Living Entrepreneurship Blog / Global & Multicultural

Japan Trek 2013

Post by Kaz Kawaguchi, MBA Candidate, Class of 2014

In May of 2013 Kaz, along with Babson alum and Professors, organized a program to his home country of Japan for Babson students and spouses. There were 18 participants  (15 students and 3 spouses), from the U.S., Mexico, Guatemala, Paraguay, Venezuela, Iceland, Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan.

Before the trek, Kaz writes of his expectations:

Many of the participants will come to Japan for the first time, and it is a good opportunity for them to come with MBA classmates including Japanese students. I hope the participants will be exposed to a very different culture from that of the United States and their home countries, learn advanced technology and business models from leading companies such as Toyota, Mitsui, and JR, and build strong connections with Babson Alum in Japan through the networking party.

Japan Trek was an official program until 2010, but after the earthquake it was cancelled and never resumed. Even though this Japan Trek is just a grassroots effort, Professor Matsuno and Mr. Sato (M’06) helped our Japan Trek by setting up company visits and alumni network party arrangements. I hope Japan Trek will become an official trek again for next year, and replicate this kind of trek in other countries where we have strong Babson Community such as Mexico, Chili, Thailand, and India.

Upon the group’s return, Kaz shared the video below: