By 8:30 a.m. on Mondays to Wednesdays, Pacific Eagle Enterprises Inc. vice president Ayako Matsumoto is already at her office on Middle Road ready for a full day’s work. She handles correspondence and other responsibilities at her company.
Pacific Eagle, a trading company and hotel supply company, is also engaged in research and coordination for Japanese media and commercial films. Matsumoto said that the company organizes group events, such as the peace ceremony with JTB group each year.
By 7:30 a.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, Matsumoto regularly welcomes tourists who are ready for adventure at the Marianas Trekking around the island, and be there to welcome them back when they return.
She cannot call weekends as her own because she has to be there to handle events and other activities.
She moved to Saipan in 1987 after getting married to her husband Willie. Here, they established Pacific Eagle Enterprises Inc.
Because of her frail health, Matsumoto’s parents urged her to stay on Saipan where she got better.
“I guess I love the island life because I have never felt better since I stayed here,” Matsumoto said.
She moved to Saipan in 1987 after getting married to her husband Willie. Here, they established Pacific Eagle Enterprises Inc.
In July 2009, Matsumoto answered the call of Flame Tree TV/Visitors Channel to come up with programs for the Japanese Tourist Channel.
As business development manager of Flame Tree TV, Matsumuto said she spends more time looking for sponsors, clients and new commercials to attract more Japanese tourists to the islands.
“I love this work because I used to be in a similar line of work as assistant in the Account Executive Department at Dentsu Inc. a large advertising company in Osaka, Japan,” Matsumoto said.
Matsumoto graduated from Konan Women’s University in Kobe-city, Hyogo, Japan, where she majored in English literature. In 1984, she worked as an assistant to Martin P. Kuehnert, owner of the International Sports Management and Consulting Company in Japan.
Among her responsibilities were preparing professional baseball game records for Kuehnert’s sports commentary and coordinating the hiring of sports players from the U.S. in Japan.
Matsumuto also worked with ESPN at golf tournaments in Japan. Here on Saipan, she taught at the Japanese Community School and participated in the Micro Games in 2002.
Matsumoto also takes charge of all Japanese media who come to the island, and handles all annual Japanese-related events.
Juggling her work at Pacific Eagle Enterprises, at Flame Tree TV, her family and her countless other responsibilities as board member of the Japanese Society of NMI and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations including Beautify CNMI, the Commonwealth Women’s Golf Association, and MINA is not easy but Matsumoto said it all boils down to proper time management.
Matsumoto’s daughters Mari and Rika, 24 and 22, are already in the states.
“I love working and being busy but I always find time to spend with my husband and our two dogs,” she said.
She also gives credit to her supportive staff for the continuing success of the company.
“Times are hard and getting harder each year and surviving as a business has been getting tougher but thanks to my support staff, we will try to pull through this together,” she said.{jcomments off}
