1. Introduction

As remote work becomes more common, our team had the opportunity to work together with engineers from Vietnam, China, and Korea during the design phase of a system development project. In this article, we share the insights and lessons we gained through cross-border collaboration.

2. Project Overview

Our members were responsible for the high-level design phase.

As part of the system replacement, we created design documents for the new system by comparing the requirements definition with the design documents of the existing system.

The team was Japan-centered, but engineers from Vietnam, China, and Korea also participated, forming a truly multinational structure.

3. Remote Work Environment and Tools

• Chat: Mattermost
• Meetings: Zoom, Gather
• Document sharing: Nextcloud
• Task management: Jira

4. Language and Cultural Barriers

When joining a multinational team for the first time, I initially expected that we might communicate in English. However, in practice, all communication was conducted in Japanese. Engineers from each country had near-perfect reading, writing, and speaking skills in Japanese, and even used honorifics naturally. There were only very rare instances of awkward expressions, but they never interfered with communication.

Furthermore, I did not feel any cultural barriers, such as differences in work styles.

Since all members worked remotely regardless of nationality, we were able to proceed with the project smoothly, without being conscious of national boundaries.

5. Outcomes and Learnings

Working with international members not only reminded me of the importance of language skills and documentation ability but also gave me the opportunity to truly appreciate the value of teamwork—achieving results while respecting each other’s backgrounds.

Through this experience, I became convinced that actively incorporating different cultures and perspectives will lead to better system development in future projects.

6. Conclusion

By working on the high-level design phase with a multinational team, I realized firsthand that “engineers pursue the same goals, regardless of nationality.” This project turned out to be a highly valuable and meaningful experience.

And above all, I thought, “To work internationally, this level of language proficiency is truly necessary. I need to work harder myself!”—a realization that has greatly boosted my motivation for language learning.

Me ma wo aha (Good afternoon)! I’m Adjoa, a former member of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV), and I lived in Ghana, West Africa, for 2 years and 6 months between 2014 and 2017.

I was assigned as a PC Instructor to Kings Technical Vocational Institute, a vocational training school located in the village of Gomoa Mprumem in the Central Region. My role was to work as an ICT teacher.

Since I now work in an IT company, I’d like to share some insights into Ghana’s IT landscape.

Mobile Money Has Been the Norm for Over a Decade

In Ghana, it’s not uncommon to hear people say, “I don’t have cash on me—can you send me some?”

Even back in 2014–2017, when I was living in a small rural community, mobile money transfers were already a part of daily life. There were no banks or ATMs in the area, but there were women known as “mobile ladies” (interestingly, I never saw a “mobile man”). You’d hand over cash to one of these women, and she would transfer the money to the phone number you specified. Simple and effective.

Smartphone Penetration: 50% as of 2020

Even in 2014, many people in Ghana carried two phones. According to this source, smartphone penetration reached about 50% by 2020.

From what I observed, people tended to use one basic phone for calls and SMS, and a separate smartphone for browsing the internet and using social media.

What Do Ghanaians Do on Their Smartphones?

Besides making calls and sending messages, it’s common for people to post photos and videos to social media and browse others’ content.

When I revisited Ghana in 2024, I noticed that some of my friends were even using their smartphones to make a little side income. Some were driving part-time for ride-hailing apps, while others were filming and uploading videos to YouTube.

By the way, here’s a video my YouTuber friends filmed while accompanying on an interview:

That said, despite the passage of time, I didn’t see much improvement in network infrastructure between my volunteer days in 2017 and my return in 2024. The network was still quite unstable in many areas. However, I was impressed to learn that a Ghanaian company recently developed an app that allows voice calls even without a network connection. Amazing progress!

What About PC Users?

While not as common as in Japan, using a PC isn’t considered rare in Ghana either. However, due to the higher cost compared to smartphones, the hurdle to owning one is definitely higher.

Among my Ghanaian friends who owned laptops were teachers who created documents, entrepreneurs working in graphic design, and students studying programming.

