, I learn the best practices from other learning professionals.

Some of them are same like me, independent consultant to help organizational development and training.

Some of them are the HRD managers, CLO and internal consultant from the organization.

Second, I will connect the other consultant from other countries. When I implement some global implementation, we need the local consultant for each countries.

So it is important for me to find and connect potential partner over there.

Last, I can buy some IP's and the books at the conferences.

So this conference is very critical for me to provide the best practices to the clients.

Do you have any systems to keep updating your practices?

Traveling is stimulus to bring you new ideas

2009-04-24T10:20:00.003+09:00

Hello, everyone. Long time no see. This is Teppei.

It has been over one month already since my updating this blog.

Last four weeks I have done so many workshop type of works at some cities.

Also I have been to Singapore for a week also.

That trip was very productive and spared me enough time to think about many things.

If you have the position to keep making decisions, one week off from your work will help your productivities.

Especially travel to other countries or the place you have never been to will give you so much stimulus.

Stimulus may bring you new ideas and perception for your work and life.

If you are married, please go those places without your spouse.

You can enjoy your time and feel the aprreciation of your spouse (husband, wife)

Now, where do you want to go?

This year I may go some middle east countries I never been to.

Regards

2009-03-19T15:48:00.002+09:00

Hi, everyone. How are you today? This is Teppei again.

Tokyo is getting warmer.

I am looking foward to seeing all cherry blossom make the whole city in pink.

This is the best season to visit Japan to see all the placese coloured in pink.

Cherry blossom "Sakura" is our nation's flower.

And this flower shows our mentality and our belief towards life.

Sakura is amazing beautiful about one week and after the bloom it turns greet and live very quiet the rest of the year.

It looks like that Sakura just lives for that specialy one moment.

People in downtown are the same.

They live their lives for the Matsuri festival. That events are held once a year for three days.

People in Brazil live for Samba carnival. We Japanese are livinig for the events like Matsuri.

Do you have something in your mind to die for?

Or you are really crazy about something.

If you are really into something , that makes you very special.

It doesn't matter what it is.

For example if you are interested in wierd thing but you have the deep knowledge about it.

You can be expert about it.

I have a friend who knows everything about the pen.

She can figure out which pen was used by observing the colour of the letter written on the papers.

That was amazing. She can figure out Perikan or Pilot or Cross.

She is defenitely one of the experts.

I am not sure that talent help her business or not but I can tell she is one of the best for that area.

Do you have any expertises which you are really into?

Do we really know what we are talking about?

2009-03-09T01:11:00.003+09:00

Hi, this is Teppei again.

Tokyo is getting warmer and it is very good to walk around to feel the air and scents showing the spring coming.

Well , do we really know what we are talking about.

Sometimes I can't make the good answers for the difficult questions.

If I don't have the answers, I am changing the topics which I know of.

But recently more and more people asked me very difficult questions.

What should we do next 10 years?

What is the most important skill for new hired people?

I have the answers but I am living on certain assumptions.

Around my age there are not many bilingual business person in any industry but now there are many perfect bilingual and sometimes trilingual people.

If I had the same question 15 years ago , I would tell the people that they should study English.

But now most of well educated people are perfect bilingual so it is no sense to tell them that they shoudl study English.

My assumption has been changes so drastically so I am no idea to provide good answer towards those questions.

When I am providng the presentation or answers for those, I am not sure what I am taling about.

I am wondering do we know what wer are talking about.

I want no smoking environment.

2009-03-08T02:59:00.002+09:00

Hi this is Teppei again.

I prefer the warm weather like today's fine day.

I went Shimokitazawa with my wife. She found the nice shop and good izakaya-restaurant.

We enjoyed the night out in Tokyo.

But one thing I don't like about night out in Tokyo. Most of the placese are smoking.

Even we have a wonderful cuisine and drinks smoking ruin the taste and flavour.

Like New York and London all restaurants should ban smoking inside the restaurant.

Discrimination or misunderstanding?

2009-03-06T02:55:00.004+09:00

Hi, this is Teppei.

I just had the conference call tonight. It was held 11 o'clock in the evening almost midnight.

My conference call usually was happened around that time.

I am wondering sometimes that the organizer of the conference knows about the time zone.

When I had the conference calls with consultants from the states and European countries, if I arrange the time around their late at night, they complained a lot.

