Hi! My name is Mio Yamaguchi.
People affectionately call me “fake Japanese” because, rather than being shy, I’m vocal, direct, and outgoing. And, I don’t eat sushi.
I work in non-Japanese company, IT Industry, as an APAC RVP of function team that supports sales. In my personal life, I have a Japanese husband, enjoy dancing, and provide coaching sessions as a global communication advisor.
My job requires a lot of communication, which means I communicate using non-native languages in unfamiliar/non-native cultures. It’s tough, but it’s also a lot of fun! I’ve been doing this for a few decades, and the unexpected thing is, what ultimately helped me survive is my “Japanese nature.”
To pursue my role, there are many occasions that I have to reject or disagree. Where a Japanese person might hesitate, I do not. But, I often heard people telling me, “Sales people love and trust you, even though you challenge them because of your role and responsibilities. How do you manage to do that?” These are nice words, flattering even…but, after hearing this repeatedly, I started to wonder if there was any truth in it.
Although I’m affectionately known as “fake Japanese,” I do have the Japanese nature of being polite, punctual, considerate, and respectful. These are in my nature; I don’t have to try to be this way. And these nature and my attitude seems to be what has been helping me. I realized that by leveraging my Japanese skill set, I was able to do a good job in global communication in business.
When I was working in the IT/electronics industry as a salesperson at a major Japanese manufacturing company, I wasn’t better at “being considerate.” I wasn’t bad at sales, but I wasn’t the best either (when it came to meeting the standards of a Japanese-owned company). If I can do a good job in non-Japanese company, other people would do so much better if they understand how the trick work.
With this realization, I started advising my friends and colleagues on how to use these skills. . . I could teach other Japanese people to be great in the global business world, using their “Japanese nature” more consciously and intentionally. And it worked!
As I was doing this, I noticed common pitfalls that Japanese people tend to struggle with. This led to the creation of what I call my “original method” of effective communication. This method can be easily understood and applied by Japanese people who want to communicate better on a global level.
As I created tools and began to teach my method, many people told me that it helped them understand the root cause of miscommunication and made them more effective communicators. And that’s how I came to sharing what I know and published a book. Global communication without relying on your English: an introduction (Japanese edition; Self-published in 2021, March)
This webpage is designed for those of you who are interested in the original method you’ve become familiar with through my book, blog, seminars, or coaching sessions.
I look forward to sharing my thoughts and a new way of approaching communication with you.
Mio’s bio
1990 – Joined Hitachi, a major Japanese electronics company; learned the basics of Japanese business culture
2003 – Joined SoftBank affiliate and helped with the start-up of Internet B2B business and also another B2C business
2005 – 2014
Joined an U.S. based software company and started to realize the difference between Japanese business and US business.
2014 – 2021
Joined SanFrancisco based Software company. Currently working as Best Practice Director for Asia (Australia, India, China, Japan, Korea, etc.). (Includes experience as interim country manager for both Japan and Korea, each around 1 year)
Currently offering mentoring services and coaching sessions.
2020 – 1H Mentor: Network of Empowered Entrepreneurial Women, Tokyo
2021 – Global communication without relying on your English: an introduction(Japanese edition; Self-published in 2021, March)
2021 – Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach
2021年 ～ Present
Regional VP Sales Operations and Strategies APAC for Outsystems, a Portuguese company. Outsystems is a low-code platform for an enterprise applications.
2022 – Mentor for 3 year consecutively for “1H Mentor: Network of Empowered Entrepreneurial Women, Tokyo”
2024 – Fast-track your Career Growth with Global Communication (Kindle : Japanese edition; Self-published in 2021, March)