Studying literature at university, I often had the feeling that I did not know what the real world was like. Literature is the world of fiction: what I studied was a reflection of the real world; something similar, to be sure, yet still different. I was eager to know and learn about the world as it is and so I was anxious to start my career somewhere that would give me a broad perspective, that is why I chose the financial industry.

My first assignment was to trade US and European derivatives products during Asian hours?talking to traders in New York and London, and to Sales people in Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. Working with different people around the globe I realized that there are many ways to look at the same thing. For example, there may be accounts in Asia that are eager to buy a product when European and US accounts are just as keen to sell. Our job is to provide liquidity between these buyers and sellers, sometimes adding derivatives to meet the requirements of the account.

When reading the newspaper or watching TV, connections with work I am involved with are often apparent. Thinking about the world in this way makes events feel relevant and close at hand. For several years now, my job became firmly connected to the domestic market as well, bringing with it another new perspective.

I also think I was lucky that I always had women counterpart in London and New York. When I joined the firm, there were not many women working on the trading floor in Tokyo. Now we have many women on the floor. We can see our senior excutive's name in Forbes' "The 100 Most Powerful Women" every year. Those senior executives try to spend time with us when they have a chance to visit Tokyo. They always try to encourage and support other women employee.