But when they organize it , it doesn't matter at all we are almost reaching mid-night.

Are they really considering our time zone?

Unfortunately we are still belonging far east.

It doesn't matter for them what time it holds. That is very sad to observe the facts that they don't care our time zone and just doing those accordingly.

Well, that is the fact.

Besides that sometimes it is very common for them to use their local expressions.

They think that American way of speaking is the standard even the rest of the world speak different English.

I hope that all causes orignate from misunderstanding. But their assumption is that people should understand their language and not opposite.

Believe it or not. Still there is the discrimination between western countries and asian countries.

That is obvious discrimination. If they respect time zone, they may ask "Is it OK it is almost midnight in your time?" But nobody mentioned it, I think they don't care about it.

Well, we can overcome discrimination on surface but it is very difficult to change their assumption.

Just luck or preparation?

2009-03-05T01:40:00.004+09:00

Hi, teppei again. How are you today?

March 3rd is the celebration day for Japanese, it is called "Momo no sekku". Usually about one week until March 3rd we decorate Hinaningyo Japanese dolls in the house to wish happiness and health to the daughter in the family.

We used to send off those dolls to the river because those dolls bring out the illness and unluck from the girls in the family.

That tradition became to decorate the dolls inside the house.

Like last year and this year we see economic turmoil, we have the tendency to rely on the luck and some devined power from somewhere.

On new year day more that double numbes of the poeple have visited the shirine to wish the prosperous new year.

It shows that people wants to get the luck from everywhere.

Also the number of the registered skill learning increased because of the anxiety of the future.

One of my friend is providing English learning lessons on web. Last months he did the record months in revenue.

When people feel anxiety, people want to acquire new skill-sets and knowledge to be preapred for their future.

Are you preparing for this year or near future?

What kinds of skills do we need in near future?

Safety in Japan

2009-03-03T23:27:00.002+09:00

Hi, this is Teppei again.

Do you feel safe in Japan? Yes I do feel safe in Japan.

But the situation has been changed last 10 years.

Crime rate climbed up and unemployment hit the worst record in the history after the war.

I witnessed the junkies on the street more often.

People became so violent and murder cases became so common in the eveneing news programs.

According to the government report about 10 million peole are foreced to have the income less than 2 million yen. (equivalent US$20,000).

After the calculation those people's disposable income will be 1.5 million yen. (US$15,000)

How would you survive with those money? Out of those they have to pay the rent and food.

Once they are sufferinig illness they can not sustain their life style.

But now Japanese government doesn't function well. Even the G7 summits one of minister who attend the meeting did the conference with drunken and sleepy face.

Unfortunately we don't have the good leader in the government and business are facing fierce competition at global markets.

How do we survive under this situation?

I think that we need the transformation of the country objective and policies.

We used to attact foreign visiters for the saftey and distinguished cultures.

Can we change back to 10 years ago good time old days?

Regards

Do you appreciate every moment?

2009-03-02T01:07:00.002+09:00

Hi, this is Teppei.

Do you appreciate every moment?

I hope you do. I appreicate every moment because I was diagnosed colon cancer last year.

I went through serious operation and was hospitalized about 1.5 months.

After the operation, I couldn't eat and drink normally about 3 weeks.

I have been chemo therapy 6 months and couldn't drink beer or any alchol drinks.

The medicines made me tired all the time.

Now I am back to the work normally and can eat and drink.

Still I am worring about my health.

What I can do now is to live fully every moment.

The life can be long but may finish tomorrow.

You never know the end.

My life could be worse but I got over the operation and came back to normal.

I appreicate every moment.

How do I improve my facilitation?

2009-02-21T02:09:00.002+09:00

Hi, This is Teppei .

I came back home today from 4 days business trip.

I felt relief finally. During the consaltation with the client I realized that I have some areas to be improved.

Especailly how to deliver and explain the concepts.

Actually one of the most important component of delivering the speech is the sound of voice.

It will influence the impact of the message and the contents.

Also another most important componets is the body language.

When you fold the arms, show no eye contacts and showing no empaty, those body expression give influence other's feeling about yourself.

If you want to deliver good speach or show the good presentation, you have to carry out two components.

In asia countires, unspoken expression are understood in the conversation context, but western way of communication influence our daily conversation.

