IAH to NRT
After a 14-hour flight, a 1-hour bus ride, and a 15-minute taxi ride, I finally made it to my temporary home in Tokyo. Luckily, I was greeted at the airport by two of my colleagues from the Legal Group that wanted to make sure I arrived safely to Tokyo (one of which I had previously had lunch with in Houston while she was there on a business trip, Honsho-san).
To celebrate my safe arrival, we had Japanese barbeque for dinner and began to get acquainted. After dinner, it was time to rest, unpack, and prepare for the six weeks ahead.
First Day of Work
After a 25-minute commute by train, I arrived to my first day of work. My first day consisted of introductions, meetings, and assignments. After being introduced to all of the Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd (“Kobelco”) staff in Tokyo, I attended presentations by the groups that compose the Legal and Internal Audit Department. These groups are (1) the Internal Audit Group, (2) the Compliance Planning and Administration Group, and (3) the Legal Group.
These were the three groups that I would be working with during my stay in Tokyo. Each group made a presentation in English (lucky for me!) of their daily job responsibilities in order for me to fully understand their jobs. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of employees who spoke English in the office. Almost everyone knew some English, with many members speaking English extremely well.
By the end of my first day I had a couple of research assignments, many new names to learn, and jetlag that was slowly kicking in.