We want to be the "number one understanding partner" for our customers. We take on the challenge of creating cultural facilities that everyone can enjoy, leveraging our development and proposal capabilities.

Haruka Amano joined NOMURA Co.,Ltd. as a new graduate in 2015, hoping to work in the cultural market, including museums and public facilities. As the sales manager of the Cultural Environment Division, she is involved in numerous projects. Having experienced childbirth and child-rearing, Amano is also involved in R&D activities focused on the psychological and emotional accessibility of cultural facilities for a diverse range of users. In this article, she talks about her career and aspirations.

To be the best understanding person for our customers. We listen carefully to understand their true feelings.

Amano belongs to the Sales Promotion Headquarters, Cultural Environment Business Division, Sales Department 1, Section 2, which handles projects for public facilities such as museums, art galleries, science museums, libraries, and childcare support facilities, with national and local government clients.

Amano: "The area we cover spans the entire country, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. I am primarily in charge of projects within Tokyo, and am currently working on several projects, including the design of a national displays facility and consulting work for a ward tourist center and library."

We are currently in the schematic design stage of a large-scale national displays facility project. We carefully listen to the client's requests for the kind of space and displays they want, and then work with our team of designers and planners to incorporate these requests into the planning and concept design.

Amano: As a salesperson, I am responsible for the detailed interactions with customers. This starts with project management, but I also play a role in drawing out the customer's true feelings.
As a sales representative, I want to be the person who understands my customers best. I want them to feel that I'm easy to talk to and that I can get along with them, and as someone closer to them than anyone else in the company, I try not just to listen but also to understand the thoughts behind what the customer says.

For some of our clients in this project, it was their first time creating a museum displays. That's why we believe that carefully listening to their needs will help us realize what they truly want to achieve."

Furthermore, Amano says that public facilities present different challenges than corporate projects.

Amano: "Public facilities are projects that use precious tax money, so we must first consider how they should be used by users such as citizens (taxpayers).
One of the methods we often use is to hold workshops with local residents and other users. Recently, we have been holding interviews with people who have previously found it difficult to go to museums, such as people with visual or hearing impairments and families with small children. There is a growing movement to make museums more open and accessible."

Amano has become aware of social issues and national efforts to realize a symbiotic society through his work, and for the past three years he has been participating in an in-house R&D activity called "Inclusion & Art."

Amano: With the themes of "creating a symbiotic society" and "creating a co-creation system" through creative activities, I am conducting research into "how to improve the psychological and physical accessibility of destinations for all people."
For example, we are developing a card-style workshop tool called "Inclusive concept design Patterns" that allows us to create spaces through dialogue with the users of the space, and new tools that allow people to enjoy art appreciation through touch and sound rather than relying on sight."

Development skills and proposal skills learned at cultural facilities across the country. After maternity and childcare leave, I decided to pursue a new way of working.

At NOMURA Co.,Ltd., even sales employees typically spend their first year working in the production department, before starting their sales career in their second year. However, Amano's case was a little different.

Amano: "I was interested in planning positions even before joining the company. With the understanding of my superiors at the time, I was able to gain experience in the planning department in my second year."

Although this type of career path is not generally provided for under the current system, I was given a special exception at the time, and after working as a planner for one year, I was able to work in sales from my third year onwards, working on projects for cultural facilities across the country. From 2016 to 2019, I worked on many projects, including displays design for the Kumamoto Castle Tower and Matsumoto City Museum, and construction work for Kikuchi City Central Library.​

Amano: "A distinctive feature of government projects is that there are no ongoing customer relationships like in companies. Once one job is completed, you have to start from scratch and build a relationship with the customer, and create new businesses and work yourself. I learned that 'development capabilities' are extremely important in sales in the Cultural Environment Division.

Also, having gained experience in planning in my second year, I began to think that by combining my "development skills" with my "proposal skills," I could become a salesperson who could better draw out the essential needs and aspirations of my customers.
For example, if someone wants to create digital content, we not only introduce trends and examples, but also suggest different methods in various directions, which helps them say, 'That's what I really wanted to do,' and leads to concrete work. I felt that I wanted to improve my ability to present possibilities for turning ideas into reality."

She then took maternity leave from 2019 to 2021. Before returning to work, she had a meeting with her superiors, and recalls that being able to carefully coordinate her future working style gave her peace of mind.

Amano: "I told them that I wanted to work shorter hours, that before giving birth I was in charge of projects all over the country and had to travel a lot, but from now on I would like to be in charge of projects in the Kanto region, which would require less travel, and that I would like my workload to increase gradually."