So we can't ignore their ways any more. So we are all aware the importance of non verbal communication.

Keep tone of voice a little bid higher than usualy and showing the body language to the audience s are key success factor of the presentation and the facilitation.

If you do the presentation in daily business life, it will be definitely helpful to improve your voice tone and body language.

Which skills will be more prosperous to my life?

2009-02-14T01:40:00.002+09:00

Hi, this is Teppei again. How are you?

This blog is connected to my Japanese SNS mixi and Facebook.

Obviously most of Japanese friends of mine don't spend time to read my blog in English.

But I have many friend all over the world and now connected on Facebook.

So I thought it is better for me to update what I am doing here in Tokyo.

At the same time this writing will help myself in future to figure out what I am doing and thinking now.

Around Chinese new year many friend of mine visited from Vetname, HongKong and Singapore.

I could manage to meet three of them but could not meet one of them. (Sorry Christina!)

Since last year the economic turmoil make us worry what may happen this year.

It efffects a little bid to my work as well. So it will make me more free time this year I may go overseas to study to improve language or skills.

Or other skills such as playing musical instruments or painting.

Whatever I do , those actions will benefit me in long run.

I am still wondering which skill should I acquire.

How do I improve my English speaking?

2009-02-12T23:32:00.002+09:00

Hi, this is Teppei.

Few days ago I went out with my wife and her friend Julia.

She is teaching English at some schools.

Because of my work, I sometime to facilitate in English for natives about the leadership and some other business skills.

So far I don't have any serious issues in speaking English but I am not sure which level I have right now.

I have done the workshop for the organizations in English and received good feedbacks from natives.

I provides the skills and tools for them. After the class all participants are equipped to benefits their works.

The contents and tools are very helpful for them but I always wonder my expressions are right or not.

Now so far nobody give us the feedback.

So I made up my mind to join the Toast master club to improve my English.

Do you know any other ways to improve your English?

Western Values or Asian Values.

2009-02-08T19:18:00.003+09:00

Hi, this is Teppei again.

My business partner from Singapore is visiting Tokyo this week. We had several interesting meeting last week.

Over the dinner we discussed about how the western values effect our way of thinking and actions.

We have now new U.S government administation by Barack Obama but the still American govenment have the tendency to think in binominal position like "Yes" or "No".

During Bush administration he said to the world if the nation which support their invasion Iraq means allies and if not it means the enemy.

In reality there are many things we can't put the thing either black or white, we have grey.

Instead western values asian values allow us to have grey area, all things have the meaning and we can't put everything in two categories.

In business and daily lifes asian values and those ways of thinking would be suitable for us.

I can't judge which is better but if you are forced to answer "Yes" or "NO", there is other way to answer for those questions.

Is it our fault or other's fault?

2009-02-03T00:09:00.002+09:00

Hi, this is Teppei again.

I often heard from my client " I can't do much about this economic downturn."

Are we really not responsible of those environmental changes?

As the consultant of the corporate executives, the answer of this question is definetly YES.

We are responsible for everything happening to us.

Even this chaotic economic turmoil, some comanies still make the profits in their business.

We chose our products and services.

We chose the target market and the target's customers.

We chose the present situation long time ago.

People who expected property crashes in the states sold their properties a few years ago as about the top prices.

Those people shift their invesment money to total new markets.

If we start blaming other people, we can do that very easily.

We have the tendency to blame others instead of ourselves.

Well, is it OK for us to live like that?

NO, I don't want to be like that.

We should face the reality and observe what was happened to us.

We chose the job, we chose the subject we learned, we chose how to spend our time, we chose the friend who hang around with.

It is totally our fault, if there is something wrong.

If we made the mistakes, we correct the mistakes. If we chose the wrong choice, change the choise.

Change the people who hang around with, change how to spend your time, change the way of thingking.

If we do change, the life will be changing.

Happy Chinese New Year

2009-02-01T01:08:00.002+09:00

Happy Chinese new year!

Hello, this is Teppei Ikeda from Tokyo, Japan.

Do you have any resolution for new year yet?

We Japanese celebrate the calender new year and usually we talk our resolution among family members and friends.

My new year's resolution is to publish the second and the third book.

I already finished writing the second book but the third book is still on the way.

By the way why do we try to reset our mindset on new year's day?

