![[Q]](../img/shared/frame-body/icon_question_japan.gif){kind=icon}
![[A]](../img/shared/frame-body/icon_answer_japan.gif){kind=icon}
- What motivates you in your job?
- To make the people around me, both inside and outside the company, feel happy. When in high school, as the head of a cheerleading group, I served as a bridge between the advisory teacher and group members and made efforts so that we could practice without feeling uncomfortable with each other. Even now as a productive member of society, if I imagine that business partners and internal members will feel happy, I become highly motivated.
In March 2011, I went to the Cerro Verde copper mine (in Peru) in which Sumitomo Corporation had invested, and I visited a station within the transportation route to the port (Vice President, Sumitomo Corporation Del Peru S.A. [right], and the author [left])
- Could you tell us about some of your impressive accomplishments?
- In March, almost one year after I joined Sumitomo Corporation, I made my first solo business trip to Anhui Province located in southeast China. It took about three hours by car from Nanjing Airport to the client's company. I felt lonely along the way, but I think it was a very good experience. Although at first, I was not able to communicate sufficiently with business partners and local employees, I have now established good communication with them, and they call me "Mazi," which is the Chinese version of my first name, "Asako."
In December 2011, I visited Lake Toya in Hokkaido, which is the northernmost ice-free lake in Japan
- How would you like to carry out your work in the future?
- First of all, I would like to carry out the tasks at hand and fulfill the roles expected of me in the proper way. By steadily carrying out each of my tasks, I would like to grow as a person, and in so doing, I would like to contribute to the company.
In November 2011, I visited Hakone with employees who joined the company in the same year as me. This is Owakudani, a major tourist spot in Hakone.
- How do you spend your holidays?
- After joining the company, I had a greater opportunity to go traveling within the country as well as abroad and have learned to be able to spend my off-time effectively to vary the pace of my life. In the winter of 2011, I visited Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture and was impressed by the snowy landscape of the Gassho-zukuri Village. In addition, I attend a cooking class once a month with employees who joined the company the same year that I did. "Eating" rather than "cooking" is becoming the main part of the class for me, but it's nice for a change.
