Exclusive Interview: APU President Haruaki Deguchi “Dream bigger, reach higher” to international students & young global talent

President, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. Trustee and Vice-Chancellor, The Ritsumeikan Trust. Deguchi Haruaki was inaugurated as the 4th President of APU on January 1, 2018. In a first for the university, Mr. Deguchi was selected by a committee that considered candidates from outside the Ritsumeikan University system. Mr. Deguchi is the cofounder of Lifenet Insurance, the first independent Japanese insurance company created in 74 years. He served as President and Managing Director from the company’s founding in 2006 until 2013, when he became Chairman and CEO. Previously, Mr. Deguchi held various roles with Nippon Life Insurance Company in a career that spanned nearly 35 years, including president of the company’s London-based subsidiary and general manager of the international business division. Before joining APU, Mr. Deguchi had been appointed as a lecturer at Keio University and Waseda University. In 2005, he was an advisor to the Office of the President at the University of Tokyo. Mr. Deguchi is a prolific author, having written more than 40 books. Since January 2018, he has written a monthly opinion column for The Japan Times. He holds a degree from the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University.

<Interviewer : Hiromi Karahashi, CEO of SPeak Corp. and Peter Jaya Satyo, Lead Marketer of SPeak Corp. & an APU alumni, from organizing company, SPeak corporation, of JPortJournal.com providing career information to young global talents in/into Japan. SPeak’s mission is “Global People make Global Companies”>

Overview of the interview

• “Ideas & Creativity = Be yourself”
• “Adapting = Neglecting diversity and individual traits”
• “Dream bigger, Reach higher”

“Ideas & Creativity = Be yourself”

Q1. What is the most important factor to work in Japan as a foreigner?

Mr. Deguchi: The most important factor is to be yourself and utilize your own unique characteristics regardless of where you are from. It really does not matter whether you are from outside of Japan or not. If you apply for a company by pitching your characteristics and get rejected, you should be happy about it. It is more likely that the company that rejects you is not the right fit for you, and you will never have a successful career in such company. Try to avoid situations like the Procrustean bed from the Greek myth, a plan or scheme to produce uniformity or conformity by arbitrary or violent methods.

Q2. What kind of roles will international students play in Japan?

Mr. Deguchi:  A person can excel to the full extent because of one’s characteristics, not because of where you are from or what language you speak. Everyone is unique and different. In Japan, the mainstream educational ethic for decades has been to “keep rules which everyone agrees to”, which has formed uniformity. The only solution to break the uniformity in this society is to welcome more diversified people from different backgrounds all around the world, to become a melting pot.

International students have the potential to shine by keeping his or her unique characteristics once they find a company where they can maximize their potential. Diversity is a must to be equipped in the phase of creating new business or globalization of business. Japan, up until now, has been optimizing society to the manufacturing factory model, and focusing heavily on the “the 5 factors”. The 5 factors consist of “School name”, “Honesty”, “Patience”, “Collective responsibility” and “Obedience to superiors”. After World War II, this country revived from that time of downfall, yet, in these modern days, ideas and creativity are the key components for society to flourish. The 5 factors do not function anymore in the world of global competition.

“Adapting to society means neglecting the diversity and uniqueness as an individual”

Q3. What do international students need to improve to excel in Japan? 

Mr. Deguchi: Adjusting to the Japanese social norms means abandoning your own strength. Some companies in Japan, without considering things, still say that a high level of Japanese language certification, such as JLPT N1 or N2, is a requirement. There is no doubt that Japanese proficiency is one of the important factors, but making international students transform into “Japanese”, like foreigners with blue eyes or “japanizing” , adapting too much to the japanese standards, is meaningless. Oppressing people with the Japanese way surely is not a solution to creating a diversified society.  Foreigners fitting into the Japanese way is equivalent to Japanese women being obligated to adjust to Japanese men. As a result, Japanese women had to adapt to men’s qualifications and ended up becoming men-like women in the society. I always tell women officers in organizations to never listen to what men expect.

Q4. What should international students be aware of during job-hunting in Japan?

Mr. Deguchi: No need to pay attention to something you should be aware of. It is meaningless to make companies in Japan flattered. Think about how you can maximize your own characteristics. Adapting to society means neglecting the diversity in society and your uniqueness as an individual. The crucial fact in building up your ideal path is to have an understanding that all of us are different. We have to learn from the Nobel prize winning playwright from Ireland, George Bernard Shaw, about the difference between those adapting to society and those who do not. 

Shaw once said “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” As evident in Shaw’s quote, international students adapting to the Japanese way or vice-versa will never make society or other individuals better in any way.

“Dream bigger, reach higher”

Q5. Please tell us a role model international student in Japan should look up to.

Mr. Deguchi: It is hardly possible to name just one role model since there are many role models international students or Japanese students that current students can look up to during the course of my presidency at APU. The all important essence to becoming successful can be summarized in these words: “Dream bigger, reach higher”, which is a saying that describes the spirit of so many APU students. Have a big dream and strive to be better with fellow students.

Not so long ago, an international student from Afghanistan, Ata, touched the soul and heart of journalists who attended Deguchi-jyuku, the entrepreneurship program in APU. His point is very simple. Ata wants to build a school teaching students from age 6 to 18 because he witnessed many of his friends become casualties of the war. He feels content that he has survived and is now studying in Japan. The only thing he can possibly do is to build a school for children and youths in Afghanistan. Every one of us in the room instantly got engaged in his unique story, and his business plan has been funded 30 million yen at the site by a Japanese investor.

Big dreams move people, even a mountain. Being successful depends on how much you can carry on your big dreams and execute what needs to be done. Understanding your circumstances and capabilities are the key success factors in life.

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<Interviewer’s note>

Insightful and inspirational interview with President Deguchi. We on the JPort Journal Editorial Team aims to provide valuable and meaningful information to young global talents who hope to build a successful career in Japan, so President Deguchi's insights regarding diversity has inspired our team members to become the bridge between our readers and the society. "Dream bigger, reach higher". We will continue to build up more contents for you. JPort - Your gateway for career and life in Japan.