Is it possible for us to make the resolution on the other day?

We have the tendency to follow the other people do.

So friends and family keep asking your new year's resolution on new year day so we started thinking that way.

Do you ask your friend resolution?

Do we really do our best?

2008-11-09T19:59:00.002+09:00

Hi , I hope that you have a very good weekend.

Do we really do our best in the workplace? I am kept asking this question to myself all the time.

As professionals, we have to plan so many things in advance. Even we planned those preparation, sometimes unexpected things happened in the projects.

Those unexpected things happened to be human issues such as miscommunications or misunderstanding.

Now we have so advanced tools but those tools may cause those human issues.

E-mail communication we can not see the facial expression or postures. So we can't really understand what the other want to tell or communicate with you.

Still face to face is the very important way of communication.

We are using the convinient tools but we don't spend much face to face communication than before.

If we don't spend enough time to communicate with other people face to face, it may ends up miscommunication all the time.

Do we really spend enough time with co-wokers or Boss or our clients?

there are no easy work with good pay

2008-10-25T13:18:00.002+09:00

Hi, there. I hope that everyone has good weekend.

Last few weeks I traveled a lot all over Japan to deliver some workshops. Tonight I am going Singapore to attend the meeting and run the workshop for one client.

There are some new projects going with one new client, but they can't draw the line between what they should do and what we should do in the projects.

We are making best efforts to help the project moving foward but when they hear the feed-back from other sections and other managers, they turn around.

We made the contents and tools which they ordered for us a few months ago. Then last minutes they asked us to change the contents, delivery methods and requests.

Let's take a look at following situation

Man A " Can I have a draft beer please"

Bartender "Which one do you like? We have Bud light, Coors and Hineken."

Man A "Hineken please"

During the bartender is preparing the Hineken draft, Man A was talking to his friend.

Man B " This place is famous for whiskey, why do you drink a draft beer, stupid?"

Bartender came back with the beer

then Man A suddenly said "I felt like to have the whiskey, I didn't want to beer, you are forced me to have a beer, it is your fault. So bring the whiskey ASAP!"

Who should be blamed under this situation? Man A, Man B or Bartender.

At the moment I am in the situation like Bartender.

If you act like Man A , please be careful in near future, no bartender(consultant or vendor) will serve you any services.

tata

Staying home over the long weekend

2008-10-13T12:35:00.002+09:00

When I was a corporate man, I used to have the plan somewhere over the long-weekend. But long-weekend holiday plan is usually more expensive than other normal week and most of tourist places became crowded.

My present work business trainer and coach are required to work over the weekend, so we could not plan those holiday plans in advance.

Most of time itenary and accomodations are decided in last minutes.

Now up to Xmas we have three months to go, but I can't make the plan for that.

My good friend livining in Vitnam asked me to go over there and othre good friend asked to me come over Singapore.

Because of economic turmoil we limit the budget for holiday so destination will be limitede within Asia.

Well, when I can have the enough time and money to travel around the world.

Working over the weekend

2008-09-21T11:52:00.002+09:00

Sometimes I had to work over the weekend. Do you have to work over the weekend?

My work is related to provide some training and coaching for the coperate executives and managers.

Those people are very busy to operate their works on weekdays but they can spare time for learning over the weekend.

Usually people who are willing to attend those learning opportunities are very highly motivated and enthusiatic.

But this weekend one bid different.

Only one of them was very enthusiastic for learning but the rest of the group were not.

Those kind of situation I hate most, no questions, no interests for learning.

They spend two days giving up their holidays to come over the workshop to learn new stuffs to help their works.

Well, I put 100 % energy for it but I couldn't get any reactions.

I have to learn more about how to motivate the people even under this kind of situation.

Sound like tough but I will try.

It could be different but did not take the action

2008-09-17T23:48:00.002+09:00

We are not just spending day to day.

We all want to reach the certain stage of the life and spent so much time and money to get there.

Now I looked back my life, there were so many turning points of my life.

If I didn't take those actions, my life could be different.

Just one weekend , I dropped by the bar at emerald hill near orchard road in Singapore.

The people I met there influence a lots toward my thinking and scope of my life.

It was supposed to be a very simple thing but that small action lead me the life I have now.

This months I have been Ito-City in Shizuoka prefecture and delivered the workshop for the next leaders of my clients.

