That person's rookie days
The Director of an MLM company who worked at a Japanese bank & the unique CFO who started a company from the world's largest tax accounting firm

The May issue of UNI-SQUARE will feature "The Rookie Days of Executives," which was very well received last spring. If you recognised the person in the photo at the beginning, you must be a real UNIVA expert! (Laughs) In this issue, we will introduce the untold stories of the rookie days of our executives. Spring is the season when many new NAKAMA are welcomed and many take on new departments and positions. So, whether you're a young NAKAMA or not, please receive a message from the two people appearing today that will connect you to tomorrow!

And if there's anyone out there who would like to know about that person's time as a rookie, please leave a request in the comments section!

Roger Ye
Chairman of Naturally Plus Hong Kong
Director of UNP Taiwan
UNIVA Technologies Taiwan Director

Yosuke Sakuta
UNIVA Oak Holdings Group CFO
President and CEO of UNIVA Rhizoma

Following in his father's footsteps, he dreamed of becoming a banker

Roger is well known in the MLM industry and is widely recognized as the man to launch Naturally Plus (NP)'s overseas branches, but not many people know that he was actually a banker.

"My father was a banker, so from an early age I wanted to become a banker like him. After graduating from university, I joined the Taipei branch of Fuji Bank (later known as Mizuho Bank) and was assigned to the sales department. The eight years I spent there until I moved to NP were like a workplace in a TV drama (laughs)."

Even though it is the Taipei branch, both of his superiors are Japanese. It is said that the corporate culture was the epitome of Showa-era Japan.

"One day, I applied for four hours of overtime pay, but they said, 'Come on, you're a new employee. This isn't overtime, it's study time,' and only accepted one hour. After that, it was common to work unpaid overtime and give up holidays, and I often stayed up all night. Looking back now, it felt more like training than work. It may have become what we would call a black company today, but I think all banks at the time were like that."

Despite facing strong opposition from his superiors, the young Roger acquired financial knowledge and experienced many difficult situations.

"In 1999, two years after I joined the company, Fuji Bank merged with Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan to form Mizuho Bank. I learned a lot from being in the middle of this tumultuous merger. It was a very messy power struggle (laughs)."

A real-life version of Naoki Hanzawa: Breaking away from the cold, heartless work

Roger continued to work globally, making use of his language skills (English, Japanese, Chinese) and financial knowledge. I was also involved in many syndicated loan projects, in which multiple financial institutions collaborate to lend money to companies, which quickly broadened my perspective and network in the banking industry.

Why did Roger, who was such an elite banker, decide to switch jobs to NP?

"It must have been around the seventh year. A lot of people quit due to restructuring, and the workload per person increased enormously. On top of that, I was forced to collect loans to companies that my boss didn't like personally, so it was an extremely difficult time. No matter how many times I protested to my boss, he wouldn't listen, and in the end I was forced to collect the loans ruthlessly and heartlessly. It was just like a real-life version of Naoki Hanzawa. That's when I saw the NP recruitment ad."

Although Roger was hesitant to give up his career as a banker, he decided to take on a new challenge. Although he was scouted by banks several times after that, he never left NP and has devoted himself to it for the past 20 years.

"My experience as a banker has been extremely useful. In particular, I can easily decipher the issues behind the numbers in financial statements (laughs). I also learned not only financial knowledge and skills, but also human relationships at the bank. Perhaps because of the bitter experiences I had in the past, I feel even stronger than most about providing employee benefits and creating an environment where it is easy for them to perform well."

What I want to tell my young NAKAMA now

Oil painting by Roger

When Roger was a new recruit, he was subjected to strict training from his superiors and excessive work, which in today's society would likely be considered a case of "power harassment." But how did he take care of himself?

"At the time, oil painting was a way to relax me. I was helped by the sense of accomplishment I got from painting the picture of my dreams with the colors of my dreams. I think all of you NAKAMA can avoid accumulating stress if you have a hobby that you can immerse yourself in so much that you forget about the things you don't like."

