Living in Peru, a country with an important history of Japanese immigration that began 120 years ago, I grew up close to their culture. In 1967, the Japanese soccer team visited Lima and played a friendly game with our national team. It impressed me the way Peruvians applauded them and praised their correctness. This is easy to admire in the Japan of today.

Confucius said, “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” I am a big follower of that principle and because of that I stopped working a long time ago.

I’ve had the amazing opportunity to be ambassador of my country to the three greatest economies — the United States, China and now Japan. Getting concrete results out of these experiences that I have always combined with my activities as a journalist gives me a great personal satisfaction.

Considering that Peru was the first Latin American country and one of the first in the world to recognize Japan as a diplomatic partner in 1873, I just have to follow the path of my predecessors and keep transforming ideas into the solid realities and strong relations that our countries have had for the last 145 years.

For any foreigner living in Japan, especially coming from the Western world, my most important advice would be to understand the Japanese culture and learn the history of Japan.