That was one of my best workshop I have ever done.

The people I met over there will be the leader of those company in next 10 years.

I am looking foward to seeing the people tomorrow and day after.

This week I will work even on Saturday as well.

Visiting the customer site

2008-09-03T01:24:00.002+09:00

This afternoon I visited the customer site which produce the polyethylene.

I delivered the leadership program two months ago and this visit is like to follow up and see what's going on actual field.

There are so many interesting stuffs like machines, procedures and distribution systems.

Have you ever been to any manufacturing site?

It is always fun to see totally new and different things.

Without those products we can't have the same kind of life.

Polyethylene are used as many things, like plastic bags, cable covers and so on.

There are no free information this world.

2008-08-31T23:26:00.002+09:00

Do you know we are paying the price to get the information?

Even TV, internet, newspaper, there are so much information flowing around us.

But those informations are not free in our hand. All information are controlled by those issuers and media.

When Russian troops fought in Georgia, I checked the news on BBC,CNN and NHK news.

Most of news said that Russian troops invaded in Georgia. But none of those news agency did not report Geogian military attacked and killed over Russian Civilian and at South Ossetia.

I double checked other media such as Besti (russian news agency) .

But those incidents influence over American poltics. Before this happened Obama was much popular than McCain. But now poll shows McCain caught up Obama.

There were other factors influence that but Ossetia gave the big impact toward the president election poll.

So when you get the information , you have to have own point of view to filter the information.

Do you believe everything which is written on newspaper?

Do you really want to do it?

2008-08-30T13:18:00.002+09:00

How many time do you ask these type of questions to yourself?

Whatever I got the offer, I kept asking myself these type of questions.

"Do I really want to do it?"

"Do I like them?"

"Would I be their friends even under different circustances?"

"Are you doing this work because of money?"

When you don't have the money or can't control your role in the business, you have no choice.

You do like it or not, it doesn't matter. You will take the job to earn some money.

But I want to keep asking these questions myself.

How many books do you read?

2008-08-29T11:22:00.002+09:00

How many books do you read?

Here I am asking you quantity not quality. I read 15 books a month at least. As my profession it is kind of compulsory to get the knowledge updated all the time.

There are so many wisdoms and best practices inside books.

You can learn a lot from people experiences, insight and thoughts.

I drop by book store once a week at least, now most of Japanese book store have the chairs and some seach tools, so book hunting became very fun activitiy for me.

How do you pick up the books? From your friend's recommendation or best-seller lists?

I am subscribing the newsletters from famous book critics, so it help me a lot to choose which book I pick up.

So I will go book store this afternoon.

Let's read!

Do you invest yourself?

2008-08-08T01:39:00.002+09:00

What does "investment" mean for you?

For me, investment is invest myself.

Invest myself means that spend time and money to improve my talent and build my character.

Today I attended the marketing seminar, it cost only 100 dollars for a couple of hours but it leads more business and good sales pitch.

Do you have spend the time for yourself?

What do you do if you have US$10,000 extra.

Do you buy the new gadgets or nice watch?

If I have this extra money as bonus, I will take the some courses I wanted so many years.

If you want to be successful, you have to cultivate and improve yourself.

What kind of first step will you take?

Motivation

2008-08-06T21:00:00.000+09:00

What is your motivation?

Money, fame or what?

If you don't motivate yourself, how would you pump the energy into yourself?

It is very difficult for everyone that do the works without motivation.

But even if we don't have the motivation, there is the easy way to energize yourself.

That kind of secrets, I wil tell you another time.

Sex and the City

2008-08-04T13:33:00.003+09:00

Are you familar Sit-com "Sex and the City"?

Off course most of you knew this mega-hit drama seriese, Sex and the City movie will be showing next week in Japan.

The trailer of the movie is shown many times on Japanese talk shows.

One thing I wondered "Are the Sex and the City's topics are common among the girls?"

Until quite recent, about sex topic is one of taboo topics in public especially from woman. Guys can talk about it over drink sessions but I could not imagine that woman talk about it over the dinner and lunch.

Well, even 20 years ago, woman talked about it but hide those very secretive, so we guys didn't realize those topics are well spoken among woman.

Obviously even people attitude and topics have been changed a lot in last 20 years.

Well, one of the movie major theme is "romance".

