Each experience forms a node.

Their connections become a structure.

When that structure reaches a critical point, a phase transition emerges — a shift that would eventually become the conceptual seed.

The following journey illustrates how seemingly unrelated experiences revealed an architecture — one that inspired the development of a system designed to cultivate organizational intelligence from connected, contrasting insights — "AI-KMS".

Last Updated: Jun 2025

• Pre-2000s: Roots of a Cross-Border Mindset
  
  

  ◦ 1988–1990: Worked at Fuji Bank (= current Mizuho Bank)

  ◦ 1991–1994: Studied Chinese in Shanghai, where my eyes were opened to the world
  → Immersed in the English language and local culture during China’s early reform and opening period

   ◦ Studied Chinese in Shanghai in the early 1990s, a city that widened my view of the world and planted the seeds for my lifelong interest in cross-cultural exchange.
  ◦ 1992: Embarked on a 4-month backpacking expedition

• This entire journey started one afternoon in the student canteen of my university in Shanghai. I was sitting alone, studying English — believing it was the “right thing” to do. Larry, a reckless American dorm-mate with a wild glint in his eye, laughed and said, “You’ll never learn real English that way. Come with me to Tibet instead.” I didn’t know it then, but that moment cracked open the structure of my life and rerouted everything that followed.  
   

• Route:
  
  

  → Tibet (The journey began in Shanghai, taking a train inland across China to Golmud, where we negotiated a small bus for unauthorized entry into Lhasa. Evaded eight military checkpoints by hiking around them, crossed a frozen river on foot, and traversed a 5,000-meter-altitude route by bus, battling altitude sickness along the way. Even the bottle of mineral water froze inside the bus. One wrong step could have meant death.)

  → Continued from Lhasa to Shigatse, Tibet’s second-largest city. Standing before the ruins of Shigatse Castle, we couldn't help but feel a quiet sorrow — the contrast with the grandeur of Lhasa’s Potala Palace was stark. The past, it seemed, had not been equally preserved. From there, we descended sharp mountain passes by jeep, crossed the border into Nepal overland, and finally arrived in Kathmandu.
  
  

  → Nepal (trekked the Annapurna Circuit over two weeks, reaching the 5,400m Thorong La Pass, followed by a 300km, 8-day whitewater rafting expedition down the Sun Koshi River)

  → Took a series of trains from Nepal to Delhi, India — rerouted multiple times, with a 10-hour delay during which we argued with a shady hotel owner and ended up spending the night in the lobby. The whole leg was chaotic but unforgettable.
  
  → Traveled across Tibet and Nepal with five companions from the US, Germany, Switzerland, and New Zealand.
  
  

  → India (Strolled through the rose-hued streets of Jaipur, the Pink City, and stood in awe before the Taj Mahal in Agra. In Pushkar, a sacred town where meat and alcohol were forbidden, I sampled a so-called “special lassi” — a drink that blurred the edges of reality more than I expected.)

  We then headed west to Jaisalmer, the Golden City near the Pakistan border. There, we embarked on a camel trek across the Thar Desert.

  During our journey, a sudden sandstorm rolled in. The tour guide suggested we switch to jeeps for the night travel to the desert lodge. “What about the camels?” I asked. He replied they would be brought there separately. I hesitated only a moment before saying, “Then I’ll ride my camel through the storm.”
  Surprisingly, all three of my companions agreed.

  And so, under a pitch-black sky, in a swirling sandstorm, we rode on — using flashlights only sparingly to check on each other.
  Ahead, through the blinding dust and darkness, the faint glow of our lodge began to emerge. It was more than just light — it was a mirage made real, surreal and otherworldly.
  There was no fear. Only rhythm. Only trust. Only the desert breathing around us.

  That night, we slept on the open desert floor under a vast, star-filled sky — no tents, no roofs, just silence and wind. The desert erased all structure. It felt like time dissolved.

  Finally, under the moonlight in Udaipur, we dined at the Lake Palace, then dove into its marble-lit pool in our underwear — mesmerized by its surreal beauty, before being chased off by angry guards.
  
  → Gigs later came to Shanghai in 1993 with Cosimo and Justin — a bond with Cosimo that would resurface years later, shaping not only my journey but the very name of the company I would found.
  
  

  → Thailand (Koh Samet Island for rest and reflection)

• 🧭 Trust, Timing, and Paper Note
  – Pre-KMS Communication in the Wild –
  After the 8-day whitewater rafting trip in Nepal, where we met a South African named Gigs, the four of us - Gigs, Larry, Brad, and I continued our journey. From Nepal, we crossed into India together — exploring Jaipur, Agra, Pushkar, and even sleeping under the stars in the Thar Desert.
  At some point, Gigs and I booked separate flights from India to Thailand — I found a cheap ticket, while she used a credit card to secure hers. Larry and Brad opted to travel to Varanasi instead, before planning to reunite in Thailand later.
  I arrived in Bangkok alone and headed to the guesthouse we had all agreed upon. But it was full. No Gigs. No room. No plan B.
  Then, I noticed a small bulletin board.
  There it was — a handwritten note from Gigs saying she had moved to another guesthouse. I followed the directions, and found her there… along with the two Dutch women we had met during the rafting trip in Nepal.
  No phones. No email. Just handwritten notes, trust, and timing.
  Looking back, it was more than travel — it was a kind of analog KMS:
  a decentralized, trust-based communication system - powered by memory, messages, and shared experience
  
  → First round-the-world trip to reconnect with people met in Shanghai and during the journey → Purchased the round-the-world ticket in Hong Kong, returned briefly to Japan to ship personal belongings, and eventually settled back in Hong Kong—marking not just the end of the journey, but the beginning of a new entrepreneurial chapter.
  