Roger's motto is taken from Recruit's company motto:
"Create your own opportunities and use those opportunities to transform yourself."

Lastly, please give a message to our NAKAMA

"It's never too late, so don't hold back, give it your all, and spend each day without any regrets!"

Thank you, Roger! How was your trip to Japan with your wife? I hope you had a wonderful time with your wife and the cherry blossoms in full bloom.

What I learned from just three years of working life

After graduating from university, Sakuta devoted himself to taking the tax accountant exam for a year and a half, before joining Arthur Andersen, one of the world's Big 5 accounting firms at the time.

"I honestly didn't think it was a company I could get a job at. But I was able to join because I happened to live in the same apartment building as the executive who was interviewing me. It was a coincidence that he thought 'there are no bad people living there,' and that's how I was able to join (laughs). I applied without any expectations, so I said something big like 'I want to do work that other firms can't do,' and my wish came true. I was assigned to the Transaction Advisory Group, a department that handles cutting-edge initiatives."

He was assigned to a department that handled international investment taxation, securitization of real estate and non-performing loans, M&A, investment funds, aircraft leasing, and more than half of his clients were foreign investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

"It was a workplace that gave opportunities to young people, so I raised my hand and was assigned to projects that interested me. I just worked as hard as I could. All my colleagues at work were highly professional and took pride in their work, so we stimulated each other and improved ourselves. I wanted to study in the first year, understand 80% of the work in the second year, and become a full-fledged professional in the third year, so I just wanted to work hard for three years."

Apparently during busy periods it was not uncommon to work from 9am to 4am the following morning.

"My overtime pay was more than three times my base salary, and there were many times when my monthly salary approached 1 million yen (laughs). But the training I received in a tough environment at a young age has undoubtedly helped me to become who I am today. When I joined the company, I was terrible at English. It took me three hours to write a three-line email in English, and now I can laugh about it."

"A life no one has lived before"

Sakuta says that without those three years, he would never have met with UNIVA.

"It was more than 20 years ago, when Mr. Inaba was looking for a tax accountant who was knowledgeable in international taxation and investment from overseas into Japan. I was the one who met the criteria, and that's how we got here. When I retired from Arthur Andersen, I thought, 'Finally, it's time to say goodbye to Izumi Garden!' But thanks to my connection with the UNIVA Group, I was able to stay connected to Izumi Garden till now (laughs)."

During the interview, Sakuta said, "I want to do work that I can't do at other offices," which gave him the opportunity to experience a world that less than 10% of tax accountants know about. What is something that is important to you, Sakuta-san?

"My goal in life is to live a life that no one has lived before. And the basis for my decisions is always excitement. My career is the result of that path. At the time, people who left a foreign-affiliated tax accounting firm to go independent were considered eccentrics (laughs). But from the beginning, being a tax accountant was not my goal, but a means to an end. I had always wanted to compete in a business other than tax accounting, so I was surprised even when Mr. Inaba offered me the position of CFO of a listed company (laughs). I am grateful to Mr. Inaba for giving me this opportunity."

To NAKAMA

Lastly, please give a message to our NAKAMA.

"When I was young, I worked hard, working 19 hours a day. I don't think that kind of work style would be tolerated in today's society. But you are free to work and improve yourself. Unlike university, experience as a working adult continues for decades, and daily accumulation will ultimately make a big difference. As you get older, get married, have children, and care for your parents, it's hard to find time to improve yourself. But when you're young, when you don't have those kinds of experiences, you can work on improving yourself as much as you want. Especially if you improve your skills while you're young, you will be given higher-level work, and you will be able to improve yourself even more. I am very happy to see my young NAKAMA grow, and all the members of Rhizoma work with that mindset, so I feel that they grow very quickly every day. If you are watching this and are worried about improving yourself, please don't hesitate to contact me."

Thank you, Sakuta-san, for the wonderful story!