From Delft to a blue corporate jumpsuit in Japan

He works for Mitsubishi in Japan, but credits the social skills and determination he developed while studying at TU Delft with helping his dream of an international career come true.

When the opportunity to take a class in automotive design presented itself during his studies at TU Delft, Rienk Landstra jumped at the chance. “Movement, mobility, beauty with a function…these aspects of automotive design really appealed to me,” Landstra recalls. This affinity led him to choose a thesis project to restyle a forklift truck for Mitsubishi Caterpillar Europe in Almere.

After successfully completing his thesis project in 2000, Landstra was offered a full-time position at the company. Design development takes place solely at Mitsubishi’s headquarters in Japan. The Almere division primarily handles production and sales. Landstra’s job is to ensure that the forklift trucks are adapted to meet the requirements of foreign markets: a task not easily accomplished when designers are working in Japan.

“The mechanical engineers working on product development in Japan are chiefly concerned with the product’s technical side,” Landstra says. “Styling and ergonomics are considered of lesser importance. But in Europe, these aspects determine the forklift’s marketability.”

When Landstra first started working for Mitsubishi Caterpillar Europe, he traveled to Japan once every few months, staying there for a week. But this was barely enough time to break the ice, let alone see necessary changes implemented in the forklifts’ designs. After two years of varying success due to the language barrier and a seven-hour time difference, Landstra concluded that it was time for more drastic measures.

“At that point, I suggested that it would be better if I went to live in Japan for an extended period of time and actually sit down with the Japanese engineers and work together on the technical drawings,” Landstra says. For the past three years, Landstra has been traveling back and forth between the Netherlands and Japan, staying for periods of several months in Japan.

During his TU Delft days, Landstra concedes that he was a bit of a loner: “I wasn’t much for group work,” he recalls, “Drawing, sketching, working out ideas…I preferred to work alone.” Working collectively in the design world is unavoidable, however. While studying at TU Delft, Landstra had the opportunity to hone his people skills when he worked for a year as board member of the student organization VSSD.

“Being a member of the board, you’re forced to make decisions together with others,” Landstra says. “In such circumstances you can’t just walk all over people and say that you want things done a certain way. It was a very useful experience and something I missed in my course work and classes.”

Landstra says that taking the initiative and perseverance were essential to achieving his goals, then and now: “After graduation, I realized that TU Delft is one of the few universities that offers such an array of possibilities, not to mention the financial means to work on personal development in the way of board work and committee work. I was thankful for the opportunity and learned a lot in the process.”
Raunchy

In Japan, Landstra works in Sagamiyara, a ninety-minute drive from Tokyo. A working day in Japan is officially from 8 to 5. At 8 o’clock all employees congregate outside for morning exercises. Landstra received a blue exercise jumpsuit on his first day at work and joined the rest for the daily morning ritual. “It was a kind of awkward at first and I felt silly,” he says, “but after a while you get used to it and are doing the exercises like a pro.”

At lunch, two things happen: half the employees rush for the cafeteria, and the other half take naps at their desks. Landstra: “They literally just sort of slump over, in a sitting position and fall asleep.”

It’s something of a competition among his Japanese colleagues to see how quickly they can wolf down their food, to save time for other things. Unaware of this, Landstra would take his time eating his lunch, which frustrated his guide in the first weeks. “Once I figured out he was waiting for me,” Landstra says, grinning,” I told him he didn’t have to keep me company everyday. After that, there was no trace of him during the lunch break!”

At 5 p.m., the work day ends, but everyone stays late, especially the ‘freshman’, the group that Landstra belongs to, due to his age and status in the company hierarchy. Around 7 p.m., the first employees leave, and by 8 p.m. everyone has gone home. Days off are taken one or two at a time. No one takes a week or more off outside the set vacation weeks. “Because that means you’re dispensable,” Landstra says, “and that’s the worst thing you can be in a Japanese company.”

Social life’s an important part of Japanese company life. Each department has ‘party organizers’, who are responsible for arranging social activities outside of working hours. Activities are organized within set time frames. “Often, such evenings begin with tabehodai (all-you-can-eat), followed by nomihodai (all-you-can-drink), Landstra says. “Everything’s done in time intervals. You pay by the hour. But one thing’s for sure: no matter how wild the parties get outside of working hours, the following Monday everyone acts as though nothing happened.”

Is this an example of the famed Asian stereotype of showing no emotion? “That’s hard to say,” Landstra reflects. “The Japanese can be kind of raunchy, yet at the same time they’re unfathomable. For example, a businessman will be standing in the metro on his way to work reading an explicit sex comic in full view, like it’s a morning newspaper, with his wife and children standing right next to him, and there’s no reaction! That’s definitely not something you’d see on public transportation in the West.”

On the whole, Landstra enjoys living and working in Japan, and although the jet-setting life is far from his reality, the Japanese culture and the people do hold something magical for him.

