As this post goes live, I'm back in Japan.
The slightly strange thing is that I was here only a few weeks ago.
A few years ago, many people thought business travel for training might never fully return. We had become comfortable with Teams, Zoom, and virtual workshops, and to be fair, they work remarkably well. At JCO, we deliver plenty of training online and often it's the most practical option.
Yet here I am, back in Tokyo.
What I've noticed over the past couple of years is that many organizations aren't choosing between virtual and face-to-face. They're becoming more deliberate about when each makes sense.
For routine communication, online is often perfect.
For building relationships, developing people, and tackling more nuanced topics, many still prefer to get everyone in the same room.
The more time I've spent working in Japan, the more I've come to understand why.
One of the things I appreciate most about Japanese business culture is the emphasis on long-term relationships. Trust is rarely built through a single meeting or presentation. It develops gradually through consistency, reliability, and repeated interactions over time.
That applies to training as well.
Of course, the content matters, but some of the most valuable discussions happen before the session starts, during a coffee break, or after the formal agenda has ended. Someone asks a question they wouldn't have raised online. A manager shares a challenge they're facing. A participant makes a connection that wouldn't have surfaced in a virtual setting.
Those moments are difficult to measure, but they often make the visit worthwhile.
Many of JCO's client relationships go back years, and some go back much longer. Over time, you get to know the people behind the organization. You see teams evolve, leadership change, and new generations of employees take on greater responsibility.
When you've built that kind of relationship, being there in person means something.
As I was walking through Tokyo this week, I found myself reflecting on that. Technology has transformed how we communicate, collaborate, and learn. It's made global business easier in ways that would have been hard to imagine when I first started working in Japan.
But it hasn't changed everything.
Trust still develops at a very human pace.
It grows through conversations, shared experiences, and showing up when it matters.
Perhaps that's why companies are once again willing to fly people across the world for training, even when the same material could technically be delivered online.
They're not just investing in knowledge.
They're investing in relationships.
Having said all that, I'd be lying if I said relationships were the only reason I was happy to be back. There is also the small matter of returning to my favourite Tokyo coffee roastery. After a long flight, there are few things more reassuring than discovering that your favourite flat white still tastes exactly the way you remembered it a few weeks earlier.
Some things change remarkably quickly.
Some things are worth coming back for.
And in Japan, that often applies to both coffee and relationships.
Want to learn more about Japanese business practices and how to succeed in global environments?
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