■Our company is dedicated to having people who have experiences abroad with IT skills and they contribute to projects associated with Japan, Asia, and Africa.

□The Ideal candidate has "Backpacker Spirit"

I, CEO of this company, was a backpacker wandering through Asia and the Middle East during my school days. Despite having relatively short breaks in university, lasting only about a month, I was always engaged in gathering information and planning how far I could go, estimating the required budget before each journey.

I used to engage in meticulous planning by imagining the future—specifying when, where, and in what condition I would arrive, determining the deadline for returning home from the departure date, and working backward to establish target arrival dates. Additionally, I considered what items to carry and what to discard, always aiming for minimal and lightweight travel gear to enhance the ease of my journey. I devoted as much time to preparation and planning as the duration of the trip itself. However, troubles would still occasionally arise.

During my third year in college, I planned a journey across China and through Central Asia. Despite gathering pre-trip information and setting out on the journey, trouble arose when I reached the westernmost town in China and faced the next destination, neighboring Kazakhstan. To travel to the next country, a visa was required, and it was specified that the visa could be obtained at the embassy in Beijing or alternatively, if entering by plane, the visa could be obtained at the airport. It was mentioned that visas were not issued for overland travel. This created a sense of urgency, as the pre-trip information had suggested that visas could be obtained at the border. The options were either to return to Beijing or to spend a significant amount of money on a flight. My decision was to go to the border and see what happens.

There were several reasons that led to this decision. Firstly, there was a lack of reliability of the information. More than the information itself, there was a lack of trust in the reliability of the source providing that information. Repeated encounters and farewells at guesthouses equipped me with a keen sense of judgment for assessing people. Furthermore, I compared the schedule, cost, and risks associated with returning to Beijing and taking a flight with reaching the border and having to return. Taking all these factors into account, I calmly assessed what could be done under my conditions. It seemed that, during the journey, there was also a growth in the intuition for assessing risks. After carefully considering all these factors, the final decision was made with a mindset of "Let's give it a try first. If it doesn't work out, I can think about it from there." With the mindset of "I've come this far, so let's give it a try. Maybe things will work out once I'm there," I got on the bus bound for the border, all the while swirling various thoughts and considerations in my mind.

Facing the first challenge at immigration, the initial response was "No". Despite persisting for about an hour, there was no change. During the official's break, the official was smoking a cigarette outside the immigration area. Then I approached him.

Offical："Where are you from"
Me："Japan"
Offical："Japan is good. My car is Toyota."
Me："Is it cold here?"
Offical："It's heavy snow in winter. Does it snow in Japan"
In the midst of casual conversation, he discreetly handed over a few prepared boxes of Marlboro cigarettes to the official.
Me："Do you want it?"
Offical："Very good!!"

After engaging in such conversation for about an hour, when the official's break came to an end, I was called by the immigration staff.

Official："Hey, my friend! As a special favor to my Japanese friend, I'll grant you a 3-day transit visa. Switch your visa situation on the other side."

With those words, the official stamped my passport with a smile. Visa issued. Expressing gratitude, I presented the remaining boxes of Marlboro cigarettes as a gift. With that, I crossed over to the neighboring country.

If I had blindly accepted the information and returned to Beijing, even if I had obtained the visa, the limited time might have hindered my travel plans, and I might not have been able to explore as freely as I desired.

The mindset of "Let's give it a try and then think about it" brings action resulted in a small but significant success. Of course, there are times when there may be failures as well.
Indeed, you may also hear voices saying, "It was just a stroke of luck." However, rather than fearing failure or criticism, I learned from my backpacking journeys that bold decision and action, "things will work out" can often lead to positive outcomes.

Since then, whenever there's a problem, my first instinct is to give it a try and see what happens. In later years, when founding our company and hiring employees, I aimed to hire individuals with the backpacker spirit and habits like this.

With the habits and mindset of backpacker spirit, we succeed in work. This is what "backpacker spirit" is I and all of our company's employees are genuinely excited about the prospect of working with individuals who embody "backpacker spirit."