2019 EXPERIENTIALREPORT
Rakuten, Futako-tamagawa, Tokyo
Jonathan Redfern

May 2019 – December 2019
University of Manitoba
Computer ScienceTable of Content

1.0 Company
1.1 History..............................................................................................................
1.2 Products and Services...........................................................................................
1.3 Structure..............................................................................................................
2.0 Internship...................................................................................................................
2.1 Duties............................................................................................................
2.2 WorkingEnvironment.........................................................................................
2.3 Skills and Experience
Acquired............................................................................................................
3.0 Lifestyle...................................................................................................................
3.1 Dormitory............................................................................................................
3.2 Everyday Life............................................................................................................
3.3 Activities............................................................................................................
4.0 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................
4.1 Advice for Future Students..............................................................................

1.0 Company Background
1.1 History
Rakuten is a Japanese internet-based e-commerce and online retail company based inTokyo, Japan. The company was founded in 1997 by Hiroshi Mikitani. Rakuten ismainly known for its B2B2C e-commerce platform named ‘Rakuten Ichiba’. Since its
founding in 1997 Rakuten has grown to become one of the largest and most well-known
companies in Japan. In 2005, Rakuten started its expansion outside of Japan and as oftoday, Rakuten serves 29 different countries and regions around the world.

1.2 Products and Services
Rakuten has grown to be so much more than the simple e-commerce store that it
started as back in 1997. Since then Rakuten has broken into many different markets
including media and sports, communications and energy, investment and incubation, andfintech. It would take far too long to talk about all the different products and services that
Rakuten owns in these different markets so I will just briefly mention one or two of themin the following paragraphs.

Rakuten entered the professional sports market in 2005 when it took control of the
newly formed Rakuten Golden Eagles baseball team and in 2013 they went on to win the
Nippon Professional Baseball championship.

Rakuten’s largest venture into the communications sector would have to be Rakuten
Mobile. Rakuten Mobile provides mobile communications services. Additionally,
Rakuten owns Viber which is a global mobile messaging service used by millions.

Rakuten has more than 5 different projects currently that deal with investment andincubation. One of them being Rakuten Capital. Rakuten Capital is a corporate venture
capital group that invests in more than 25 transformative internet start-ups.

Fintech is a sector that Rakuten has done very well in here in Japan. For instance,
there is R Pay which is a Rakuten ID-based offline payment service, R Points which is apoint card service offered by Rakuten, and R Edy which is an electronic money service
offered by Rakuten.

Just briefly talking about all the different sectors that Rakuten is a part of it is clear tosee that it has grown a lot since its founding in 1997. Now, instead of just being an ecommerce site it is a company that is involved in and thriving in many different markets.

1.3 Structure
Rakuten has multiple businesses and brands all over the world. For instance, Rakuten
has a FinTech segment, an internet services segment, as well as a mobile segment. Eachone of these segments includes multiple companies. The internet services segment
contains a commerce company, media, and sports company, and investment andincubation company. The fintech segment contains a fintech group company and themobile segment contains a communications and energy company. I am currently part of
the Membership team which falls under the internet services segment of the company
structure.
2.0 Internship
2.1 Duties

I am currently a member of Rakuten’s Ecosystem Services Department on theMembership team. Everyone in my immediate group is focused on working with client’s
accounts in one way or another. Large scale web-based applications interest me, which is
why I wanted to apply to this position so badly in the first place. Throughout thisinternship, I have been working closely with my team members Maddy, Rana, Josh,
Martha, and Gurnur. Gurnur is the one who decided on the project I would be working
on during the majority of my time here at Rakuten.

Along the way, Maddy has given me a lot of help and advice which I greatly
appreciate because a great deal of this is completely new to me. Additionally, our teammeets every morning to discuss what we accomplished the previous day as well as thecurrent day’s goals and mission. We also have weekly sprints where we meet and create
goals and objectives for the next two weeks and assign jobs to each member of the team.
However, these are not the only times my team and I meet. Everyone is easily accessible
throughout the day since their desks are only a few feet away from mine. I can alsomessage them on one of the many chat applications that we use here at Rakuten.

One of the first tasks given to me during my time here at Rakuten was the on the job
training project. The other interns and I were given the task of creating an energy tracker
application. This application had a UI where the user would enter information about
energy spending goals and the amount of energy currently spent. It would save this data
to a database as well as graph it via a third-party application. I volunteered to work on
the front end of the application since I have very little experience using React. This
project gave me a lot of useful experience using React and working with a project fromits infancy to its completion.

In addition to working on the Rakuten energy tracker, I was to complete weekly
essays on relevant topics that were presented to me. Doing this exercise was a great way
to get a better understanding of what is going on with the tech stack internally here at
Rakuten.

