Shima Osaka is Helping Japan Discover the Joy of Listening

In June, as we celebrated ten years of Audible’s service for Japanese listeners with an event at one of Tokyo’s most historically significant shrines, Audible’s country manager for Japan, Shima Osaka, was celebrating her own ten-year anniversary. She joined in 2015 as legal counsel for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and then became country manager for Japan, where she was integral to bringing the joy of listening to Japanese audiences.

“When Audible first launched, Japan did not have a word for ‘audiobooks’,” Osaka says. “We built up the Audible brand and catalog from zero, dramatically increasing our Original and exclusive production output year over year, and our membership has grown by double digits for the last five years. It’s been incredible to see people discover listening as a new way of enjoying stories.”

Part of that listener enthusiasm is due to Osaka’s team bringing cherished Japanese authors to audio for the first time, including forming a close relationship with Haruki Murakami to launch a catalog of his work featuring celebrity narration, and working with best-selling mystery author Keigo Higashino to launch an audio-first Original.

As country manager, Osaka advises on multiple parts of Audible’s service for Japanese listeners, from marketing to content to product, advocating for Japanese customers and sharing with the public about Audible’s exciting offerings. She also ensures that employees enjoy their work culture. “I make sure that the team is able to focus on the right initiatives, and that they have fun while doing so,” she emphasizes. We caught up with Osaka to learn about her extraordinary background.

What was your background before supporting the Audible business, and what did your role entail when you first were hired?

I was a lawyer in the US for about 15 years practicing mergers and acquisitions, securities and general corporate matters. I joined Audible’s legal team for APAC and then transitioned to country manager for our service for Japan. After another two years as country manager, I realized that to become the leader I knew the business needed, I wanted to dive deeper into specific functions, like content and marketing. For about a year and a half I did this sort of tour, exploring all these areas of the business, hands-on, that I couldn’t go deep enough into as country manager.

When I felt ready to step back into the country manager role, Audible’s leadership was really supportive. Now it’s been about three years.

What do you like the best about your work?

I enjoy working with the people at Audible — they’re smart, kind and fun to work with!

If you could go back and give advice to your younger self when you were first starting your career, what would it be?

It’s okay to challenge yourself to try something new. It may seem scary or even unimaginable or unattainable, but taking on the challenge will help you grow, no matter the outcome, and the learnings from that experience will help shape your career journey.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Teleportation.

Lightning round

• Coffee or tea? Hot tea with milk is my favorite.
• Morning person or night owl? Night owl.
• Where are you working from currently? Tokyo, Japan.
• Who is your biggest inspiration, career-wise? My mom, who has been by my side as my biggest cheerleader, and my dad, who has shown me what a work ethic looks like.
• Dine in or take out? Dine in.
• Favorite hobby? I’m an avid tennis player.
• Favorite Audible listen, go. The Audible adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984.