From delivering newspapers to winning honor for China
When Tao Yizhi attended a National Day reception for Chinese overseas students in Tokyo in 2006, he met Wang Yi, then Chinese Ambassador to Japan. Wang wrote “Win honor for China” on Tao’s textbook. Tao treasured the book and tried his best to fulfill the wish. The book was later donated to the Foreign-educated Chinese Museum in Songjiang District.
To bring glory for his motherland, Tao exerted his perseverance throughout the years when he was a student and an entrepreneur in Japan, and when he started his business back in China.
“I used to be a newspaper delivery man for Hokkoku Shimbun. To pay tuition fees and cover my living costs abroad, I delivered newspaper from 4am to 6am and worked at a supermarket from 7:30am to 9:30am. Then I went to school. After class I continued to do part-time job at a pub till mid-night,” said Tao, recalling his days at Kanazawa Seiryo University in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.
“In the four years when I worked as a delivery man, I was late only once. The news agency rewarded me with a watch and a necktie upon my departure,” he said.
Tao graduated from the university with four-year straight A and won a principal’s award. After that he gained an MBA at Hosei University in Tokyo. Tao was a persistent student as well as a determined entrepreneur. He set up the Igennki hairpiece brand in Japan in 2007.
“I felt sure at that time that network marketing was a big trend in the future, but to choose what product to sell remained a question. I spent one year pondering on it. That product must be light, small, profitable and not decaying. And I finally chose the hairpiece,” said Tao.
The sales volume of Tao’s Igennki hairpieces remains top among the wig category at Japan’s Rakuten online market. “I hope I can develop the Igennki brand into a centuryold brand,” said Tao. He is now CEO for both Inter-Success Co in Japan and Shanghai Wisdom New Consulting Co.
“Both companies are doing the job of promoting the Igennki brand and helping Chinese companies to enter the Japanese market,” said Tao. “One of my biggest dreams is to help 100 Chinese enterprises to promote their brands in Japan.”
Tao’s project “The Fast Distribution of Chinese Original Brands in Japan” won an award in the 2013 Inno-China Entrepreneurship Competition, a yearly contest held in Shanghai’s Jiading District.
“To achieve success in fast distribution in Japan, the Chinese brands must be original, with high quality and getting promoted in all possible ways,” said Tao.
“In 2004 Lenovo acquired IBM. I heard the news when I was listening to the radio while delivering the newspaper. I was all tears,” said Tao. “I am willing to see more Chinese companies enter the global market and I will use my efforts to help them achieve that goal.”
Tao, hailing from Chongqing in southwest China, has now settled down in Shanghai.