28 April 2025, Singapore - “I dreamt of helping Japan build strong global relationships,” said Shiraiwa Yasufumi. “I had such fire in me after graduation, although I didn’t plan my career.” But encounters with a forward-thinking manager, and a Finnish professor reignited the flame.  

Today, Shiraiwa strengthens industrial and cultural bridges between Sendai and Finland. He has a never-ending thirst for learning and brings that attitude to the Sendai innovator community. Shiraiwa serves as Senior Director of Innovation Promotion at the city’s Economic Affairs Bureau, with.  

But it was a bank manager in Tokyo who set Shiraiwa on the first right path.

From 2001, Shiraiwa was seconded to a government-linked bank in Otemachi, Tokyo. “My manager at the bank, Moritani san, was trained at Harvard,” Shiraiwa recalled. “He was a good person and loved to help his subordinates. He often sought the opinion of team members and was ready to critique ideas when asked.”

Because of Moritani’s open approach to management, Shiraiwa began reflecting. This was a golden opportunity to take responsibility in building skills, he thought.

Open-Minded Sensei Widened His Perspective 

“I picked up more professional consultancy skills,” Shiraiwa recalled. “While in Tokyo, on most evenings at home, I would continue working on myself by refining ways to present proposals.”

This meant staying in his rental apartment on more nights than going to the izakaya (local pub). He began to break down steps towards goals by doing a frank inventory of his skillset and staying persistent in overcoming mental hurdles – even comfort.

That prepared Shiraiwa for the next pivotal episode.

Almost a decade after Shiraiwa’s stint in Tokyo, a “very tall, serious looking” Finnish professor arrived in Sendai. According to Shiraiwa, this professor - Dr Juha Teperi - “did not smile often, and even looked angry sometimes”. The professor also could not communicate in Japanese. The latter’s impressive academic qualifications further widened the chasm between the two cultures in a small office.

“I wasn’t confident that I could build a good working relationship with him,” Shiraiwa admitted. So Shiraiwa began to avoid meetings with Teperi wherever possible. 

But two commonalities broke the ice.

"Beer solves everything!"

“In the Finnish culture, they like saunas and we love our onsens. Over time, we observed that after a few beers and sometime in the onsen, everything comes out,” laughed Shiraiwa.

Was a soak in the tub and the clank of bottles the key to global collaboration success?

Shiraiwa explained that with a relaxed environment, the Japanese team began to “try”. “At our weekly meetings, Dr Teperi was seen to take great effort in explaining the agenda clearly, briefly, and in advance,” he explained.

Being "Over-Prepared" Is A Japanese Trait

“You see, in the Japanese culture, we love being well prepared. Perhaps even ‘over-prepared, as some might say. But this is a mindset we’ve had for centuries,” he continued.

“And as a foreigner, Dr Teperi helped advance our project when he began to change his approach. This gave us opportunities to prepare before the meeting, even go through our cultural processes. We felt better.”

Shiraiwa shared that over time, other colleagues began to warm to the Finnish professor.  “Another factor that helped us build good working relationship was the weekly meetings. They were mandatory. So we had no choice but to keep working together. But after some months, these meetings also gave us the opportunity to appreciate Dr Teperi’s straightforward and honest approach. "We began to trust him."

Shiraiwa drew parallels between Dr Teperi, and his former manager Moritani. “I began to learn English earnestly. Every evening, I would work on it in front of the mirror. It was very hard, but it was important.”