A resident of Kyoto who practices ikebana flower arrangement, cooks seasonal cuisine and studies aikido is a description that might for some conjure up an image of a somewhat stereotypical Japanese woman. But learning of other aspects to Mariko Fukui should swiftly disavow anyone of any such cliched categorisation. The internationally-minded entrepreneur founded her company Aalto International Group at the age of just 25 while in Singapore, maintains side business interests and is currently engaged in post-graduate studies.
Born in Kobe, one of her earliest memories is the day in 1995 when the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck the city. Although all her family managed to escape safely, their home was among the huge number that collapsed. The disaster took the lives of six of her elementary schoolmates.
Relocating to Osaka, Fukui attended school there before entering Kyoto’s Doshisha University to study sociology, piqued by her interest in “how society works, how people think and how decisions are made in society.” During her student days, she became involved in disaster prevention activities, in particular how to ensure the lessons of earthquakes are remembered and passed down. The website she created got covered by major newspapers, driving traffic and participation, and driving home to her the power of the media and communication.
Stress and success in Singapore
Upon graduation, she entered a PR agency in Osaka. After three years there and a short stint at another agency in Tokyo, she joined a Japanese recruiting firm as it launched new operations in Singapore. On top of the challenge of trying to establish an unknown overseas brand in a new and competitive market, Fukui says she “wasn’t able to really speak English at that time, so it was really tough.” She recalls the struggle of making around 100 cold calls daily.
After a year of tears and a steep English learning curve, she decided to set up her own company, taking advantage of the relatively low barriers to doing so in Singapore. Her father is a researcher, and like many tech-minded people, not a great communicator, according to Fukui. Believing that there are numerous Japanese manufacturing and technology firms which face similar issues on a larger scale, she wanted her company to be a solution.
Determined to succeed and create
Returning to Japan and telling her parents that she had already established the company in Singapore — the reaction was not quite what she’d hoped for. Her father, one of the inspirations for her to launch the venture, thought the life of an entrepreneur would be too challenging and encouraged her to take a less risky path. A fierce row ensued and Fukui left the family home vowing not to return until she could show she had successfully managed the business. Sticking to her word, she kept her distance until she did.
Around the same time in 2013, she began to represent Sweden-headquartered PR platform Mynewsdesk in Japan, gaining a foothold in the domestic market by signing up Toshiba. “It was exactly what they wanted at the time.” That led to other major Japanese firms coming onboard.
Aalto continued to grow, opening a German office along the way. However, Fukui felt that quality was being sacrificed in the quest for scale. Diverging views over this led to a parting of ways with her co-founder four years ago. While the company still works with a team of around 15 freelancers, Fukui decided to re-organize the business and focus on her Kyoto base.
Still pushing and learning
Many of her numerous tech and engineering clients are based in Kyoto, where she has made her home. “One of the biggest challenges is that Japanese companies often don’t want to try new things, and I always try to bring new challenges to them.” This also delivers Fukui some of her most satisfying professional moments: when she sees her clients finally taking a leap into something new.
While running Aalto, she enrolled in an MBA at Kyoto University in 2016. After having the opportunity to study a year at a business school in Lyon as part of the course, she decided to stay in Europe and postpone her studies for a few years. In the end, Fukui decided to leave the programme at Kyoto. “The best learning was through meeting the professors and friends there. The knowledge side I try to learn from my entrepreneur life.”
After returning to Japan due to the pandemic, she began a master’s course at the global studies department of Doshisha last year, focusing on how technology impacts society. Although juggling her academic and business responsibilities is not easy, Fukui says that her research provides clues to future directions and sparks ideas which can help her clients. She is currently considering whether to go on and undertake doctoral studies.
After meeting an aikido sensei last year, and being “impressed with her philosophy,” Fukui began training in what is often referred to as the ‘way of harmony.’ When not running her business, doing research for her master’s, practicing aikido or arranging flowers, Fukui somehow still finds time to get together with friends and share the experience of preparing seasonal cuisine.
Text: Gavin Blair for SCCIJ.