The main project that I worked on during my internship was an automatedconfiguration deployment pipeline using Gitlab. To do this I had to learn and understandhow Gitlab works which included learning how to mirror existing git repositories/set up
webhooks so that the Gitlab repository pipeline would be triggered by certain actions(such as pull requests, or commits), and write multiple Bash and Python scripts which
did things such as reformatting YAML files and linting them to ensure they follow
correct standard. Additionally, I was tasked with migrating the format of stored YAML
configuration files to a different format. This project gave me some great insight into the
DevOps realm of software development, something that I have always been interested in.

The last thing that I worked on while here at Rakuten was writing tests for the CAT
application. There was very little test coverage existing for the application (less than30%) so my team wanted me to try and bump that number up a little bit. This proved tobe harder than expected due to the size of CAT and the complexity of mocking datausing Golang. Golang is the language that CAT is primarily written in so the tests should
be written in the same language. Golang is known for maybe not being the best testinglanguage so getting experience with that will help me in the future when I am tasked withwriting tests.

2.2 Working Environment
It is a short and simple commute to the office from my apartment. I only need to walkabout 13 minutes and take one train. However, the train I take rides the Denentoshi line
which can get extremely populated in the morning commuting hours, but I have gotten
used to it (for the most part). Luckily, I am only on the train for about 15 minutes.

At the office, everything is open space. This means that there are no cubicles, andeveryone is situated in a row of individual desks, with about 8 or so people belonging to
one row. I enjoy this because it encourages discussion and team building a lot more thancubicles do. I can easily walk over to Maddy or another co-worker to ask a question if I
need to. I have gotten to know my coworkers a lot better because of this. Since arriving
at Rakuten I have hung out with several co-workers on many different occasions.
Meeting with co-workers outside of work is the best way to become closer as a teambecause you get to know what the person is like in a normal environment and become
closer as a result.

Rakuten doesn’t seem to follow the usual Japanese after-work drinking party rituals
that lots of other companies here follow. During my time as an intern at NTT, I was
greeted the first week at the office with a welcoming party, it was amazing. Everyone
really opened up and I feel as though I got to know my team members a lot better rightaway which helped ease my transition into Japanese work life. Rakuten, while being a
Japanese company seems to follow western work culture, so there are far less organized
after-work activities. During my time at NTT, we had a lot of team get-togethers whichwere honestly one of my favorite parts about living and working in Japan. Even though
Rakuten might not organize these events like those as often I still became just as closewith my team at Rakuten as I was with my team at NTT. For instance, Rana (a member
on my team) and I work out at the same gym multiple times a week after work. We alsofrequently get lunch together as a team.

2.3 Skills and Experience Acquired
Before this internship, I had little experience with DevOps as well as web
applications. However, I have learned more in the span of this four-month internship thanI have in all the classes that I took on those subjects back home combined. Every single
day I learn about something new which is exactly what I was hoping for when I applied
to this position.

The first couple of weeks of this internship taught me a lot about front end web
development. It was good getting to learn the ins and outs of React while also
communicating with the other interns working on the back end of the application.
Additionally, having to be in constant communication with the sustainability department(the people we were making the application for) improved my communication skills
immensely. We had regular meetings with them where they would voice their opinion onwhat we had so far. What they liked, what they didn’t like and what they would like tosee.
3.0 Lifestyle
3.1 Dormitory
During my time here in Japan Rakuten was kind enough to get me an apartment. Theapartment is located in Azamino, Yokohama and is about a thirteen-minute walk fromthe train station. The apartment itself is extremely comfortable. I was surprised to findout that it came with its bathroom, toilet room, kitchen, and washer. Before coming here,I was fully prepared to have to use communal showers and bathrooms so that was a nicesurprise. In addition to that, the apartment is about a 3-minute walk to a convenience
store so I have quick access to any groceries I want. The dorm itself is quite roomy andcan easily fit me and a couple of friends.

3.2 Everyday LifeMy day to day life here is pretty average most of the time. I wake up at 7:00 or so, getready and then make my way to the train station. I arrive at work between 8:00-8:20
depending on which train I catch. I try and get to work before 9:30 so that I can takeadvantage of the free breakfast that is offered to employees here. I work from 9:00 A.M
until around 12:00 P.M or 1:00 P.M which is when I break for lunch. In addition to freebreakfast, there is also free lunch that is offered. The amount of options is insane, there
are two different cafeterias located in this building with each one offering around 6 or so
different dishes. So there is always something for everyone. After lunch, I usually go on
a little walk around the park which is located near the office. I find that going outside is agood way to reset the mind after being cooped up in an office all day. After lunch, I
usually work at my desk for another couple of hours before moving to the cafeteria towork for the last little bit or so. I find that changing my working environment is anothergood way to reset the mind. Some days after work I take the train to Shinjuku, orShibuya to walk around and try to experience as much of Japan as I can before I leave.
Another aspect of living on my own that I enjoyed is having conversations with random
people that I meet on the street in restaurants or at a bar. Every day is different which iswhat I love about living on my own here in Tokyo. Other days I might go back to
Azamino, and get a good workout in at my local gym. One of the harder things to do here
I’ve noticed is continuing a healthy workout schedule. Back home I can go to the gym atleast three times a week quite easily because I have a car and the gym is right by myhouse. But since moving here I’ve noticed I’m a lot more busy than usual and since I
don’t have a car it is a lot more work to go to the gym. This prevents me from going as
much as I’d like to.

