[No. 196] Miyu Tsuchiya

After entering the Faculty of Science and Technology through Stream 3, I majored in the Department of Applied Chemistry, completed my master's degree, and then took a non-technical career path by joining the bedding manufacturer Nishikawa Co., Ltd. I am grateful for this opportunity to write for the Keio University Alumni Relay Column and would like to share my experiences.

I hope this will be helpful for students considering their university and career paths.

I am the second of four siblings. With my father being a doctor, my mother a midwife, and my older sister having gone on to the School of Medicine, I initially just assumed that I would also aim for medical school. However, a casual comment from a friend—"You're going to the School of Medicine anyway, right, Tsuchiya?"—sparked a desire in me to walk my own unique path. I decided to enter the Faculty of Science and Technology to delve deeper into the science and math subjects I had always enjoyed. Among the universities I considered, I chose Keio University because I believed it offered the widest range of future options, as students in the Faculty of Science and Technology do not have to choose their specific department upon admission.

At Keio, students from almost all faculties gather at the Hiyoshi Campus for their first two years to receive their foundational education. I believe another great appeal of Keio is the abundance of opportunities to meet people from outside the Faculty of Science and Technology, including those in the liberal arts, through general education classes and club activities. Once you enter the workforce, it is quite difficult to make new friends in different industries without any vested interests. However, meeting a diverse range of friends during my university years and continuing to interact with them after graduation has broadened my world and serves as a positive motivation to better myself. Lately, I've been dreaming about how interesting it would be if I could collaborate with my friends, who are active in various fields, across different industries in the future to create a "social chemical reaction."

Looking back on my six years at university, including my master's program, I spent the first three years having as much fun as I could and the latter three years immersed in research after joining a lab. During my first three undergraduate years, I wanted to make as many memories as I could, so I joined club activities, took the initiative to plan outings, and spent my days filled with laughter. I also traveled extensively both in Japan and abroad during the long university holidays. Through my travels, I was captivated by foreign landscapes and cultures, but they also made me appreciate the good things about Japan, and I often returned home with a deeper affection for my country. This experience is one of the reasons I chose my current company.

As an aside, my main communities for learning, having fun, and other activities were my club, my friends from junior high and high school, and my "friends from the Department of Applied Chemistry." After choosing a major, we had more specialized department classes and many experiments that we worked on in pairs or groups, which helped everyone in the department become close. This seems to be a wonderful characteristic unique to the Faculty of Science and Technology.

The knowledge I gained from my studies, the primary job of a student, has also become a great asset since entering the workforce. The fundamental knowledge I learned in university often comes in handy at unexpected times. While I am now grateful for the well-thought-out curriculum, I regret that I only took the minimum number of classes, which were biased toward science. I wish I had taken a wider range of courses, including liberal arts subjects. I strongly feel these days that even if your knowledge is shallow, having more tools in your toolbox makes a difference in your ability to analyze, generate ideas, and communicate when you go out into the world.

From my fourth year, I joined a "biochemistry" lab, which I found to be the most interesting subject I had studied so far, and engaged in research centered on experiments using cultured cells. Until then, studying had been about "learning what the teachers taught me," but once my research began, it shifted to "gathering information on my own, thinking, and discussing." I became absorbed in this new way of learning that required initiative, and my days, which had once revolved around having fun, transformed into a life of immersion in research.

In the lab, we also frequently had journal clubs where each member would present a paper they had found to the other lab members. This trained us in giving presentations, handling Q&A sessions, and, conversely, in quickly understanding presented content and asking questions. Through these journal clubs and research presentations, I not only became mentally tougher when it came to speaking or presenting in front of others, but I also honed my ability to give engaging presentations, to question the reasoning of others, and to flexibly refine my own theories based on feedback. For me, this was also an enjoyable time. Above all, my academic advisor, Professor Shiro Shimizu, always created an environment conducive to discussion, telling us, "Discussions are a fair playing field for everyone, so don't hold back. What's most important is to actively exchange opinions." This was an invaluable experience that helped me grow significantly. I learned to have the "courage to raise my hand," no matter who the other person was or how many people were in the room. I still cherish the principle that "in a discussion, everyone is equal, and it's important to share opinions."

Having many healthcare professionals in my family made me proud, and from a young age, I had a strong desire to be useful to others in the future. Therefore, when considering my career path after graduation, I placed a strong emphasis on "social contribution."

However, since I had deliberately chosen not to pursue a medical career, I wanted my way of contributing to society to also include an element of "fun" that was unique to me. I decided to search for a path that would "improve people's lives and increase their happiness." This led me to Nishikawa Co., Ltd., a company focused on the theme of "sleep." I decided to make "sleep" my new theme. Instead of continuing with research as I had been, I chose a non-technical career path out of a desire to take on the challenge of applying the strengths I had cultivated at university in a new field—one where I could transform research findings into actual products and services for consumers. I joined the company with the desire to "improve the lives of as many people as possible by enhancing the quality of their sleep."

In the six years since I joined the company, I spent the first four in the Sales Strategy Department, where I was involved in sales promotion activities ranging from market research, marketing, and product branding to ad creation and campaign planning. For the last two years, I have been in the newly established "IoT Development Department." Here, we are developing devices that measure personal data during sleep, such as breathing, heart rate, and sleep depth. At the same time, we aim to develop new services that use this information to improve sleep quality and, ultimately, support a better quality of life and a longer healthspan. This is a new and challenging venture for a long-established company aiming to transform from a "company that sells bedding" to a "company that provides a better life." As such, I sometimes have opportunities to meet directly with President Nishikawa, and I am doing my best, drawing on the grit instilled in me by Professor Shimizu.

I truly feel that the various skills I acquired and honed at the Faculty of Science and Technology are applicable even in my non-technical career, extending beyond the confines of science and engineering. However, to be honest, I have yet to achieve any major external accomplishments. With the goal of achieving the great work of making the world a better place through sleep, I intend to continue dedicating myself to learning every day.