2012年09月30日
Farewell Note
会長退任にあたり、同窓生にこんな挨拶を送りました。その一部を添付します。
Windsor CastleはLBSの並びにあるPub名です!
Sometimes I wonder why I am so passionate when it comes to the School. I rarely take part in alumni activities of Waseda, where I did my bachelor's. Maybe it is because I "chose" to study at LBS and all the "difficulties" that it presented. I did choose Waseda, but this did not involve much determination. Based Shikoku, I just applied to a few colleges in Tokyo that I had heard of, and I went to the one that simply accepted me. And my parents paid the tuition fee.
Choosing LBS was very different. It was a big decision to leave the good job I had at JAFCO, a venture capital arm of Nomura. Also, I had never lived abroad. Arriving in London in 1989, amongst 8 Japanese students I was the only one without sponsorship. My funds, from selling JAFCO shares which had gone public a year earlier, diminished pretty fast in the unexpected high prices of London. I had to live on cereal for breakfast, ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch and spaghetti for supper, day in day out! A pint of beer on Friday night at Windsor Castle and all-you-can-eat deal at the dorm cafeteria on Saturday were my biggest fun of the week. (Yes, there was a dormitory in the A Wing back then.)
The most embarrassing incident I still recall today happened in the Marketing class in thefirst year. An English classmate, although I forgot the context, made a remark "Japan is a copycat. There is nothing original from Japan." All the class turned their heads to me because I was the only Japanese in my class. This outrageous statement made me feel mad. My face turned red, my hands were shaking and... I was speechless! I was so upset and I could not even think in Japanese before countering her argument.
I believe everyone has his/her own LBS experiences, both highlights and challenges. Forme this means the School did not only give me knowledge, but it also "forced me to think." Think about my career, my life, my country and the world. A real challenge as I came out ofthe Japanese education system, which does not put much emphasis on to that skill. So, after all, I thank the School. I thank the School and I want it to be one of the top business schools in the world, ALWAYS!
