Being an active woman in Japan: the benefits of the FAJ association.
Integrating into a foreign market can be a significant challenge for entrepreneurs, both men and women. In Japan, since 2009, the association Facilitating Ambition for Women in Japan (FAJ) has been supporting French women and their professional projects, as well as their personal development, in the archipelago.
Faciliter l’Ambition des femmes au Japon
Today, we’re talking about FAJ, an association that brings together, as its name suggests, French-speaking women in Japan.
It mainly consists of active or professionally transitioning women who come together through meetings and events organized by the team of volunteers who animate them.
As active women ourselves in Japan, it seemed logical for us to join this association to meet and exchange with other women with different aspirations and backgrounds.
So, we participated in the back-to-school coffee meeting in September 2021, where we met many people with exciting experiences, including Audrey and Nancy, who were presenting the FAJ Entrepreneurs Club.
The Entrepreneurs Club of FAJ
The Entrepreneurs Club is a small committee of FAJ members for women in the process of starting their own businesses, aiming to support each individual’s journey.
At that time, Tokimeki had already been launched for 6 months, but it seemed very interesting for us to join the club, if only to review the basics of entrepreneurship but also to exchange with other women in Japan who were in the same dynamic as us.
We had the pleasure of meeting inspiring women, with completely different profiles and activities. At first glance, one might think that talking about our business to someone who is not in the field is not particularly rewarding or stimulating, but on the contrary, it is precisely because we have to find a clear and concise way to explain our project that the exercise is interesting.
The monthly meetings of the club allowed us to pace our entrepreneurial life with goals to achieve for each session: reflection on our customer avatar, writing a pitch, projection for 3 and 5 years, reflection on communication, etc.
Embarking on this journey taught us that we never stop learning, that it’s always good to go back to basics, and that if we give ourselves the time and the means, we can do anything ourselves. Quite motivating, isn’t it?
A real plus
Of course, sometimes it’s more advantageous to seek help from professionals, especially for everything related to accounting, administration, etc. However, we found it interesting to learn a bit about it nonetheless because it’s important to know how a company operates. We’ll talk more about this in a future post.
In the meantime, if you’re a woman in Japan, an entrepreneur, in the active workforce, looking for business opportunities, or simply seeking sisterhood, we highly recommend Femmes Actives Japon. You’ll find a community that welcomes you with open arms!