Testimonials

“I have been fortunate to work with Rachel McCrystal for the 3 years leading into and during the Tokyo Paralympic Games themselves. In the preparation phase, I worked with Rachel alongside my colleagues from a project management perspective. During the event itself, I was the Team manager for the British Para-Swimming team and worked directly with Rachel managing the team of athletes and staff on the ground.
Rachel was initially brought into the team to provide the translation expertise for all of the communication with Japan, including a vast amount of translation of documents from our host city for the holding camp phase of our time in Japan. It soon became very clear that with Rachel’s vast knowledge of Japanese culture and understanding of operational hierarchy, her vast network of Japanese contacts as well as her practical delivery skills on the ground, she offered the team much more. Rachel was able to take a concept or a vision and implement it in reality
Rachel was a great asset to our team, both in the preparation phase and during the Tokyo Paralympic Games themselves. Specifically, her work ethic, positive energy and high level of project management skill was integral to the team’s success.”

Catherine Gilby, Head of Sport Science & Sport Medicine, British Para-Swimming

“I recently attended a 3-day workshop with Rachel on Japanese Culture. She has a huge amount of knowledge and experience which provided a fascinating insight which will assist when working with Japanese colleagues. She is a great communicator and built an excellent rapport with the group.”

Julie Harrison Julie Harrison, Head of Commercial & Business Planning at Brother UK

“I worked closely with Rachel in my role as Chief Medical Officer during two British Paraswimming Paralympic preparation camps in Suzuka, Japan . Rachel’s knowledge of all things Japanese was invaluable. Her expertise enabled me to meet with local medical facilities and produce action plans for all eventualities. Rachel has endless enthusiasm for Japan (and for life) and this makes her a pleasure to work with. She is solution focused and nothing is too much trouble. We had several very challenging situations and Rachel remained calm throughout, proving herself to be incredibly versatile. I was particularly impressed given how stressful these experiences must have been, it didn’t show. Rachel was also popular with all the staff and athletes due to her approachability, sense of fun and friendly manner.”

Phil Clelland, Chief Medical Officer, Para-Swimming

“Rachel demonstrated her expertise and ability to work with the Japanese while supporting myself and the Chairman of Playdale during a Trade Mission to Tokyo with the Department for International Trade. Rachel provided us with invaluable education on business culture while preparing for our face to face meetings and pitches with prospective Japanese partners, translation services of our presentations, as well as support with conducting meetings while in Japan. I can highly recommend Rachel and would happily work with her again.”

Barry Leahy, MBE, Managing Director, Playdale

“Rachel was a lifeline during the Trade Mission to Tokyo and prepared me with training and support on how to work effectively with the Japanese, as well as support with conducting the presentations and meetings with prospective partners and clients in Japan. Rachel also provided translation services for our corporate presentation materials and was a conduit for ongoing correspondence between our Japanese partners.”

Damon Hill, International Sales Director, Barney Taylor

“I just wanted to say how brilliant the sessions were, Rachel was very enthusiastic and really good with the pupils, we all found the sessions extremely engaging and interesting, all the resources were brilliant ,we just wish we had more time to do this!”

Ramona Mitrea | MFL Subject Leader, The Manchester Health Academy

Rachel from Connect with Japan offered us exactly what we needed to quickly develop some key relationships and enable some critical negotiations with our hosts in Japan. Her business acumen and knowledge of the Japanese culture and language were invaluable. Connect with Japan offers the ideal combination of skills and knowledge to work with any sports team training in Japan before Tokyo 2020. I cannot recommend Rachel highly enough.

Sarah Stewart-Hunter (GBR Para-Swimming Team Manager)

“British Para-Swimming engaged with Connect with Japan in order to ensure the team is best prepared for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Rachel was quickly able to understand our needs and then make contact with the right people on the ground in Japan to make things were delivered in a World Class way. Rachel used her vast knowledge and experience to help us set up the perfect training environment for our swimmers and then went above and beyond to ensure a group of young athletes felt completely at home in Japan. We found Rachel to be efficient, highly professional and extremely knowledgeable and we look forward to continuing our relationship with her over the period into the Games.”