To say that Japan holds Riedel Japan CEO Wolfgang Angyal in a judo-like grip is not far off the mark. Visibly enthused with his adopted home, and the potential opportunities it affords, as well as a slew of professional achievements under his belt, the dapper Austrian feels very much
Name: Wolfgang Angyal
Title: President and CEO, Riedel Japan Co. Ltd. (since January, 2000)
URL: www.riedel.co.jp
DoB: April 15,1965
Hometown: Kufstein, Austria
Years in Japan: 25
To say that Japan holds Riedel Japan CEO Wolfgang Angyal in a judo-like grip is not far off the mark. Visibly enthused with his adopted home, and the potential opportunities it affords, as well as a slew of professional achievements under his belt, the dapper Austrian feels very much in tune with this country.
“Almost nothing is impossible when you find or create the right circumstances,” Angyal said. “Once you get to know the unwritten rules of Japan and start working with them instead of against them, things that you never thought possible can just fall into place.”
Japan has long been part of Angyal’s life; this began after his parents sent their then-boisterous 4-year-old to a judo dojō to learn how to focus and burn off excess energy. In later years, he became fascinated with a television series about Japan’s shogun. Yet Angyal’s journey has had its challenges. Nor was he always certain that Japan was where he wanted to be, Angyal revealed during an interview with The Japan Times at the Riedel boutique in the upscale Aoyama district.
Angyal’s first professional encounter with Japan was in 1985, when he represented Austria in the restaurant service department as part of the 28th WorldSkills Competition (WSC) held in Osaka. To Angyal’s surprise, he took gold. Now somewhat of a veteran on navigating Japan, Angyal posits that his success was in part because of his judo lessons.
“Judo started and ended with a bow — win or lose. To show humility and respect basically was some concept I was (up until then) not familiar with,” he said. Arriving at the WSC with a basic, but intuitive understanding of Japanese dynamics, he placed full trust in his Japanese assistants during the competition. Because he could effectively communicate with his team, he ended up victorious despite his opponents being “technically superior.”
Citing his WSC win as one of his top professional achievements, Angyal was determined to return to Japan and did so three years later in the form of a lectureship at Osaka’s Tsuji Culinary Institute, one of Japan’s most renowned culinary academies.
