Fuga: Keep honing your skills in an environment where "I'm just a student" doesn't cut it.

Q1: Why I joined

I was looking for a student internship while hoping to build a career at the intersection of traditional crafts, data utilization, and global business. That’s when I found the opportunity at TAIMATSU. MUSASHI JAPAN, our business dealing in traditional Japanese kitchen knives, has a customer base that is over 90% international. The fact that the company collects online and offline sales data on a unified platform to perform data analysis and run digital advertising aligned perfectly with the career path I wanted to pursue, and I felt I could gain the skills I needed, so I decided to start working there. By joining a startup like TAIMATSU, I’ve been able to gain experience leading projects as a student and working with large-scale data, and I truly feel that joining this team was the right decision.

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Q2: Overwhelming sense of ownership

The most memorable experience was the presentation I gave at the "Cool Japan DX Award 2024" six months after joining the company. This award recognizes companies that excel in using digital technology and data within the Cool Japan sector. I was entrusted to represent TAIMATSU from the application process all the way to the final presentation. I compiled materials covering the data utilization TAIMATSU has implemented, our marketing strategies using customer data, and the advertising reports I created after joining. Since these materials were going to be seen by people outside the company, I checked and revised them over and over again to ensure there were no awkward expressions, that the story was easy to follow, and that our message was clear. There was no room for excuses or compromises just because I was a student; I was expected to produce work of the same quality as—or even better than—a full-time employee. I also practiced the final presentation repeatedly, having team members review it to ensure the highest possible quality. As a result, we won the top prize. Creating materials and presenting while pursuing such high standards was incredibly challenging, but being rewarded with the top prize gave me a huge boost in confidence and led to recognition within the company, making it an unforgettable experience.

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Q3: Failure and the power to break through

The biggest hurdle I faced was when I built a system to integrate multiple data sources (sales and advertising data) and visualize them in a way that could be used for decision-making. The data formats and granularity were inconsistent, and there was a lot of missing data, so I couldn't get accurate figures using Excel. Furthermore, at the time, there was no one in the company with expertise in data integration or dashboard development, so I had to research things myself and learn through trial and error. I made full use of the Python I was learning at university, and for parts I didn't understand, I watched video tutorials and read official documentation to acquire new skills one by one. I rebuilt the logic many times and even re-evaluated the tools I was using, but in the end, I was able to build a system that automatically combines data, visualizes it on a dashboard, and sends the results to our chat tool. Throughout this process, I communicated with many stakeholders to align requirements and kept searching for the optimal solution on my own. By thinking it through and building it myself rather than having someone give me the answer, I felt that I had truly overcome a major obstacle on my own.

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Q4: A message to my peers

I am part of a data science seminar at my university, and I am very passionate about my classes and research. I find it fascinating to learn new data analysis methods and build new analytical models. At the same time, however, I am just as passionate about my work at TAIMATSU because I can learn things there that I can't learn at university. I believe that gaining practical experience in skills needed in the real world—like participating in awards and building systems as I mentioned—is an incredibly valuable opportunity while still a student. For students who want to hone their skills or do something different from the crowd, I highly recommend stepping outside the university and taking on a challenge. I intend to continue pouring my passion into both academics and practical work to further sharpen my skills. I look forward to the opportunity to work with students who share the same ambition.