Personal branding in Japan is still a very new concept. People are interested in the idea of branding themselves, but are cautious about standing out. After all, Japanese are educated that “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”
My personal mission is to pioneer a mindset shift in a country where fitting in is the cultural norm. In this interview with videoBIO, I answer the following questions:
- How is personal branding being adopted in Japan?
- How does Japanese culture challenge the core principles of personal branding?
- What tools are being used in Japan for personal branding?
- What is happening in the recruiting landscape in Japan as people look to take their next career step?
- What shifts in culture are you seeing that relate to personal branding?
Enjoy and let me know what you think! [Read more...]
Adam Acar kicks off the final week of the Personal Branding Blogathon with his top 10 social media facts. Adam started researching about digital marketing in 2004 and has been writing about online social networks as early as 2006, well before the current social media boom. Adam specifically focuses on emerging social media trends in Japan and his research and findings have been instrumental in my own understanding of Japanese habits and behaviors on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Mixi, and other social networks. Keep up to date on Adam’s research on his blog, 
PechaKucha is an excellent way to present your personal brand. Originally devised in Tokyo in 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public, it has turned into a worldwide phenomenon with ‘PechaKucha Nights’ happening in over 500 cities around the world. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.
while they last. Unfortunately, the extraordinary pink color is short-lived as the blossoms disappear after a week or so. The cherry blossom tree becomes ordinary, indistinguishable from any other tree.
In past decades young Japanese have focused their career efforts on a ‘job for life’ at a big company. After all, life-time employment has been a virtual mainstay in Japanese business culture for years. However, given the current economic factors in Japan recent university graduates have had to change their mind-set to realize that jobs with the traditional 
LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with a current membership of over 135 million. Close to 60% of these members are located outside the US. The latest data shows that professionals are signing up to join at a rate that is faster than two members per second! Clearly LinkedIn has become an essential tool for professionals all over the world to network, share business expertise, find jobs, advance professional knowledge, and build personal brands.
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Peter Sterlacci
ピーター ステラチー