Inside Asian Gaming

August 2016 inside asian gaming 17 Industry profile over 60 hours without sleep. I learned the determination and confidence needed to succeed when supporting Japan’s Rugby World Cup bid for 2019. I learned patience and the importance of pacing when translating documents that were over 1,000 pages and I learned to communicate with a diverse range of people teaching English on the side. The most important lesson came after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Even the strongest showed fear, the cold showed care and the soft-spoken stood up to volunteer themselves to help others. Many colleagues and friends left Japan, which was the right thing for them to do. Business was extremely slow and there are still people I knew missing to this day. Through all that I learned that you can only control what you can, so I might as well do the best I can no matter the situation. What comes down was up somewhere before, it’s just a matter of getting back up and then progressing even more. IAG: Do you have a favorite memory or moment from the various people and projects you worked with? JK: My favorite moment had to be at the Fuji Rock Music Festival in 2012. I had goosebumps and shed tears at the power of the music when the legendary artists Steve Kimock, Bernie Worrell and others had a jam session in the mountains of Naeba. To be honest, I was not familiar with them until working their stage, but their instrumental melodies were so powerful, everyone who experienced their performance that night went home a better person. Words just cannot describe the feeling, but I was touched and even to this day get chills remembering some of their tunes. IAG: How did your move into the gaming industry and to Aruze come about? JK: I had only been to a casino once before, in Las Vegas for a wedding that was before I was old enough to gamble. However, living in Japan I was very interested in amusement gaming such as pachislots and had an ardent love for game arcades. When the opportunity came upon me to delve into the gaming industry, I went right at it. Perhaps it was my language skills, my passion for gaming in Japan, or maybe it was just the “If someone is yelling and arguing in English that something is ‘rubbish’ there is no point translating that to Japanese as ‘it is not that good.’ You need to explain that the other person thinks the idea is ‘trash’.” fact I supported the same football club as one of the managers, but after only one interview I was in the gaming industry and have never looked back. IAG: You recently began a new role at Aruze. What does a normal working day entail for you? JK: Every morning starts with a check of all the emails that come during the night, then to morning video-conferences with Las Vegas, meetings in and around Asia in the afternoon, and finally getting the time to get back to our Sales Director in Europe in the evening.