NEWS

On Friday, June 20, 2014, Ms. MITARAI Tamako, a former Bhutan Prime Minister Fellow, came to APU to give a social outreach seminar titled “The Life of a Change Maker – McKinsey, Bhutan & Kesennuma.”

After graduating from university, Ms. MITARAI was employed at business consultancy firm McKinsey & Co., before taking up the position of the Bhutan Prime Minister Fellow, a job that saw her working on activities aimed at promoting the country’s economic self-reliance. In the wake of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami she then founded Kesennuma Knitting Co., in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, a company selling hand-knitted sweaters and cardigans under the concept of making Kesennuma knitting products a world-class brand.

During the seminar Ms. MITARAI talked about her time spent working as a change-maker in Bhutan and Kesennuma from two perspectives; “How do you develop a key industry?” and “How do you make a company that will last even after the demand for reconstruction has gone?” With regards to how she got chosen for the Bhutan Prime Minister Fellowship, Ms. MITARAI said “I think it was because I was dedicated to the job at hand. Finish what you start and it will lead to the next thing. If you carry out a job half heartedly, or by cutting corners, no one will back you when you want to try something else. Compensation for a job isn’t paid straight away. The reward is seeing the accumulation of each individual thing lead on to the next.”

The seminar concluded with a question and answer session in which Ms. MITARAI answered various questions such as what exactly her fellowship in Bhutan involved, her definition of happiness, and what her plans were for the future.

Reporter, Student Press Assistant (SPA):
YAMADA Kanako(Japan)