3.3 Activities
I don’t think I have spent one weekend day/night at home since I came here. Every
single weekend has been filled up with events/excursions/parties which is exactly what I
wanted. I could honestly write ten pages just talking about all the extracurricular stuff
that I have done here so I’ll only mention some of them.

My first couple of weeks here were mostly just catching up with friends and exploring
what Tokyo has to offer. I went out drinking, ate delicious food, and explored thisbeautiful city. It was exactly what I expected it to be. For the first couple of weeks here I
think I averaged around 30,000 steps per day on the weekends, which is crazy and I
started to feel the wear and tear on my feet after a while. But as I started to adapt toJapanese life once again so did my feet, and the blistering/pains stopped.
The first big trip I went on while I was here was during Obon week. My girlfriend andI started the trip by visiting Osaka and Nara. I’ve never been to Osaka before so it was
really fun exploring a new city with someone I care about. We enjoyed the nightlight andmet a couple of new friends while also seeing what the city had to offer during the day.
Our trip to Nara was on one of the hottest days of the year. Even though I almost sweated
my body weight in water it was extremely enjoyable. The deer were very courteous(except when they bit me) and even bowed if you offered them a treat. After Nara, wehopped on a shinkansen to Kagoshima which is one of the most southern points of themain island of Japan. We stayed in Kagoshima for a couple of days and enjoyedexploring the city and Sakurajima island which is an active volcano. One of the morememorable points of this trip would be when my girlfriend and I took a random bus towhat we thought was a popular beach. It turns out the bus took us to an unpopulated
beach. We had to walk down the highway for over an hour in the blazing heat to find away back home. We ended up having to hitchhike back to the city because we couldn’t
find a working bus stop. But in the end, it all worked out and is a fantastic memory.

The people nice enough to pick me up off the highway

Enjoying the hot sand onsen in Ibuski, Kagoshima

During my time here in Tokyo I was lucky enough to have about 10 different friends
visit me. It was lots of fun being their tour guide for the week or so that they were here.
Being away from home for so long sure makes you appreciate your friends back home so
it was great being able to see them.
Some friends from back home and I waiting for a boat tourAdditionally, it was great catching up with old friends who I made last time I washere. When I worked at NTT last year I lived in Kokubunji and made lots of friends at a
local bar there. One of them was nice enough to invite all of us over to his parent's and I
can honestly say that was the highlight of my trip last time I was here. So I was
extremely happy to be able to meet up with them multiple times and even visited a Sake
brewery with one of them.

Another great experience that I had here in Tokyo was attending one of my NTT coworker's weddings. I became pretty close with Kazato-san last time I was here because
he was my supervisor at work. When he heard that I was coming back I hung out withhim and some of my other NTT friends multiple times. A month or so ago he asked me if
I wanted to go to his wedding so of course, I said yes. It was a fantastic time and I’m
extremely happy for him and his new wife.

Photo of my former NTT co-workers and myself at Kazato-san’s wedding

4.0 Conclusion

I can’t believe that eight months flew by this fast but it did. My time here in Japan
truly was wonderful. The knowledge that I gained through this internship will serve mefor the rest of my life as will the memories that I made. I am extremely grateful to haveworked for a well respected and established company such as Rakuten. They pushed me
more than any other school assignment or previous internship has and I appreciate them alot for that. As for all the friends that I made here. It will be sad leaving but I know that
we will meet again someday

4.1 Advice for Future Students
The main piece of advice that I would give to any student who is about to embark on
the same journey that I just did is keep an open mind. Japan is very different from backhome but if you simply embrace the differences instead question them you will have anamazing time. Another sound piece of advice that I would give is saying yes toeverything possible. If a co-worker invites you out to drink? Say yes. If you meetsomeone on the street and they say they’re going on a hike tomorrow and ask if you’d
like to join? Say yes. The more you go with the flow the greater the possibility you haveof experiencing something amazing and unique. I am truly jealous of you if you areabout to start your journey in Japan because mine is already over and it feels as though it
has just begun. Good luck!