Dream on! by Emi

I have a dream which is to be an aroma therapist. When I lived in Japan I learned the skills of aroma therapy at school on the weekends, and I got a British international license last year. After that, I quit my job and I came to Sydney on March 1st. I worked as an internship trainee at an aroma massage salon in Neutral Bay for the last three months. I can work as an aroma therapist now.

However, the massage business is actually very difficult in Japan, especially in Tokyo. Massage businesses don’t need a license in Japan. So, there are many massage salons in Japan. Because they cannot compete due to the quality of the massage skills, they supply very cheap prices. Actually, there has been a price collapse in massage field. Most aroma salons have sales quotas. First, they supply the cheapest price but when clients visit their salon therapists pressure clients to purchase package tickets at a normal price. There is a big difference from the purpose of aroma therapy treatment. Our mission is complementary medical care and preventive medicine.

I think it is not the right time to start a massage business in Japan. I will be waiting for a chance. By that time, I will have improved on my massage skills and knowledge more on a medical field, anatomy, physiology, pathology, dietetics, psychology and so on. I also want to be a good adviser for their health.

On the other hand, if I have a chance to start a massage business, I also have another problem. Normally, if clients need aroma therapy treatment, they don’t come to a salon regularly, because massage sessions are not cheap. We cannot expect to have a steady monthly income. And also, if we start massage business, we have to make up our minds that we will never make big returns. Because the equipment cost is very expensive, aroma massage is almost volunteer work. If I make a living by myself, I will have to get an another job from which I can get a steady source of income.

My dream is healing everybody who have problems of physical and mental nature. I would like to release them from their stress and eventually lead them to happiness. There are many people in Tokyo who have physical and mental problems due to stress and nowadays, people in Tokyo have been getting mean, even children. We would be necessary to people and society in the near future.