Is "Romantic thing" happened occasionally or accidentally or what?

Do you have the romantic moment right now?

I want to to know how to have the very romatic moment with my wife.

I want to make her suprised but she is always really cool about it everything.

Are there any suprising methodology or secrets to make the partner romantic?

If there are, I want to know as many as possible.

Totally different

2008-07-28T18:07:00.003+09:00

I came back from New York today.

This trip was totally different from other trips to New York.

Did you have the strange feeling even you are at the same place?

Off course there are so many reasons making me felt that way, such as , not single, accompanying with my wife, staying there longer time than other trips and visited new places for me.

My wife is really into some art stuff and she love the shopping.

On the contrary, I don't spend much time to decide which one I buy.
I am not into the shopping at all.

Usually it takes between one to five minutes to make up my mind to purchase anything.

Even that I spend the whole afternoon with my wife shopping in SOHO in New York.

It was good experience to see the people who are doing the shopping but the same time it made me really sad.

Shopping is time consuming so I could not manage the time to meet my friend in that afternoon.

One of the reasons I came to New York is seeing the friends.

Well my mission was not accomplished 100% but I found the little bid about New York.

If we do the things differently, it may lead the new world or new way of thinking.

So this trip became obviously my eye opener.

Lost and found

2008-07-27T15:48:00.003+09:00

Did you lose your belongings before?

How many wallets did you lose in your life? I lost three coin cases, one rist-watch and one mobile phone.

I was almost lose my digital camera today. I put my camera inside shoulder bag and left it at the restaurant which we have the last dinner in New York.

How does it feel when you noticed that you left your bags somewhere behind?

How about me?

I became so restless and could not concentrate on what we are talking about.

"Are restaurant people still keep my bag?"
"It should be ok, they are nice people in the restaurant."

I became totally thinking about the lost bag.

During my thinking about my lost bag my wife and my best friend had a good conversation.

Now my wife had a good chit-chat with my best frined.

Finally I found my shoulder bag at the same time my wife found my lovely secrets in old school days.

Did we lose anything in our life or not?

If you lost something, I hope that you will find "it"

New York New York 2

2008-07-26T07:34:00.004+09:00

Have you studied any foreign language?

Off course most of people who work in overseas are multi-lingual.

New York is a one of the place that you can hear many languages a day.

People communicate in their own languages.

Just today, I heard Bon Giorno(Italian), Hola(Spanish), Nein(German), da(Russian), oui(French), arigato(Japanese), Vitnamese, Korean, Chinese, Slovak and off course English.

I wish I can speak all of those.

But if you know the simple expressions of those languages, those simple communication skill help to live very lively in place like New York.

Is it interesting or what?

New York New York

2008-07-24T21:58:00.002+09:00

I came New York with my wife this week.

I postponed the kind a honeymoon trip because of works and my health condition.

Luckily I have the one week off right now and doctor gave me the permission to go abroad so we decided to come over New York.

Where do you want go if you are sentenced to live only limited time like one year?

Do you go to see the World heritages?

Or do you want to go back your home-town?

We decided to come New York to see art works as much as possible.

New York attracts me more and more, I will highly reccomend to come over here.

Life is going on

2008-07-22T02:31:00.002+09:00

My high school friend passed away last week age of 40.

We are all living towards to the death but none of us knows when our lives end.

This is very irony. We don't know the dead end but still we belive and do the actions that everything is continuing tomorrow.

He did think exact same way until his brain vessel burst because of high blood pressure.

Our living time is so precious and wonderful.

So it is very important for us to live lively every moment as much as possible.

Tomorrow I am going to New York with my wife.

This is first time for us to go abroad together.

I will enjoy the precious moment with her.

So everyone, do you have the precious time right now?

If not, please please do have the wondeful moment for yourself and with your love one.

Learning is the key for your life

2008-07-21T00:27:00.003+09:00

Do you want to learn new stuff or not?

When did you want to learn new things, skills or concepts?

What kind of skills do you want to learn?

I am actually learning freak.

Because of my work and my curiosity, I keep taking the training and skill course all the time.

Do you know the reason why?

If you know the best practices, it will help you in your life and enrich your life.

It is very important for me to learn new methodology,concepts and best practices.

You can learn from the book, friends, seminars, training course even daily life.

I will take the certification test tomorrow.