Tanaka: At LinkedIn, helping shift the Japanese ideal of lifetime employment: “Nobody really wanted to put a profile up...changing jobs was seen as taboo.” (Photo by Benjamin Parks)

When Wakana Tanaka (MBA 2003) was 13 years old, her father’s new job took the family from their home in Tokyo to Jakarta. It was a big change, not just geographically but also culturally. Tanaka enrolled in an international school where she was encouraged to have her own opinions and share them. “That’s not the norm in Japan,” she says.

That cultural melting pot changed how Tanaka saw the world and her place in it. She wanted to keep learning about different cultures, religions, and politics, a desire that brought her to Georgetown University to study international relations. There, Tanaka learned that she had a talent for communication that helped bridge cultural gaps, a skill that has served her well in a career that has included roles in think tanks, consulting firms, an embassy, a parliamentary commission, and—most recently—the tech world. “It never goes as you intend it to,” she says. “What’s important is how you take charge of your career.”

Now, Tanaka is helping others take charge. In March 2023, she became the country manager of LinkedIn Japan. Though the professional networking platform opened its first office in Japan more than a decade ago, it didn’t catch on there the way it did in other countries. That’s largely due to the predominant culture of lifetime employment, which ties workers to a single company and values years of service more than the development of skills. “Nobody really wanted to put a profile up,” Tanaka explains, because “changing jobs was seen as taboo.”

Now that’s starting to change. In the press and across social media, Tanaka has been championing a shift away from lifetime employment, a strategy that she says also may be the key to addressing the gender gap in Japan’s workforce. Rather than pursuing their own careers, women in Japan have long been pushed into lower-paying, part-time jobs; in 2022, more than half of working women in the country had part-time or temporary roles, compared with 18 percent of men.

As she enters her second year at LinkedIn, Tanaka hopes to keep building the platform’s stature within the Japanese business community. She believes the transparency and learning opportunities it offers have the power to transform the labor market: “I truly believe LinkedIn can save Japan from its deep economic downturn and stagnation.”

Straight talk: “Feedback is a gift. It’s so easy to fall into your own mindset capsule if you don’t hear feedback. To get really direct feedback, you need to build trust with your team, your partners, or your stakeholders.”

Daily routine: A hot bath. “It’s very Japanese,” she says. “It helps me to relax.”

Her soundtrack: Cateen, “this Japanese pianist I love who’s trying to connect classical music like Chopin and Beethoven to the next generation by bringing in different aspects of modern music.”

Trip of a lifetime: While at HBS, Tanaka organized a trip to Japan for her classmates; two later moved to the country. “They loved the trip so much, they came to Japan after graduation. They got jobs, they found partners, they got married, they have kids now. These trips change your life sometimes.”

Travel bucket list: “I’d love to go to Jordan. And I’d love to visit all the World Heritage sites.”

Cravings: “Avocado, any which way. I love it.”

In her feed: Tanaka follows several female leaders on LinkedIn. “I also follow Japanese companies that we recently onboarded and try to give advice on what to post.”

What you should post in yours: Tanaka recommends information on company culture and priorities. “A lot of young people want to work for a company that shares the same values.”

Breaking bread: A couple of times a year, Tanaka meets with other women business leaders to share ideas and offer advice over dinner. “Japan has been such a closed, male-dominant society; women who have made it up the ladder in the society are strong and very resilient.”

AI is A-OK: “A lot of people talk about how AI will take away people’s jobs. I think it’s the other way around.” Tanaka believes that people who want to learn about generative AI, and find creative ways to use it, will have an advantage in the job market.

If I knew then what I know now: “When you’re a student you always think, ‘I’m going to have a great career. It’s going to be straightforward: internship, associate manager, executive.’ But, in fact, it’s a winding road. You work but then there’s this life event—you have to move to another country, you get laid off, or you want to study again. It never goes according to plan.”

Getaway: On free weekends, Tanaka hits the slopes. “Hokkaido has the best snow in the world.”

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