Hello, I am Camille ECHARD, a 19-year-old French student in a first year of a two-year technical degree in International Trade. I am currently doing an internship in a Japanese company called Sugatakatachi which is specialized in producing and selling wooden door handles. I managed to find this internship due to my Japanese teacher who told me that there was a Japanese corporation who was ready to accept one student as an intern. I took this opportunity because I really love Japanese culture, food, landscapes, etc… That’s why I have decided to spend some days in Tokyo before starting the internship. This way, I had the chance to discover a lot of things and experience unique moments. I really appreciate this big city because you have so many things to do, to visit or to eat… And I think that even if sometimes it can be overcrowded you can still find calm and peaceful places such as shrines or parks for example, which I absolutely adore.
Then I went to Utsunomiya, and it’s been now more than two weeks since I started my internship, and I am thankful about it because I have met nice people such as Makiko-san or Mio-san, who are both passionate by what they do, and I admire this. I have also discovered the authentic door handles of Sugataktachi and I am surprised of the talent the company must provide this unique kind of products because there is a real know-how behind, which I think is very impressive.
I did different types of tasks such as e-mailing, making newsletter, data base, taking pictures of the products, etc… Finally, I help Mio-san twice a week polishing door handles in the Omiya factory, so I am kind of proud of myself to participate to the result of the product. Moreover, during these last two weeks, I got the chance to do things I would have never done before such as a tea ceremony or creating wooden coaster by myself in Mashiko, the capital of pottery, for example. These unique experiences will be a good memory for me, and I feel very lucky to have lived it.
For now, I am very excited to continue this internship because I think that I still have a lot of things to discover and I am very curious about it. Another thing that I enjoy is to learn about cultural differences between France and Japan because I think this is fascinating how we all do things differently from a country to another country. See you soon!
