Daisuke Fujii career change
Provided by Daisuke Fujii
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Daisuke Fujii, the cofounder of Farm & Firm Company, a Japanese consulting firm that helps farmers and rural communities generate new income through agritourism, hospitality, and business development. It's been edited for length and clarity.I grew up in Saitama, about 20 miles north of Tokyo. In elementary school, I discovered a love for all things space- and engineering-related, like planes and satellites.At 14, I decided I wanted to be an engineer, but as one of five children, my parents couldn't afford to pay for college. I had to make it happen myself.I was accepted into the National Defense Academy of Japan, which not only had an aerospace department but also offered free tuition. They even paid me a small amount each month, so I didn't have to rely on my parents at all.In 2001, a few years after graduating, I enrolled in the aerospace engineering program at the University of Texas at Austin. While studying abroad, I worked as a research assistant, earning free tuition and a small salary.From Texas, I saw how cities all across the United States were growing thanks to venture capital companies. In Japan, the only cities that were growing were Tokyo and Osaka, everywhere else was seeing a population decline.
