I was born in Japan and moved to California when I was two years old. I lived in California and New Jersey in the United States for eight years before returning to Japan and attending high school at an international school in the Netherlands. Afterwards, I enrolled at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in the UK to study economics.

After completing my second year at LSE, I received a letter from Goldman Sachs Japan informing me that representatives would be interviewing students at their London office for summer internships in Japan. In the summer of 2000, I interned in the Global Investment Research (GIR) department in Tokyo, and in August 2001, I received an offer for a full-time position. After working in Japan for 14 years, I recently relocated to the company's office in New York.

Upon joining the company, I was assigned to two teams within GIR, assisting with work in the machinery and technology sectors. In 2007, I became the lead analyst for the semiconductor capital equipment industry. Analysts responsible for a particular industry or companies within that industry attempt to forecast the direction of the industry and individual companies, while also seeking to uncover

Once you have an idea or report, you have to sell it or your ideas to investment clients worldwide. When I was in Japan, I traveled to the US on average once every quarter. Travel is an integral part of the job: I also regularly visit Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China for client marketing and due diligence purposes. The role of an analyst is highly responsible but also offers significant freedom. You have your own space, your own industry. You can go out and conduct on-site investigations. As long as it's relevant to your client base and valued by them, you have almost complete autonomy in deciding what to do and when to do it. You can spend your days collecting information, analyzing collected data, writing reports, pitching investment ideas to investment clients, or a combination of all of these tasks. It's your franchise, and you own it.

After my predecessor became the head of the GIR office in Tokyo, I became the senior analyst for the team in 2009. In 2012, I was promoted to managing director and served as co-head of the Asia technology team until my transfer to New York in 2015. In this role, in addition to the Tokyo team, I was also responsible for overseeing analysts in Taiwan, Korea, and China - a total of about 15 to 20 people. Currently in New York, I lead research efforts in semiconductors and semiconductor capital equipment, covering a dozen companies.

Clients often tell me that Goldman Sachs is one of the few firms with global connections internally, which allows us to better connect the dots when analyzing companies and industries. Teamwork is crucial to our culture at Goldman Sachs and within GIR. For example, our global teams hold regular conference calls to share information and discuss potential investment ideas. In the technology sector, understanding upstream and downstream dynamics is essential. Through regular dialogue, I believe we can make well-informed decisions as a collective, ultimately helping our clients.

I have found that no one at the company half-steps - everyone always gives 100%, or even 120% effort. The people around you work incredibly hard, and they respect everything you do. I believe that if you want to work hard and strive for success in any role, whether it's in GIR or anywhere else in the company, you will receive support, resources, and assistance.

I love to travel and have spent my life doing so. I enjoy meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, and trying new things. Now that I'm back in the US, I'm looking forward to exploring America and Europe with my family.