   -----------------------------
  
  1994–1997: From Adventurer to Entrepreneur – Founded first company in Hong Kong
  ◦ Second round-the-world trip by first-class flights and 5-star hotels
  → Traveled with a wealthy acquaintance to Switzerland – an exercise in “strategic tax optimization”
  → Flew Concorde from New York to Paris (a bucket-list experience)
  ◦ Cosimo moved from the UK to Hong Kong to join HK Land (a property arm of the Jardine Matheson Group)
  → Attended social events connected to Jardine Matheson
  → In 1996, attended the final “Jardine’s Gun” before 1997 handover – a symbolic end of colonial Hong Kong
  ◦ 1997: Witnessed Hong Kong’s symbolic transition
  ◦ 1999: Resettled in Japan
   
  ------------------------------
   
  1999–2004: Datastream Systems (Nasdaq) – EAM (Enterprise Asset Management System)
  ◦ Appointed as Country Manager in 2001. Led the implementation of EAM/Pacer systems across three Shell refineries in Japan.
  ◦ Each project involved five functional modules, five international consultants, and cross-functional teams of refinery engineers — all coordinated by a single translator: myself.
  ◦ The implementation included the Asset Module, Work Module, Warehouse Module, Purchase Module, Inspection Module, as well as RBI (Risk-Based Inspection), RCM (Reliability-Centered Maintenance), and Intelligent CAD.
  ◦ This experience of integrating complex systems became the foundation for my later conception of AI-KMS (AI Knowledge Management System).
   
  → I always considered that time as a kind of business school — only, I was being paid to learn, and the field was real.
  → For 20 years after Datastream, I never encountered a system that addressed the essence of organizational intelligence. Most tools solved partial problems. AI-KMS was the first structure that aligned with what I had intuitively been searching for — not just a system, but a way to evolve.
  ------------------------------
  
  2004–2012: Foundation & Exploration (ERP, Consulting, Pan-Asia Biz Dev)
  
  ◦ 2004–2007: Engaged in Financial Consulting, UC marketing, and ERP testing in Tokyo
  → Crossed with partners such as Jerde and Nanomedia
  → Hosted international visitors from Australia
  → Evaluated ERP systems and conducted on-site testing for Unified Communications platforms
  ◦ 2005–2012: Continued business development across Asia
  → Audited operations in Hong Kong - SBI Property management -
  → Organized meetings and client facilitation in Kyoto and Shanghai
  ◦ 2007–2008: Visited Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap (5 times each) for property investment business development - SBI Property Management - 
  → Reconnected with Cosimo during this period, when he was living in Ho Chi Minh City, and was introduced to Joshua
  ◦ 2008–2011: Based in Hong Kong again
  ◦ 2011–2013: Sophia Univ Rugby Team HC in Tokyo
   
  ------------------------------
   
  2013–2016: Frontier Expansion & Global Networking
  ◦ Jakarta (6 times): New Business Development Research
  ◦ Costa Rica (4 times): Project identification and development under Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM)
  ◦ Ethiopia (5 times): Project identification and development under Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM)
  ◦ Traveled across Europe, including attending Hannover Messe in 2014, found OpenERP/Odoo
  ◦ Odoo HR module – fully built from scratch for Thales Japan with Target Integration (Ireland)
  ◦ Marketing automation development
  ◦ Renewable energy project development
   
  ------------------------------
   
  2016–2018: Global Trade & Tech Integration
  ◦ Conducted mobile phone trading business
  ◦ Imported designed plastic bottles and pumps
  ◦ Became partner of Epesi CRM/ERP
  ◦ Attended COP21 Forum in Tokyo
  ◦ Joined Innovation Study Group using Robotics & AI
   
  ------------------------------
   
  2018–2023: IoT, Safety Tech, and Open Innovation
  ◦ Business development for dAlchemy (IoT plug load management)
  ◦ Advisory for Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure (Public Safety & GIS Asset Management)
  ◦ Open innovation between Japanese corporations and foreign tech startups (Oct 2019 –)
  → Met Dr. Nakai during this period 
  → Launched Global DX Inc. as a platform for cross-border innovation. The experience clarified the limits of partnership alignment, ultimately shaping the independent path that led to COSIMO LLC."
  ◦ Canadian Embassy's Business Matching Program for Creative Industry (Oct 2023)
  → Cosimo, who was battling ALS at the time, was encouraged through eye-tracking emails to consider acquiring used equipment in Japan with the vision of producing highly purified carrageenan at Zanzibar.
  
  ------------------------------
  
  2024–Present: Social Impact, AI Integration, and Content Creation
  ◦Participated in Italian Embassy’s Global Startup Program (Yokohama, Jan–Mar 2024)
  ◦ Met Cosimo in London (May 2024). With his eye-tracked consent, I proceeded to name the company COSIMO.
  ◦ Established Cosimo LLC partnered with Dr. Nakai, a leading expert in information engineering, to advance AI-KMS design
  ◦ Visited Zanzibar to meet the Japanese Ambassador to Tanzania (Jul 2024)
  ◦ Led Carrageenan Tech Transfer Project – AI KMS Design (Jan–Apr 2025)
  ◦ Selected for METI's Grant Program for Future-Oriented Co-Creation with the Global South (Dec 2024)
  ◦ Supporting Yokohama Matching Program initiated by Yokohama City NY Office (since Apr 2025)
  ◦ Directed X-Vision: Space Design Content Creation Project (June–Aug 2025)
  ◦ Managed Disaster Management Training Center Project (Aug 2025–Jan 2026)
  ◦ Developing AI Multi-Agent Research System (a commissioned project launched in June 2025)