Date of publication: Dec 17, 2018

Aga Charytoniuk

CEO & Founder: AACJ Business Consulting

Date of birth:

Hometown: Elblag, Poland

Number of years in Japan (cumulative): 5 (as of December 2018)

Q1: What was your first encounter with Japan?

My first contact with Japan was through the stories of Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki movies, where I discovered a completely different way of describing reality, and, in particular, looking at the concept of good and evil.
My first Japanese friends were my Sydney flatmates; very ambitious women who came to Sydney to study English. It was interesting for me to talk to them and learn more about their countries, cultures and languages.

Q2: Please state your motto in life and why you have chosen it.

“Love yourself first,” because when you do you love your surroundings and you know how to love other people and creatures, too. A healthy and loving approach to your own body and spirit is the very first and most important step to achieving one’s happiness. For that, we need to learn how to spend time with ourselves without any noise, phones or other media. Just be connected with your inner self.

Q3 : Over your career, what achievement are you the proudest of?

I organized a business seminar in San Jose, Costa Rica for the private sector on how to do business with their Japanese counterparts. It was a challenge since I did all the preparation from Poland, communicating with Tokyo and San Jose to put the event together. Thanks to both the Japanese and Costa Rican private and public sectors, I, and the event, were successful.

Q4 : What are your goals during your time in Japan, your current position or in life?

I want to really focus on building my career, polishing my current skills and learning new ones. I am super lucky to work in a fantastic environment that enables me to grow and motivates me to achieve the company’s goals. Japan is a very interesting place to be because of the ongoing internationalization that it is experiencing. I am simply in the right place, at the right time.

Q5 : What wisdom, advice or tips can you give to people living and working in Japan?

Japan is so different from anything I have experienced before. Everything seems so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Japan has so many paradoxes, which only bring confusion to a foreigner who lives and works here. We tend to compare, judge or get disappointed and frustrated too easily. There is no point in doing that. So, my only advice to other foreigners is to accept your reality as it is and try to focus on whatever it is that will make you a better human being.

Last updated: Dec 17, 2018