In Closing

The Ghanaian government is actively promoting the IT sector, and I’m excited to see how the country’s digital landscape will continue to evolve in the coming years!

Hello! I’m Adjoa, a system engineer who’s been part of the TOKYO team for three and a half years. Today, I’d like to introduce our president, Mr. Sakurai.

TOKYO has many former members of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV). Before joining the company, I was also a volunteer, working as a PC instructor in Ghana.

President Sakurai is one of us too — he served in the 3rd group of the 1996 dispatch to the Kingdom of Bhutan, where he worked as a system engineer.

What Happened When We Tried to Put His Photo on the Website?

Recently, we were preparing to update our company website with a photo of President Sakurai — and that’s when this little episode happened:

I said,
“Mr. Sakurai, didn’t you have a photo of yourself vacuuming in Bhutan during your volunteer days? Wouldn’t that be perfect for the website?”

In response, he sent…
an AI-generated image of a young man vacuuming in Bhutan!

(Just to be clear: this is not him!)

And Then Came Images from Other Countries…

Next thing we knew, he started generating AI images of other countries where our team members had volunteered — including Ghana (where I served), Laos, Uzbekistan, and Ecuador!

Here’s the image for Ghana:

Here’s Laos:

Here’s Uzbekistan:

And Ecuador:

The President’s AI Image Generation Skills Are Impressive?!

Inspired by him, I tried generating an AI image myself — a Ghanaian person vacuuming. But the result was far from what I imagined. In the image, the person’s fingers turned into a vacuum brush, and the house didn’t resemble a typical Ghanaian home at all!

Clearly, President Sakurai has a knack for giving precise prompts and getting good results. No surprise there — it seems his leadership skills even apply to AI prompts!

More Than Just a Playful Personality

Under this fun and playful president, the TOKYO team enjoys a cheerful and engaging work environment every day.

But he’s not just a fun guy — he’s also a reliable and supportive leader with strong technical expertise and extensive experience both in Japan and abroad. He looks after every employee with genuine care and attention.

If you’re curious to learn more about President Sakurai or the TOKYO team, feel free to get in touch with us. Click here to contact us!

We’re excited to welcome a new intern from the UK!

Hands-On Experience in Tech and Security

Over the course of six months—from March to August—he will gain hands-on experience in web programming and cybersecurity-related tasks.

Impressive Progress in Japanese!

He is also dedicated to learning Japanese, and we are amazed by how quickly his skills are improving.

Join Us as an Intern

We are welcoming interns from all over the world!

If you’re interested in gaining practical experience while exploring both Japanese culture and IT, feel free to reach out to us! Click here to contact us.

This internship was not only my first professional role abroad but also my first time outside the U.S., where I discovered a deep appreciation for Japanese culture. Coming from Arizona, this journey has been both professionally rewarding and personally transformative, expanding my global perspective and strengthening my passion for cybersecurity. The three months I spent interning and living in Tokyo have truly changed my outlook on life for the better. I had the opportunity to try a wide variety of foods, and each day, I challenged myself to try something new, as Japanese cuisine is truly amazing. I’ve been fortunate to make meaningful connections with people I hope to stay in touch with for life. Japan has treated me exceptionally well, and I will truly miss being here.

Until next time <3!!!

During this visit, we had a conversation where our company members answered the questions prepared by the students.

We discussed the framework of international cooperation in Japan, how our company is involved in international cooperation, the challenges and lessons learned within our activities, and the experiences of many of our company members who were former JICA Volunteers.

In addition to the prepared questions, the students were skilled at drawing out conversations, and we were simply delighted to engage in a pleasant discussion!

International Cooperation in the IT Field

As an example of the topics we discussed, I would like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce how our company is involved in international cooperation.

Before that, let’s touch upon the framework of international cooperation in Japan. The international cooperation projects in Japan are centrally conducted by JICA, and they encompass various types of projects, including technical cooperation, grant aid, loan aid, and the dispatch of JICA volunteers. Moreover, the 20 global agendas are listed as the target areas for these projects.

