Each year, MnK Niseko welcomes interns seeking hands-on experience in an international environment. Over the Summer season, we partnered with Junior Economic Club in Tokyo to search for high school and early college students who would be interested in interning for our marketing, real estate, and property management department. Through this process, we were fortunate enough to have five strong applicants Kai, Toshi, Go, Hanzo, and Saehyun.
Before concluding their internship, we asked all our interns to tell us a bit more about how their experience panned out and what moments stood out the most. Find out what they had to say below.
Kai: My name is Kai, and I’m from Tokyo, Japan. I am a rising second-year student at Georgetown University.
Toshi: My name is Toshiya Kobayashi (Toshi) from Tokyo, Japan. I am an incoming freshman at Syracuse University.
Go: My name is Go from Tokyo, Japan. I am a rising second-year university student at the University of Virginia.
Hanzo: My name is Hanzo from Tokyo, Japan. I am a rising senior attending Canadian International School in Tokyo.
Saehyun: My name is Saehyun, and I’m from Seoul, South Korea. I’m currently 16 and a rising junior in American School in School.
Kai: So many activities to do here—great work-life balance, and there’s something new happening every week. There are many tourist attractions to visit on weekends as well. The local community is both tight-knit while still very open to visitors. Overall, it was also an excellent opportunity to see the inner workings of a popular vacation spot like Niseko.
Toshi: I’ve visited Niseko multiple times but this is the first time that I visited during the summer season. I have always wondered what Niseko is like without the amazing powder snow and honestly thought it would be boring but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Niseko has much-hidden beauty such as beautiful rivers, Onsen, forest, hiking trails, and let's not forget the amazing food. After a long day at the office, you can easily go to an onsen and enjoy the beautiful views of Mount Yotei. Before coming to work here, I thought Niseko wouldn’t have any international presence during the summer but once again, I was completely wrong. I’d highly recommend doing an internship here because it offers a perfect balance between work, a calm lifestyle, an international presence, and many activities.
Go: Niseko has been quite welcoming for me and my fellow interns being a place that is foreign for most of us. With my upbringing in the city of Tokyo, the feeling of being away from the tall skyscrapers and working in the green reminds me of my home back in Virginia. The contrast of working at a desk in nature has allowed me to produce a high level of work with very little stress. I would recommend the Niseko internship for those who are looking for a real-time experience that has a perfect work-life balance and environment.
Hanzo: Niseko has been a welcoming place for me with a great view of Mt. Yotei and the sound of the Shiribetu River. I would recommend Niseko to someone considering doing an internship because the message “stay as guests leave as friends” was seen when the guests were talking to the staff in MnK and on the weekends the activities provided here are great but especially the Onsen.
Saehyun: Niseko contains a beautiful working environment and supportive co-workers. Specifically, if I’m being honest, I was concerned about this internship because it was my first time working, and also I was the youngest in the group. However, currently, I’m enjoying the internship and people here are positive and supportive, which I was able to finish my work successfully. Niseko is definitely a great choice for work!
Kai: I decided on MnK because I had never previously visited Hokkaido during the summer months. Working here allowed me to experience Niseko from a local perspective while staying busy during my time away from school. In hindsight, I think I was looking to experience something different from a standard internship in a large city.
Toshi: I was very interested in the Hospitality industry during highschool and thought it would be a great opportunity for me to explore the world of hospitality management through an internship. Fortunately I was able to connect with Mr. Guillemette the Founder & CEO of MnK Niseko where he offered us an internship opportunity. As I am attending a US university, I believed this opportunity would give me a sneak peak of the real world which could potentially benefit me in the future.
Go: During my second semester I started to think about summer opportunities and from my research, there was a lack of internships that accepted college first-year students. So MnK’s offer was significantly better than any other that I found. With the proper experience that I could gain through this internship I was instantly drawn and I committed early on.
Hanzo: Honestly, I chose the MnK internship because it was located in Hokkaido and I was able to experience a different environment in Japan. Even though I am still a high schooler, MnK was kind enough to give me a position and allowed me to grow outside of the classroom. Like my other colleagues, I think it is safe to say that MnK had something new to offer for each of us. Previously, I thought office jobs were relatively similar but now I realized that there are different aspects to every industry.
Saehyun: I became eager to intern with MnK Niseko because I believe my vision for hospitality aligns with their philosophy to “stay as a guest, return as a friend.” I applied to learn from MnK’s passionate and community-oriented team to improve my ability to care for guests in a responsive, honest, and sincere manner. As I learned, I wanted to carry a mindset of actively seeking to support my hospitality teammates and support guests in any way possible.
Kai: As for working, I enjoyed the freedom to take up individual projects on top of getting to work on assignments that were very timely. I particularly appreciated how I was able to pursue areas that interested me and train practical skills in a professional setting. Outside of the office, I’m glad I got to take part in activities that I might’ve missed out on if I came on vacation.
Toshi: I enjoyed the balance of work and leisure. By working with professionals I was able to learn things that I wouldn’t be able to in a classroom, or online seminars in a very short period of time. Before coming here I was not able to do marketing or competitor analysis but by working with my fellow interns I was able to produce something that I couldn’t have before this internship. This experience taught me how to manage time wisely and complete tasks on time, my work ethic, overall knowledge of the industry, and specific skills such as marketing and competitor analysis.
Go: What I enjoyed the most about doing this internship was the clear separation of work and private time which allowed me to tour the beautiful scenery of Niseko. With Niseko being a great location to drive around and go for tourism I was able to learn the summer side of Hokkaido which is now something that I can claim as an Underrated tourism spot. Great food, activities, and getting away from the city was perfect for my summer vacation.
Hanzo: What I enjoyed the most and experienced was the exposure to real-life work experience. In the office, I was surprised to see that everyone was working on different things. Some people were taking phone calls from customers, other people were working on a marketing project. During the weekends, I am glad I got to spend time going to the gym and going to a nearby Onsen.
Saehyun: What I enjoyed the most and appreciated the most during this internship is that I was able to get a sense of my direction towards what I want to do in the future. While I was doing my projects for marketing such as Akazora EDM and content creation, I really enjoyed the work and felt satisfied with what I did. Thanks to Mnk!
Thank you again to Kai, Toshi, Go, Hanzo, and Saehyun for joining us this summer, your support and hard work has been extraordinary. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours, and hope to see you all again in the future!
If you are interested in interning with MnK yourself, head on over to our Internships With MnK page. We are always on the lookout for motivated individuals to join our team.