Rienk Landstra’s working day at Mitsubishi begins with mandatory morning exercises.

When the opportunity to take a class in automotive design presented itself during his studies at TU Delft, Rienk Landstra jumped at the chance. “Movement, mobility, beauty with a function…these aspects of automotive design really appealed to me,” Landstra recalls. This affinity led him to choose a thesis project to restyle a forklift truck for Mitsubishi Caterpillar Europe in Almere.

After successfully completing his thesis project in 2000, Landstra was offered a full-time position at the company. Design development takes place solely at Mitsubishi’s headquarters in Japan. The Almere division primarily handles production and sales. Landstra’s job is to ensure that the forklift trucks are adapted to meet the requirements of foreign markets: a task not easily accomplished when designers are working in Japan.

“The mechanical engineers working on product development in Japan are chiefly concerned with the product’s technical side,” Landstra says. “Styling and ergonomics are considered of lesser importance. But in Europe, these aspects determine the forklift’s marketability.”

When Landstra first started working for Mitsubishi Caterpillar Europe, he traveled to Japan once every few months, staying there for a week. But this was barely enough time to break the ice, let alone see necessary changes implemented in the forklifts’ designs. After two years of varying success due to the language barrier and a seven-hour time difference, Landstra concluded that it was time for more drastic measures.

“At that point, I suggested that it would be better if I went to live in Japan for an extended period of time and actually sit down with the Japanese engineers and work together on the technical drawings,” Landstra says. For the past three years, Landstra has been traveling back and forth between the Netherlands and Japan, staying for periods of several months in Japan.

During his TU Delft days, Landstra concedes that he was a bit of a loner: “I wasn’t much for group work,” he recalls, “Drawing, sketching, working out ideas…I preferred to work alone.” Working collectively in the design world is unavoidable, however. While studying at TU Delft, Landstra had the opportunity to hone his people skills when he worked for a year as board member of the student organization VSSD.

“Being a member of the board, you’re forced to make decisions together with others,” Landstra says. “In such circumstances you can’t just walk all over people and say that you want things done a certain way. It was a very useful experience and something I missed in my course work and classes.”

Landstra says that taking the initiative and perseverance were essential to achieving his goals, then and now: “After graduation, I realized that TU Delft is one of the few universities that offers such an array of possibilities, not to mention the financial means to work on personal development in the way of board work and committee work. I was thankful for the opportunity and learned a lot in the process.”
Raunchy

In Japan, Landstra works in Sagamiyara, a ninety-minute drive from Tokyo. A working day in Japan is officially from 8 to 5. At 8 o’clock all employees congregate outside for morning exercises. Landstra received a blue exercise jumpsuit on his first day at work and joined the rest for the daily morning ritual. “It was a kind of awkward at first and I felt silly,” he says, “but after a while you get used to it and are doing the exercises like a pro.”

At lunch, two things happen: half the employees rush for the cafeteria, and the other half take naps at their desks. Landstra: “They literally just sort of slump over, in a sitting position and fall asleep.”

It’s something of a competition among his Japanese colleagues to see how quickly they can wolf down their food, to save time for other things. Unaware of this, Landstra would take his time eating his lunch, which frustrated his guide in the first weeks. “Once I figured out he was waiting for me,” Landstra says, grinning,” I told him he didn’t have to keep me company everyday. After that, there was no trace of him during the lunch break!”

At 5 p.m., the work day ends, but everyone stays late, especially the ‘freshman’, the group that Landstra belongs to, due to his age and status in the company hierarchy. Around 7 p.m., the first employees leave, and by 8 p.m. everyone has gone home. Days off are taken one or two at a time. No one takes a week or more off outside the set vacation weeks. “Because that means you’re dispensable,” Landstra says, “and that’s the worst thing you can be in a Japanese company.”

Social life’s an important part of Japanese company life. Each department has ‘party organizers’, who are responsible for arranging social activities outside of working hours. Activities are organized within set time frames. “Often, such evenings begin with tabehodai (all-you-can-eat), followed by nomihodai (all-you-can-drink), Landstra says. “Everything’s done in time intervals. You pay by the hour. But one thing’s for sure: no matter how wild the parties get outside of working hours, the following Monday everyone acts as though nothing happened.”

Is this an example of the famed Asian stereotype of showing no emotion? “That’s hard to say,” Landstra reflects. “The Japanese can be kind of raunchy, yet at the same time they’re unfathomable. For example, a businessman will be standing in the metro on his way to work reading an explicit sex comic in full view, like it’s a morning newspaper, with his wife and children standing right next to him, and there’s no reaction! That’s definitely not something you’d see on public transportation in the West.”

On the whole, Landstra enjoys living and working in Japan, and although the jet-setting life is far from his reality, the Japanese culture and the people do hold something magical for him.

Rienk Landstra’s working day at Mitsubishi begins with mandatory morning exercises.