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Rural Japan – Between high precision and ancient tradition

by Florian Sommer, 18.04.2019
Electrode designed to try various machining depths (photo credit: Florian Sommer/ETH Zurich)
Machined steel part (photo credit: Florian Sommer/ETH Zurich)

I’ve been to Japan many times before but finally wanted to see the country from the eyes of someone living and working here. From January to March 2019, I had the opportunity to travel to a remote area of the Mie prefecture in Japan where I joined Azumi Techno, a small high precision metal parts production company for 3 months as intern. The opportunity resulted from a collaboration between ETH Zurich and the Greater Nagoya Initiative.

My hopes for this internship were two-fold. Not only did I want to gain some work experience as engineer, I also wanted to have the informal exchange and personal growth that comes with being in a foreign culture.

From a work point of view, I learned a lot about high precision machining, especially electric discharge machining. In this process, a copper electrode uses electricity flow to locally heat up and remove material from a steel base material. Combining various electrodes allows not only for impressive precision but geometries that are not usually achievable by traditional machining, such as inner right angles, can be created as well. This was a new process to me and I was eager to learn about the possibilities and limits of this production method, as well as the design criteria for the electrodes. To do this, I created a few products out of my imagination by designing the electrode first and then producing the part from steel. After gaining some experience, I could design electrodes for customer ordered products, such as molds for hearing aid components or consumer electronics requiring tolerances on the micrometer level, as well as exhibition pieces. This allowed me to quickly gain in-depth knowledge, despite the short duration of the internship.
Because of the rural location of the company, I was at first a bit worried about my daily life as there might not be much to do. But, I quickly embraced my situation and tried to turn the challenges I faced here into opportunities. English language communication was virtually non-existent, including within the company. Having some knowledge of Japanese, this opportunity gave my language skills an immense boost. I literally had no other choice than to find out how to communicate in Japanese.

I experienced less accessible locations and events, such as visiting the famous Ise shrine which is one, if not the most, important shrine in the Shinto religion. I also observed the Honen festival, a fertility festival – a well-known festival among tourists due to the plentiful wood phallic-like carvings and the famous sight of the wedded rocks at Meotoiwa.
Sake barrels in front of the Ise shrine (photo credit: Florian Sommer/ETH Zurich)
Sarutahiko-Okami, a Japanese deity (photo credit: Florian Sommer/ETH Zurich)
280kg heavy wooden phallus for the Honen festival (photo credit: Florian Sommer/ETH Zurich)
Wedded rocks of Meotoiwa (photo credit: Florian Sommer/ETH Zurich)
Entrance gate to the Futami-Okitama shrine next to Meotoiwa (photo credit: Florian Sommer/ETH Zurich)
Being tall, blonde and the only non-Asian person in town, I did indeed stand out a bit. The Japanese seemed to see me as a curiousity. I was asked to join a meeting of the Greater Nagoya Initiative members and to hold a short presentation about myself, what brought me to Japan, and about ETH Zurich. Following the meeting I was invited to participate in another Japanese tradition – Nomikai. This tradition of eating and drinking together breaks down formal barriers with each beer we finished. Introducing ETH Zurich to so many influential people surely helped boost its reputation in the community and, I hope, it will also help to provide similar opportunities for future students and graduates.
Different cultures have different after work party snacks (photo credit: Kiyono Watanabe)
Overall, I greatly enjoyed my internship in Japan and was welcomed like a new family member in the small company. I learned a lot about the work culture and expanded my engineering skillset. The experiences I had and the friends that I made during this time will stay with me for a lifetime.
Picnic for the yearly cherry blossom (Hanami) viewing (photo credit: Florian Sommer/ETH Zurich)

About the author

Florian Sommer conducted both his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zurich. A strong affinity to Asia led him there on various occasions, whether for travelling throughout the continent, language school in Tokyo, or a student exchange at Seoul National University in South Korea.
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