FROM THE “CASINO” TO THE SILENCE – Francesco Fabbiani

Casino, Castelnovo ne’ Monti – Japan

Appointment at the usual bar, the usual coffee and the usual faces: a constant in the city’s noise.

As a child I had two dreams; to become a policeman ore a truck driver. After graduating I went travelling a lot, exploring the world for work and for fun. This way I feel to have, somehow, realized part of my dream: vagabonding is the nearest thing to being a truck driver. I feel a truck driver of the world, a sky commuter.

I’ve always worked in the automotive sector. I’ve had a huge, unplanned fortune: to work for all the big Italian brands. Curiosity brought me to Ducati, Lamborghini, Maserati and finally Piaggio with the aim to develop the Asiatic region.

With Piaggio I’ve lived the last three years in Japan. My life divided between Bolzan (I was already a migrant: I have a wife and three children) and Asia. My task is to detect and lift up the suffering branches and develop business opportunities in the Asian market. I’ve been entrusted with a small branch, 15 employees and a strong decline. The Headquarter’s intention was to shut down (there are strong competitors in the area) but we succeeded to fill the communication gap with the Italian mother company. I managed to have Italians and Japanese speak the same language.

I was scared. Every new task is a challenge. The first year was extremely hard: strong losses, pressure from Italy and a totally new reality to cope with and with which I found it hard to communicate. Japan is not Asia, it’s unique. They’re collectivists, their power stands in community and not in individualism, typical to our culture.

Japanese are extremely sophisticated. They use silence to communicate, the pause, things left unsaid. I found the solution in my origins: being a mountaineer means having a unique flexibility. You are urged to adapt to the land, to nature and to decode it. I’ve deciphered their code like a farmer listens to the wind to predict weather changes. Every second of silence acquired a different meaning: time is enormously important. Running back on my initial mistakes I questioned all the communication methods I had studied. I gave silence time and that was made possible by what I had learned living on the Apennine.

Even food is a common element, I achieved to share beautiful moments at the dining table. Japanese tend to be extremely formal during daytime whilst they explode in the night. They have a strong taste for the esthetic, just like us. They open up after understanding our silence.

Italiano