Although the entirety of JICA’s projects is vast and difficult to grasp, our company, which focuses on IT and international cooperation, is currently particularly involved in “technical cooperation” and “dispatch of JICA volunteers” in terms of using IT for problem-solving and IT utilization.

In terms of contributions to technical cooperation projects, most recently, our company has been involved in cybersecurity human resource development projects in Indonesia and Mongolia. I will omit the details, but our actual activities include training local university lecturers. Additionally, there are cases where IT consultants participate in technical cooperation projects in fields other than IT.

Regarding the dispatch of JICA volunteers, many of our company members have experience as JICA volunteers, and we also encourage participation in JICA volunteer programs after joining our company.

By having the junior high school students visit us and discussing our company’s philosophy and activities, we were able to organize our thoughts and gain a fresh perspective. We are grateful for this wonderful opportunity.

If you are interested in international cooperation or considering working in international cooperation in the IT field, please feel free to contact us here.

For information about recruitment, please refer to this link.

Our company is involved in the JICA Project for Development of Human Resources in Cybersecurity in Mongolia. Recently, our team members went on a business trip to Mongolia.

Overview of our work in Mongolia

The project aims to improve cybersecurity skills for a wide range of people in Mongolia, including students/working professionals, and industry/government/academia, and it started in January 2023.

Signing of Record of Discussions on Technical Cooperation Project with Mongolia: Project for Development of Human Resources in Cybersecurity

Various activities are planned for the project in the future, but the three activities our company was involved in during this trip are:

1. Conducting cybersecurity subject training for university professors
2. Supporting the development of university curricula
3. Presenting to the Digital Ministry on talent development policies

The activity that took up the largest portion of our stay was 1. Interestingly, the cybersecurity course that was taught during this training was actually created for the Project for Human Resources Development for Cyber Security Professionals in Indonesia. Our company is also involved in the project in Indonesia, so it is an exciting initiative to be able to use the outcomes of our activities in one country to benefit another.

Training content

The training was conducted twice, covering both a basic cybersecurity topic and a more advanced computer forensic. (Computer forensics is the process of thoroughly investigating cyber attacks.) Those who participated in this training are expected to teach the courses in universities as instructors.

Winter in Mongolia

By the way, during winter in Mongolia, it’s normal to have temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius even during the daytime. Our team members who were visiting Mongolia for the first time during winter were quite apprehensive about whether they would be able to carry out their activities safely. However, it’s amazing how quickly people can adapt. They seemed to have adapted to such low temperatures within a few days.

If you are interested in our company’s activities, whether it’s international cooperation, cybersecurity, or other areas, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

We are also continuously hiring. We are currently strengthening our efforts for new graduate recruitment.

Etse sen? (How are you?) I’m Adjoa. I used to work in Ghana as a JICA volunteer. Today, I’d like to introduce a fun part of Ghanaian mobile phone culture!

In Ghana, almost all adults own a mobile phone. When I was there, my phone wasn’t a smartphone—it was what they called a “Yam phone”, meaning it could only make calls and send text messages (no camera, no apps). Surprisingly, many Ghanaians own smartphones, even though they may not be as wealthy as the average Japanese person.

So, what do Ghanaians do with their smartphones?

Here are some answers:

1. Call just to say “Hello”

In Ghana, greeting others regularly is a very important part of their culture. People often call their friends just to say “How are you?”—with nothing else to talk about. It’s all about maintaining the relationship.

2. Take selfies and post them on Facebook

Ghanaians love taking selfies!

They’re really good at it too—posing in different ways and capturing great angles. Even when their battery is down to 10%, they don’t stop taking selfies! And of course, they post them all on Facebook. I have many Ghanaian friends, so when I open Facebook, my timeline is filled with their selfies!

How high do you think mobile phone penetration is in Ghana?

According to one source, the mobile phone penetration rate in Ghana was 119% in 2018.

That’s right—many people own more than one phone!

Even right now, I bet there are Ghanaians taking selfies somewhere