After returning to work, I became conscious of working in a more efficient way with the help of those around me.

Amano: "My superiors and coworkers are very understanding, so it's an environment where I can easily communicate my requests and situations.
Currently, I leave work on time without working overtime, so that I can pick up my child from nursery school. I've become more thorough in managing my schedule than before I returned to work, so that I can deal with sudden fevers or urgent work. I prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance, and manage my daily schedule down to the minute."

A new challenge that utilizes knowledge of inclusion and art. Cultivated proposal skills blossom

▲ Miraikan's permanent displays "Nanairo Quest - A story of a future where we live with robots"

Immediately after returning from maternity leave, Amano gradually got used to her new way of working by supporting her superiors. She says that she gradually began to feel a desire to "run the business on my own as a salesperson and take on more challenges."
Among the projects we were involved in were the Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation's permanent displays "Hello! Robot," "Nanairo Quest - A Tale of the Future Living with Robots," and "Nobel Q." We took on this large-scale project over a period of approximately two years, from the development stage through to proposal acquisition, design, and construction.

Amano: "It was a cross-sectional organization with members from our in-house content team and graphics team who had never worked together before, and there were many people involved, so it was difficult to coordinate. In particular, displays displays was an unprecedented new initiative, combining robots with puzzle-solving and displays that allowed people to experience aging, so we worked hard together with our in-house team and our customers to create it."

This project also placed emphasis on the perspective of inclusive concept design.

Amano: "We conducted numerous demonstrations of displays, inviting people with visual or hearing impairments, people in wheelchairs, children, and the elderly, and we incorporated the various opinions that emerged.
It's a field I've had a personal interest in, but this is the first time I've been fully involved in it as a job. I learned a lot from the many discoveries and realizations I gained from the opinions of those involved."

After being promoted to chief in 2023, Amano will take on the next challenge as supervisor of the Tokyo National Museum's "Asobiba ☺ Talk" project.
 

▲ Tokyo National Museum "Play Station ☺ Talk" ©Nacasa and Partners

Amano: "In November 2024, the museum will open a space for a limited time where children and their parents can play freely together for the first time, and NOMURA Co.,Ltd. was in charge of planning and supervision.

"We want the children who will be the leaders of the future to have fun at the museum and go home feeling like they had a great time. We also want to provide a comfortable space for parents who come with their children, where they don't have to worry about those around them." This project was planned by the Tokyo National Museum with these thoughts in mind.

Utilizing the knowledge gained from our in-house R&D "Inclusion & Art," we proposed safety aspects for the fixtures and fittings in the play space for children, the ideal graphics and signs, and the ideal calm-down space.

It was great to see the children having fun playing there after the opening."

Aiming to create a cultural facility that is open to a wide range of users in an environment that supports what they want to do.

Amano says that in the future he would like to aim to create a cultural facility that is open to a wider range of people.

Amano: "Cultural facilities should be open to everyone, but I feel that the people who actually visit are biased. In order to broaden the base and liven up the cultural market, I would like to propose a space that is accessible to everyone, leaving no one behind.

Our goal is to create a world where museums and other cultural facilities are included in people's options for where to go. It would be great if they could become a familiar spot that people can enjoy casually, rather than a difficult place to visit."

Amano's passion for Bunka Ichiba is deeply rooted in his experiences in his hometown of Kumamoto.

Amano: "I moved to Tokyo to attend university, and it was only after leaving my hometown that I really appreciated the great things about Kumamoto. That experience made me think that if there was a museum that could communicate the charms of the region, people could fall in love with the area while still living there. This is also why I wanted to work at NOMURA Co.,Ltd., Ltd. and be involved in the cultural market."

Amano talks about the appeal of NOMURA Co.,Ltd. as follows:

Amano: "I think this is a company that supports what you want to do. I've been able to be involved in a cultural facility project, which has been a dream of mine, and if you want to try something new or inclusive concept design, you can find friends who can help you master it and apply it to your work. I feel this is a company that not only helps you complete the tasks in front of you, but also helps you achieve self-realization.

Another attractive feature is the open atmosphere that makes it easy to return to work after maternity or childcare leave, and the relationships with superiors that make it easy to work at a variety of life stages."

Finally, what does Amano think is interesting about working in sales?

Amano: "I get the most excited when I'm working on a competition or proposal. That's because it tests how well I understand the client's vision. Having my proposal adopted is proof that I've become the client's best friend. When I can truly feel that, it's the happiest moment for me."

*The information provided is current as of May 2025.