Some loudmouth once said that anyone who was in Japan during the bubble years of the late 1980s and had not made money -- a lot of money -- was a fool. Well, that makes me a dunce of the first order.
Things might have been very different if I had met Trevor Reynolds years earlier, but he only arrived from the Canadian prairies of Saskatchewan in 1990. Still, even 10 years ago there might have been time to better plan for the alarming immediate future. "Of course it's never too late to start," he explained, "but you will have to lower your expectations. The earlier one begins, the better."
Reynolds is managing director of Banner Japan KK, a consultancy offering overseas financial services, with an office in Ebisu, Tokyo, and a staff of nine, including three Japanese. At 33 (three seems to be his number of the lucky immediate moment), he can see a time not far ahead when he will be comfortable enough not to have to worry ever again. But as with any vocation, he will never be able to step back entirely. "It's not a matter of living to work or working to live. It's simpler than that: I love my work."